Ooops I dropped it!
I love the way our players find ever more creative ways to test the laws.
During play East, a defender, drops a card but catches it between his legs. No-one else could have seen the card, but East says "Ooops I dropped a Queen".
Clearly there is UI, but is the card a penalty card?
Would the situation be any different if it was possible for his partner to know which queen it was (e.g. because the other 3 were in Dummy)?
What if East thought it was a Queen, but actually it was a King?
Comments
Its not a penalty card because it has not been exposed or named
If there are three queens in dummy, it has still not been named, But "Oops I dropped the remaining queen" it may have been identified but still not named..
If they dropped a king but said "queen" it is still UI - but applying the UI laws could be tricky. Law 73E or F (which is it now?) would apply to declarer being deceived.
If they dropped a king but said "queen of diamonds" then the DQ if held must be exposed (because it is named) and is a penalty card. If they don't hold DQ then no card is exposed/played but the fact that they don't hold DQ is UI.
Well, Law 49 specifically references a defender naming a card as being in their hand. The situation regarding a partial naming of a card does seem like a grey area. I think if the comment identifies the card then I'd consider them to have named it as being in their hand.
At a minimum, we can always apply Law 16 on unauthorised information. And invoke whatever penalty we deem appropriate for the breach of Law 73 on communication.
If they name the wrong card? Then the possibility of damage by misleading declarer should be considered. Also, I suppose, the possibility that in following the UI laws with regard to the incorrect information, the defence somehow gains.