AUCTION BRIDGE

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1736, 7 May 1930, Page 8

AUCTION BRIDGE

LESSON XIII. • Written by S. N. Lytligo. (Special to the Alexandra Herald.) [Copyright.] Bridge can be divided into two parts —mechanical and reasoning. The previous lessons have dealt with most of the mechanical side of bridge, and although they may have bored you, there is no hope of you ever being a good player until the mechanical portion has been mastered. When, you thoroughly understand bidding and .leads, all your attention can be devoted to planning how to play, and unless you are a super genius you will make many mistakes.

The play of each deal must be divided into two parts—declarer's and the adversaries'. Declarer's play: will first be dealt with. After; the first lead has been made, the- Dummy hand is placed on the table. It is a good plan to place the Trump suit on Dummy's right,.with the cards correctly sorted, of course, and do not put two red or black suits together. .When Dunimy's cards are exposed, the three players should carefully examine the cards and see how they will effect the cards held. For example, if Dummy holds Ace and Queen of a suit, and the player on the left holds King and another, he can be reasonably sure to make the King. That is a simple illustration. You "can see 26 cards; has - the bidding or partner's lead helped you to place any of the other -01 Before touching a card in Dummy, Declarer should plan his campaign. .Many a game has boon lost because "Declarer played a small card from " Dummy as soon as exposed. Expert players always PAUSE, PLAN, THEN PLAY! The best method for a beginner is to count the losers. If you lack all four Aces, you are going to lose 4 tricks, unless you haye an abundance of trumps. Holding an Ace and small cards "only, means that" youfw.ill.lo.se 2 or* 3 tricks in that suit unless you can trump from Dummy or your own hand. Double Dummy is excellent practice for counting the winners -'and. losers. When you have decided how mahyf-tricks you must lose, then try*and discover some moans of gaining . some of those: losing tricks by examining theYtwo hand's and answering the following "questions':— 1. Can I make any of Dummy's I trumps singly? 2. Must I finesse? 3. Can I discard losing cards on winning ones? ; Those three questions cover Declarer's play for the great majority of bridge deals. . Memorise them, and don't forget to PAUSE, PLAN, THAN PLAY.- , ■'■ ' '

Plan the play in the following order; j I. Count your losers. - j 2. After answering the above three I questions,, decide if you can make -J your contract.

! 3. Contract assured, can you game'! i 4. Ganw certain, can you make a j Little Slam? 15. Little Slam possible, .can yi-u make a Grand Slam? '■• .; ' Planning the play will take a little time, but with practice you will be able to value the hands in a few seconds. All thinking must be done before'va card is played from Dummy. Even if Dummy contains only rags of the suit led, do not play one until you have examined the two hands. If you play a card immediately Dummy is exposed, third hand follows, and you play from your own hand, and usually continue 'without thinking ahcadU; Plan the play before playing Dummy's card, -and you will not have to pause later on. To a good player, particularly when Dummy, nothing is more annoying than to see .the Declarer pause and think after several rounds in an endeavour to get out of a mess. In most cases, a few seconds' thought would have prevented the trouble, ;\v,t\. also,' Dummy would not have been thinking of punishments suitable for-'.the crime. Pew Duminys believe in the abolition of capital punishment when they arc Dummy, and Declarer makes a hash of perfectly good cards.