[jules101]

Law 73 – COMMUNICATION

D – Variations in Tempo or Manner

E – Deception


Do these apply equally to declarer as well as to defenders?

Obviously declarer can't mislead or communicate messages to dummy, but could their tempo (deliberately or unintentionally) deceive opponents?


For example:

• declarer holds a singleton A (in suit one opponent has bid),
  
• when the suit is led she hesitates prior to playing the singleton A,

is she (declarer) then in danger of misleading opps by her hesitation/variation in tempo?

Declarer may well be planning her next move rather than intending to deceive.

It is possible, however, that the defender could be fooled into trying to cash a "winner" before cashing other tricks, thus handing control back to declarer.

[pran]

jules101, on 2010-November-23, 07:32, said:

Law 73 – COMMUNICATION

D – Variations in Tempo or Manner

E – Deception


Do these apply equally to declarer as well as to defenders?

Obviously declarer can't mislead or communicate messages to dummy, but could their tempo (deliberately or unintentionally) deceive opponents?


For example:

• declarer holds a singleton A (in suit one opponent has bid),
  
• when the suit is led she hesitates prior to playing the singleton A,

is she (declarer) then in danger of misleading opps by her hesitation/variation in tempo?

Declarer may well be planning her next move rather than intending to deceive.

It is possible, however, that the defender could be fooled into trying to cash a "winner" before cashing other tricks, thus handing control back to declarer.

Sure Law 73 applies to declarer as well as to defenders, why not?

The part of Law 73 that concerns communication between partners is of course irrelevant for declarer, but the rest is even more relevant (as he has no partner that can be fooled by his illegal deception attempts).

[nige1]

You are declarer in 3N. LHO finds the best lead of ♥x to RHO's ♥A. LHO returns a ♥. You were dealt ♥ QJx in hand opposite ♥ x in dummy, A devious declarer hesitates, hoping to convince LHO that he has QJ9x. He will explain that he was trying to work out which quack was more deceptive. Another similar case...
In a 4-card ending, dummy is on lead and has ♠ AK ♥ x ♣ x
You hold ♥ K ♣ AJT
The auction marks LHO with the ♥A and ♣KQ so no genuine squeeze is possible but deceptive play may work: cash dummy's ♠A smoothly discarding ♥K. Continue with ♠K and go into the tank, eventually parting with ♣J.

If victims don't call the director or the director is too naive to understand the problem, then ploys like this will reap a handsome profit.

[mgoetze]

nige1, on 2010-November-23, 10:44, said:

In a 4-card ending, dummy is on lead and has ♠ AK ♥ x ♣ x
You hold ♥ K ♣ AJT
The auction marks LHO with the ♥A and ♣KQ so no genuine squeeze is possible but deceptive play may work: cash dummy's ♠A smoothly discarding ♥K. Continue with ♠K and go into the tank, eventually parting with ♣J.

If victims don't call the director or the director is too naive to understand the problem, then ploys like this will reap a handsome profit.

Nevermind that people who know what a squeeze is have usually counted out declarer's hand at this point. The only thing this is likely to reap is a PP.