AUCTION BRIDGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 20, 25 January 1927, Page 9

AUCTION BRIDGE.

THE MASKED DOUBLE.

JARGON OF THE GAME. TALKING A PARTNER DOWN. (By "DEUCE.") The informative double is burdening Auction with a technical jargon which is rapidly getting beyond the average player. Some writers find an innocent pleasure in inventing new names for the most trifling variations of the convention, and a few of their readers take a pleasure, far from innocent, in using these names. The writers, I think, are afflicted with tidy minds of the pigeonholing variety; but the readers, who encourage them, do 60 from the basest motives. They know that the best way to stop an argument is to overwhelm an opponent with masses of words which he does not understand, and they get their stock of such words from my innocent, but misguided colleagues. Then, when their partneis remonstrate with them for having doubled on insufficient strength and given away the game, they can always reply, "Oh, that was the Nulli Secundus double, to inform you that I held next to nothing. Had you understood the convention and bid your clubs, we should have gone game in spade?." These players owe their survival solely to the fact that a heavy weapon or missile is not part of the normal equipment of a card-table.

A correspondent of mine seems to have cut such a player for a partner recently. At the end of a hand in which the opponents had just scraped home with a contract of one, the player observed: "You had good strength for a masked double, partner. If you had called i- we could have done well in no-trumps." My correspondent did not know what a masked double was, and did not lika to admit his ignorance at the table, (these nomenclature fiends rely on this simple human weakness), so he writes to me for enlightenment.

Really Quite Simple. He may not have known this double by name, but he was probably familiar enough with it in practice. It is the most triilL-g variation of the suit bid double and certainly does not deserve so imposing a name all to itself. The suit double denies- the sfiit bid, but announces strength in the other three suits. If partner holds the suit bid twice guarded, he must bid two no-trumps, regardless of the strength of the rest of his hand. If he does not, he must bid his best suit. In the masked double, the doubler himself holds the double guard in the suit. He is weak in one suit, however; and instead of biddii.g "no-trumps" and risking the weak suit, i.e doubles to find out where his partner's strength lies. If it is in his "veak suit, he bids no-trumps, if in a major suit, he leaves the forced bid in with good hope of game.

Here is a good hand for an ordinary ! suit double, one diamond having been bid: Spades—ace. queen, 10. x; Hearts—king, jack, x, x; diamonds — x • clubs—queen, jack, 10, x. Hal the bii been one club, it would be a 300J hard l'or a masked double. Partner cannot go astray. He will know by the rules of the informative doubie U'ut he- must not leave the double in; he will hardly be able to take it out in no t and will be compelled, i-'ieie-fo e. 'o call his best suit. If it is t;-ades hearts. Si'- - * doubior will leave

in: if it is diamonds, he will take it o:it t:» two no trumps Tins double is (jjite useful oct-r..< ionally but surely any player of average intelligence, who knows the convention of the informative double, will work out this very simple development for himself in the course of play. There is no necessity for a special name.

In the particular instance mentioned by my correspondent, at love score lie passed a bid of one heart, holding spades—ace, x, x; hearts—king, jack, 10, x; diamonds—ace, x, x, x; clubs—x, x. He argued that his hand, though good, did not hold out any immediate hope of winning the game. He felt certain of saving game, however, and did not ignore the chances of a penalty. At the same time, he would be sorry to think that he had missed a good gamewinning chance,

Well, it may be perfectly true, as his partner pointed out, that had he doubled they would have done well in no trumps it is also possible- for a player to bid pre-emptively on «. Yarborougli, and yet make his contract. The lie of the cards in any one set of hands proves notniag at all. lam certain, however, that a. player who doubled consistently on that strength would, in the long run, lose more than he gained. True, he holds the double guard in hearts, but his spades and diamonds are too weak, and' hi? spades are also too short. Informative Double. The object of the informative double is to explore game-winning prospects. The doubler should, therefore, expect the bid which gives prospect of game, and lie should be prepared for disappointments. The bid that gives best chance of game here is one spade, but it would be a forced bid, and might possibly be based on nothing better than four small cards. Three spades to the aee is sufficient support. Again, if partner bids two clubs, the doubler, on this holding, would be bound to take him out into two no trumps. But if he did, he would have to fight hard for his contract. He would stand small chance of game. This double (and, 1 think, the double of a suit bid, generally ) is best cajled when a minor suit has been bid, and the doubler holds four to two high honours in both the major suits. If, however, the bid doubled is in a major suit, the doublet should hold four to top honours in the unbidden major, and one of the minors.

In a recent number of the "Auction Bridge Magazine" appeared a note from a correspondent in India stating that there were two conventions in common use in that country. The first was an original bid of two in a minor suit, to indicate weakness in the suit bid, but an excellent no-trumper outside; the second was an original bid of two in a major suit to indicate fi' e to the ace, king, or six to the ace and two honours of the suit bid; weakness in ie unbidden major suit, and an outside ace. The correspondent modestly claims credit for the invention of the second. "I may say, however," he concludes, "that the standard of play in India is very poor, and my own experience h.re has been that the higher the stakes, the worse the play."

I am surprised at the expression of oniniou. 1 have [>!ayc<! p. net: with men from many parts of the world, and my experience has been that the man from India is aa good as any, and better than most. He takes the game seriodsV, and plays keenly. The correspondent writes from Karachi, but be

does not state his qualification to criticise the general standard of play throughout the country.

What interests me at the moment, however, ia his evidence of the way in which abandoned conventions live on long after their unsoundness has been agreed upon by most intelligent players. The first convention which he mentions is nothing but the AmericP" negative bid, which even the Americans have given up, and while I refuse to believe that it is observed in the best clubs -a India, lam surprised to . j that it lives anywhere at all.

I congratulate the correspondent upon gaining acceptance for his very elaborate second convention. He is not the first to try to establish a definite meaning for. the initial bid of two, but in England all efforts have been frustrated by the walking ghost of a dead convention—the initial bid cf two upon length without top honours. 1 have not encountered this in play for years, yet if ever my. partner or my opponent bids two of a suit initially, i am always in doubt as to whether he is bidding on strength or on length alone. Portland Club Rulings. Case.—Z, the declarer, takes the first trick. A, as the trick is turned and quitted, leads a card- Z, the declarer, not having led, remarks to A: "That is a lead out of turn, and I will deal with it presently." A, on his own initiative, leaves the card led in error on the table. Z leads, and wins the next two tricks. B takes the ensuing trick. Z then calls upon him to lead a spade. Should Z have declared, immediately the offence was committed, which penalty he eventually intended to exact, i.e., either treating the card as an exposed card, or calling a lead? Decision: No. Case.—Z deals, and bids one notrump. A, without any further bidding, played a card. Y laid out his cards as dummy on the table. Decisios: As A had exposed a card before the final declaration, Y could have demanded a new deal-, but he, having exposed his hand, condoned the offence, and B now has the right to demand a new deal under Law 65. If a fresh deal is not C manded, all the cards can be picked up.