slabtowner

I know it sounds petty, but at a club, if a claim is made you have the option of having them play it out which, in effect, is denying the claim. Very often, a trump could be outstanding as the declarer may have miscounted. You deny the claim, he slaps down the Ace of trump to pick up yours. Similarly, in BBO, you either accept or deny the claim - and that may again warn the declarer that hw has missed a certain factor such as missing a minor trump which could possibly win a trick. Sometimes a player may think a certain high card has been played and mistakenly claims. I have even seen players falsely make a claim hoping opponents will accept without looking closely - something as simple of having the top cards in a suit but have no entry to use them. Nothing to lose by claiming. My suggestion is: if a claim is made with no explanation of a line of play and there is an outstanding trump, you automatically lose a trick or (or tricks, depending on the situation) such as can happen when a director rules at a club. The onus would be on the claimer to make sure it is a valid claim) If a guy had claimed 11 tricks in Spades - had and outstanding trump - he would still make his contract of 4S, but be denied the overtrick) Perhaps, in addition to accept or deny the claim, there could be an option to "accept with reservation". Then, if there was a line of play that could fail or there was an outstanding trump, the penalty would be assessed