TylerE, on 2015-May-18, 00:50, said:
East 3♥ sure smells like fielding to me. Why isn't he doubling 3♣ for penalty?
It sure is fielding.
The question is whether fielding is illegal when you field based on the cards you hold in your hand and bridge logic, rather than prior experience with partner.
The reason why "fielding" is illegal is not because it is -in itself- illegal to conclude that partner has misbid or psyched. The reason is that fielding often is based on prior partnership experience, leading to an implicit partnership understanding. This implicit partnership understanding needs to be disclosed (and it may be an illegal understanding).
So, the question is whether this is illegal fielding.
East can see that something odd is going on, there are simply not enough clubs in the deck.
East has seen that West runs from 2
♣ doubled to bid 2
♦. That sure doesn't sound like someone with a lot of clubs.
East knows from his general bridge experience that many people would play 2
♣ in this auction as showing the red suits. The fact that West is running to 2
♦ seems to confirm that.
I don't think that East needs to have any prior partnership experience to come to the oonclusion that West, despite their agreement that he has shown clubs, most likely has the reds suits. If East and West were complete strangers, I could easily see East bidding 3
♥ here.
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The other question is whether West used UI (from East's explanation) to bid 2
♦. I don't think that passing is an LA with a void in clubs and a sixth diamond.
Rik
I want my opponents to leave my table with a smile on their face and without matchpoints on their score card - in that order.
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