bluejak, on 2011-June-05, 18:44, said:
I think that your idea of calling beginners rule-breakers when they are not, merely ignorant, is very bad for the game, and fortunately not followed by the authorities.
Perhaps it should be mentioned in the regulations precisely at what level a player can be considered experienced enough to psych a strong opening? I do not like rules that require mind-reading, but I do think that if players truly are beginners, then an adjusted score and a warning are probably sufficient.
As I have mentioned in a previous post, beginners are not likely to fall foul of a regulation that bans artificial strong opening bids. Beginners will play an opening 2
♦ bid as strong and natural, weak and natural, or strong and artificial. They will never have played another treatment and so will not get confused.
I'm not sure what to make of your suggestion that the players were breaking the regulation deliberately because they disapproved of it; I did not get the impression that this was considered a serious possibility in the OP.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones -- Albert Einstein