Claim and Claim again
North claims, makes a claim statement, they agree to play on.
North then claims again, making no claim statement.
Can we use North's original claim statement to infer his intentions (assuming he followed the original statement when he played on)?
Comments
68 d ii) "The prior claim is void and not subject to adjudication" . I think we've got a new claim, but it's still evidence as to what declarer knows about the hand and their intentions, which might affect what's considered a normal line of play.
I think that once the prior claim is made void there is no going back. It is as if the original claim was never made. Don't forget that effectively declarer now knows that their original claim was never accepted so their "intentions" are always going to be different, at least by a small margin.
Now, if no statement is made and the claim is disputed then Law 70 needs to be followed; if they don't agree to continue play (again!!).
Jeremy, another angel slips from the pin head.
Oh no - this was a real situation!
I think that although the previous claim and anything that was revealed at the time of the previous does not constrain the later play, the previous claim statement does speak to what is 'normal' v 'beyond careless' for declarer/claimer, when ruling on the later claim.
My advice to declarer
1. Once you have claimed, do not agree to play on.
2. If you have agreed to play on, don't claim again.
3. If you play on and claim again, repeat the previous statement and say what card you will play to all unplayed tricks.
I don't entirely agree with Robin here, particularly when playing online
Two common scenarios when I am playing online are
Declarer claims, and the claim is rejected. Declarer immediately claims again for fewer tricks (it's very easy on BBO to claim all the rest of the tricks by default)
Declarer claims, opponent A rejects the claim. Declarer plays another two tricks then claims again, and it's accepted. Opponent A simply didn't understand the claim - F2F there can be discussion, but online people just play on. (If declarer has the rest of the tricks this scenario is often pre-empted by the other opponent immediately conceding)