AUCTION BRIDGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 198, 22 August 1930, Page 6

AUCTION BRIDGE.

DANGEROUS HIGH CARD.

(By A. E. MANNING FOSTER.)

Here I give an example of how a mistake at trick one costs the defenders the game and the rubber. It is an interesting illustration of what occurs so frequently at the bridge table —failure to visualise the cards at the start of the game. In this case B was the culprit. I wonder how many players would commit the same mistakein my experience a great many. Here are the hands:

Score, game all. Z dealt and bid "One No Trump." All passed. A opened 7 of Hearts, Y played his singleton King, B played the S, and Z the 4. Z now proceeded to clear his Clubs, B holding up the *Ace until the third round. B then led the Jack of Hearts, Z played the 5, and A was in a dilemma. He knew his partner had no more Hearts. Should lie take it over, clear the suit and rely upon his King of Diamonds to get in? He decided (quite rightly) not to take it over, hoping his partner would lead a Diamond and he would get in and make all bis winning#Hearts. At trick 0 B led a Diamond, but Z was too wily a bird to be caught napping. He put up his Ace and made game and rubber with five Clubs, one Diamond, one Heart and three Spades. B's play was an example of spoiling his partner's tenace by voluntarily keeping a card which was between iiis partner's best and third best ill value. In this case A held the Ace and 10 of Hearts, as the Queen was in the Declarer's hand his suit was good, and A could have made fiix Hearts straight off if B had led liim a card lower than the 10. B lost the game at the first trick by playing the 8 of Hearts instead of the Jack. Had B played the Jack to the first trick and led back the S A and B would have got Z 50 down instead of losing three by cards. The moral of this hand is that you should always be on your guard against blocking your partner's suit. A high card is more likely to be harmful than useful to your partner when you can keep only one card of his suit to lead to him.