[barmar]

blackshoe, on Aug 29 2009, 01:26 AM, said:

I once (at a club game) ran into a player who, after she'd been badgering my novice and very confused partner for several minutes about a call I'd made, superciliously replied to my suggestion that the answer to her questions was written on our card with "I don't look at convention cards. I ask questions." I called the director, but unfortunately, I was dummy, and the director said to me "dummy is not allowed to call the director" and walked away.

Unfortunately for your novice, players are allowed to ask as many questions as they want, they don't have to look at the CC if they don't want to.

On the other hand, they're not allowed to be annoying about it.

[blackshoe]

They are if the TD lets them get away with it.

[barmar]

blackshoe, on Aug 31 2009, 11:08 PM, said:

They are if the TD lets them get away with it.

That's true of any laws. If the officials don't enforce the laws properly, that's a separate problem.

[blackshoe]

The problem was not that this player asked questions my partner couldn't answer. It was that she persisted in asking the same questions even after it became clear that my partner didn't know the answers. and that her response to me was in a supercilious tone. IOW, if you like, she was (deliberately, IMO) annoying. The TD did nothing about this.

It was annoying people like this - and TDs who let them be annoying - who caused my partner to quit the game. I don't blame her.

No, people are not required to look at convention cards. But it is IMO actively unethical to badger a player who clearly cannot answer your questions - and to refuse to look at the CC when told the answers you're looking for are there is {a} bloody minded and {b} downright stupid - or it would be in a game with a competent TD.