Alan wrote:
> I'm declarer, and RHO leads a club. I want to play the jack of clubs, but I'm having trouble getting it on the table: maybe I've dropped it, or it's stuck to another card or something. To keep the game moving while I struggle with this, I say "jack" so LHO can play. LHO plays the queen, and then I realize I don't have the jack of clubs at all: the one in my hand is the king. Of course I call the director now.
> It's clear there's an irregularity here, and it's my fault, but how do we rectify it? Law 45C4(a) says that a card is deemed played when a player names it, so I have "played" a card not in my hand.
Correct.
> LHO is entitled to play after that, on the assumption that I will indeed play the jack,
Not just that. The jack is played.
When you discover that you do not have the jack, you have to (formally)
retract the card (§47B) and play another card instead. Now LHO according
to §47D can retract his card and play again.
The card that LHO retracts, is authorised information (AI) for his
partner (§16C), but not for you, and it is also AI for RHO that you do
not have the jack of clubs. There are no further rectifications.
So your initial ruling was actually the correct one. But when it comes
to rumours: Don't listen to them. Read the law instead. There are many
false rumours circulating - certainly in the Danish clubs that I know.
That you never played the jack is wrong. That is not logical, but that
is what the law says. There is no revoke (there can't be when you
haven't played a card out of suit).
> I think all this shows that the "revoke" rumor I heard long ago is
nonsense.
Quite.
--
Bertel, Denmark