CONTRACT BRIDGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 262, 4 November 1932, Page 6

CONTRACT BRIDGE.

THE SKY THE LIMIT, ji (By ELY CULBERTSON.) Not all Contract bidding permits of the drawing of correct inferences nor, unfortunately, are correct inferences always drawn from correct bidding. I have frequently voiced my objection to some of the artificial bidding conventions used by some- very fine Contract players, because of the ease with wliich the adversaries can throw a monkey-wrench into the machinery. Mr. William Henry Trotter, of: Philadelphia, recently sent me an interesting hand in which, through the alert aid of an opposing player, two fairly good players became enmeshed in inferences drawn from conventional bidding in such a way that a tremendous disaster resulted. All four players at the table were ufi-ing the Vanderbilt Club Convention, by which a bid of one Club shows at least three quick tricks, but discloses nothing as to distribution. Partner's responses are regulated. Holding less than two quick tricks, lie responds with a bid of one Diamond, and this -hid 'the opening bidder may not pass, as it mav show no Diamonds whatever. The over-call of this bid by aneopponent is met by Mr. Vanderbilt through a provision that thereafter the bidding follows regulation lines. However, many players are prone to read in their partner's bidding the things they want to hear, and that is what happened in this case. I do not wish to be understood as in any way reflecting upon Mr. Vanderbilt's excellent system. The disaster which resulted to Mr. Trotter's friends was duo to faulty application of the system and not the system itself. North-South vulnerab'e. East-West not vulnerable. South dealer. No score.

The Bidding. (Figures after bids in table refer to numbered explanatory paragraphs.) South West North East 1# 2*(1) 2 A (2) Pass 5 V (3) Pass Pass Dbl. Pass Pas 3 6 4 W Obi. Rdbl. (5) Pass Pass Pass I.—An interruptive Iti<l to interfere with the significance of North's reply. 2. —North, with no honour tricks, sees chance of game on account of- distribution. 3. —South, forgetting West's interruptive bid. reads North's bid as guaranteeing two quick tricks, which must be in Diamonds, <v> bids more than same, but why in Hearts instead of Spades lie failed to satisfactorily explain. 4.—North, on the bidding, thought that South must have the high Diamonds. s.—South's redouble cannot be explained. The hand was penalised six tricks, 4400 points for East and West, who eventually won over a 0000-point rubber. A penalty pass, after partner has doubled an opening suit bid of one, should, as a. rule, be avoided. Only hands with extraordinary length in opponents' bid- suit such a* will practically guarantee four sure trump tricks, would justify a' pass. In suit bids the declarer is usually able to make small trumps by ruff*, thus decreasing the penalty score against him, so great strength ill opponents' bid suit is required to make safe a penalty pass after partner has made a takeout double.