CONTRACT BRIDGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 302, 22 December 1933, Page 6

CONTRACT BRIDGE.

A WEALTH OF PLAYS. (By ELY CULBERISON.) The hands at the Contract table which receive the highest praise from experts, students and average players alike are those having a central theme, because the human mind, in considering the play ofl a hand at bridge, dislikes complications and loves simplicity. There are, however, many hands which offer a choice in the line of play to be adopted by the declarer or by the defending players, which, while complicated, are of extreme interest, as, for instance, the following hand, which was played by Mr. M. T. Bullock, of Williamsport (Pa.):

As Mr. Bullock remarks, the slam contract was obviously an over-bid. However, against the opening of the Diamond fl, which was made, it can be made and it- can also be set. The different plays presented in the arrangement of the fifty-two cards in this deal include: (1) A lead-placing end-play. (2) A simple squeeze. (.1) A double squeeze. (4) A defensive exit-play. With the opening lead of the Diamond 6, the declarer wins the first trick with the Ace and leads a Heart from dummy, finessing the Knave, and when West plays the 10, South knows that East originally held four Hearts headed by the King. The third trick is won with the Queen of Clubs in dummy, and the Heart 8 finessed and permitted to hold. To trick five, unquestionably the declarer's best play is the lead of the Diamond Queen. Now, if Kast refuses to rufr, .South (discards a Spade and proceeds to strip East of Spades. After trick ten East will hold the King-G of Hearts and the Club 10, and South the Ace-Queen of Hearts and the Club 5. Thus played, South forces East to win a trick with the Club and lead to his major tenace in Hearts. This is the lead-placing end-play. If East ruffs at trick five, South discards a Spade, and if Kast then leads a small Spade, South plays his last Spado firom his own hand and wins the trick in the dummy with the Ace. South then continues to lead trumps until, at trick twelve, East is squeezed and must part with the Spade Queen, setting up dummy's Knave, or a Club, giving Sx>uth four Club tricks. This is a simple squeeze. If East chooses to lead a Heart or Club to trick six, South will make his contract by means of the double squeeze. If East leads a Club, the trick is, won in the South hand with the Ace, East's last trump picked up, the Club King cashed, a Diamond ruffed, and at trick ' eleven the following situation is developed:

South now lays down his last trump, and both East and West are squeezed. However, one of the chief points of interest about the hand is that East has a defence by means of, the correct exit-play. His correct line of defence'is to ruff the Diamond Queen at trick five and then lead the Spade Queen to trick six. This is one of the features about the game of bridge which makes it the world's most popular game. The opportunity for accurate and brilliant play is rarely confined to one side. The Contract table is a stage, and every player, whether declarer or one ofi the defenders, has a chance to play his part. The bidding and play of the hand printed below will be discussed next week:

Study the hand, decide how you would bid md play it, and then compare the results you >btain with those shown in next week's article.