[broze]

wank, on 2016-October-04, 20:16, said:

he didn't hestitate and the opps didn't claim one. however, in england the official guidance is not to ask unless you're interested in bidding. this is obviously contentious.

Lol I actually wasn't aware of that - strikes me as a ridiculous guideline.

[Tramticket]

The EBU's blue book states:

2 E 1
A player has the right to ask questions at his turn to call or play, but exercising this right may
have consequences. If a player shows unusual interest in one or more calls of the auction, then
this may give rise to unauthorised information. His partner must avoid taking advantage. It
may be in a player’s interests to defer questions until either he is about to make the opening
lead or his partner’s lead is face-down on the table.

2 E 2
A player may use only information he has received from legitimate sources, such as calls, plays,
opponents’ system cards, their answers to questions and their mannerisms. A player may not
use information gained from his partner’s explanation, uncertainty, tempo or mannerisms.
(Law 73B1). A player may not ask a question solely for his partner’s benefit. (Law 20G1).

I don't think that this is especially ridiculous.

[mycroft]

I would argue (and have before) that the hands where I would not be interested in knowing what an Alerted overcall of 1NT was for *any possible Alertable meaning* - even *any Alertable meaning that is currently not extinct* are such that *failure to ask* would be passing more UI than asking. I'm not in the EBU, but I *always* ask about overcalls to NT (partly because we play a weak NT in a strong NT world, but mostly because it's always different. Yes, I know that I'm keeping them on the same page. Oh well.)

Note, this is not a universal rule. But (1NT)-2♦!, without thinking hard (as in, I've played all of them myself), could be:

• diamonds and a higher suit
• hearts
• spades
• spades and another
• both majors
• either major
• three-suited including diamonds
• three-suited including spades

What "unusual interest" does asking opposite 15-17 show? That I might make a call if they have a 11-14 hand, or an aggressive intrusion hand, or one or both majors, or diamonds, or not diamonds? Sounds like any hand with more than a 5 count, and many hands with fewer but a long suit.

Different, of course, is when it's a more one-expected-meaning Alertable bid; different yet when it's an unAlerted bid; different yet when it's the "What does 3♦ mean?" "It means you want your partner to lead diamonds against NT" or "how many hearts does 1♥ show?" "Fewer than you have, obviously".