IIRC the reason is that it's almost impossible to police (e.g. even over Realbridge, you generally can't distinguish between a player checking their opponents' system card and checking their own system card, and neither action is particularly noticeable if the players are looking at an electronic rather than paper system card), so explicitly permitting it shuts down an almost undetectable means of cheating via putting the honest players on a level playing field.
@gordonrainsford said:
I wonder in what way one can abuse something that is permitted.
Abuse is not the same as breaking the rules.
People are playing systems that are far more complicated than they would if they had to remember them. To quote one of the unhappy players: "We play a rich and complex system. Yes, it is challenging to remember but we regard that as part and parcel of being a good bridge player, and the chance of a misunderstanding (which happens!) as part of a risk/reward trade-off. Under this rule you would not have to remember a single aspect of your system which feels, dare I say, more than a little ridiculous."
I remember telling one player they can check their system but if they spent several minutes looking for a footnote there might be a slow play penalty. Certainly if you were playing a completely unfamiliar system there would be problems there.
Comments
IIRC the reason is that it's almost impossible to police (e.g. even over Realbridge, you generally can't distinguish between a player checking their opponents' system card and checking their own system card, and neither action is particularly noticeable if the players are looking at an electronic rather than paper system card), so explicitly permitting it shuts down an almost undetectable means of cheating via putting the honest players on a level playing field.
Abuse is not the same as breaking the rules.
People are playing systems that are far more complicated than they would if they had to remember them. To quote one of the unhappy players: "We play a rich and complex system. Yes, it is challenging to remember but we regard that as part and parcel of being a good bridge player, and the chance of a misunderstanding (which happens!) as part of a risk/reward trade-off. Under this rule you would not have to remember a single aspect of your system which feels, dare I say, more than a little ridiculous."
I remember telling one player they can check their system but if they spent several minutes looking for a footnote there might be a slow play penalty. Certainly if you were playing a completely unfamiliar system there would be problems there.