[lamford]

 blackshoe, on 2015-August-03, 08:43, said:

Perhaps the EBU consider the double a psychic control, rather than a psych in itself.

I wondered about that, but I could not find anywhere in the Laws that empowered an RA to ban a psychic control. The word "control" only appears under "control of board and cards" and "control of spectators", clearly irrelevant, but it might be there with a different wording. I wondered if an RA could specify that a double to say "don't lead my suit" was a special partnership understanding which they could regulate without limit, but that goes against the specific wording of 40B2, and also:

40B1a <snip> "A special partnership understanding is one whose meaning, in the opinion of the Regulating Authority, may not be readily understood and anticipated by a significant number of players in the tournament."

So, if a "Watson or McCabe" double is alerted and explained as "don't lead my suit; I psyched," then it would be readily understood by all the players in the tournament, so is not a special partnership understanding.

[campboy]

 lamford, on 2015-August-03, 03:32, said:

Also, if you open a weak 2H and double 3NT to say that you did not have a weak two hearts after all, that seems to be legal, although specifically banned (when I last looked) by the EBU, which call this a Watson double and disallows it if you have psyched. However, it is not the artificial call (double saying don't lead a heart) that is psychic, but the original weak 2H when you actually held a weak two in spades. 2H was not artificial, so the RA may not restrict it from being psyched under 40B2d.

But the RA may "allow conditionally" the Watson double (which is a special partnership understanding, 40B2a). So allowing it on condition that you haven't psyched seems legitimate.

[RMB1]

 blackshoe, on 2015-August-03, 08:43, said:

Perhaps the EBU consider the double a psychic control, rather than a psych in itself.

It does (for better or worse). EBU psychic control

[lamford]

 RMB1, on 2015-August-03, 09:05, said:

It does (for better or worse). EBU psychic control

Do you know which clause of the Laws, Robin, empowers the EBU to ban the Watson double after you have psyched? And, as far as I am aware, no player has an obligation to read the White Book, but I think they are deemed to know the Laws, such as Law 16 and Law 73C, insofar as it affects their bidding and play. And which clause allows the EBU to ban psychic controls?

[lamford]

 campboy, on 2015-August-03, 09:04, said:

But the RA may "allow conditionally" the Watson double (which is a special partnership understanding, 40B2a). So allowing it on condition that you haven't psyched seems legitimate.

I don't agree that the Watson double is a special partnership understanding, in that a double of 3NT to say "don't lead the suit I opened" would be understood by all players except of low level. Especially when it is alerted.

At level 3, I agree that it would be like taking candy from a baby, and could be deemed an SPU.

[RMB1]

 lamford, on 2015-August-03, 09:11, said:

Do you know which clause of the Laws, Robin, empowers the EBU to ban the Watson double after you have psyched?

I think the power comes from the power to regulate special partnership understandings: Law 40B2(a), in particular "allow conditionally".

I note that the WBF thinks it has the power to regulate psychic controls:

Quote

The following conventions or treatments are categorised as ‘Brown Sticker’:
...
d) Psychic bids protected by system or required by system.

[mycroft]

 barmar, on 2015-August-03, 00:28, said:

Some people define them as such. I've heard comments like "It wasn't a psych, it was a tactical bid." But I don't know if there's a concensus about the distinction, it seems more like a Humpty-Dumpty definition (when they do it to me it's a psych, when I do it it's a tactical bid).

Exactly. There is a definition of psychic call, and it is a tactic to make one. There is not a definition of tactical call. What the expert means when they say "tactical bid" is "I psyched because I thought it would work against these guys, and now that it worked, I want to shut off the 'he psyched!' conversation/TD call"; what that same expert means when they say "psych" is "these guys made a tactical bid against me and it worked ("that I wouldn't have made", perhaps-but-not-always). That isn't fair." This is not a new opinion of mine, as you can see if you check forum history :-).

 lamford, on 2015-August-03, 09:18, said:

I don't agree that the Watson double is a special partnership understanding, in that a double of 3NT to say "don't lead the suit I opened" would be understood by all players except of low level. Especially when it is alerted.

It is an artificial call/convention, and by Law (L40B1b) all artificial calls are special partnership understandings.

Even in the old laws, conventions were regulable, and per the WBF argument allowing the Endicott Fudge, universally regulable (including "you can't play it", but also "you can't play it if you psyched earlier", or "you can't play it if you made [natural call we don't like] earlier in the auction.") It's just that the Endicott Fudge, while still legal, isn't required now.

[RMB1]

It is an irregular verb: "I make tactical bids", "You psyche", "She/He cheats".

[mycroft]

I would have thought, having psyched at the table, and been the TD for other psychic fallout, that:

"I make tactical bids"
"She/He psyches"
"You cheat"

Yes I'm joking. I may also not be wrong.