SAFETY AND DANGER SIGNALS.

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 30, 5 February 1927, Page 16

SAFETY AND DANGER SIGNALS.

Following suit from high, to low at the Trump bint game is known as the call for a ruft; discarding from high to low as the call for a suit; and following from high to low at No-Trumps as the echo that is, proclaiming a holding of- four JLhese are the safety signals at Auction" I forget how old they are. They have' been in force ever since I have played the game; and before that, I think, at Bridge. Yet they are often mismanaged Ihe player who calls for a ruff with a- holding of four trumps is a familiar figure, more familiar than he should be in a club card room. Less expensive, but irritating, nevertheless, is the player who will not play high and low because of his trump length, although his partner's lead is clearly from the three top honours and his trumps will not be called upon in the third round. He is less expensive because his partner, seeing a third of the suit in Dummy and counting two still out ■will usually try another round. As for the fourth lead after the third top honour has made, much will depend on the score and on Dummy's hand. If the opponents are at Love Score and the leader sees a chance of a fourth trick by a ruff, he will force his partner, whether or not partner has called.- Four tricks save game at Trump Suits and he will cheerfully risk allowing a low contract to make in order to be sure of these.

A common misunderstanding occurs in the call for a suit by the discard from high to-low. If a player is to complete a call, he must discard two cards in successive rounds, one high and one low. The discard of one, or the discard of two in ascending order announces weakness in the suit, and warns partner to keep off it. Now a strong suit is nearly always weakened by the discard of two from it; indeed, it may not be worth tho cost of the message calling for it. What is a player to do? Personally, with a good partner I discard the highest of _ the suit below the pictures, and leave it at that. Any card thrown above a Seven will catch a good partner's eye and set him thinking; and it does not require much thought to, read the card as the beginning of a call which cannot be completed. Yet I have had partners who attach the same significance to a discarded Ten as to a discarded Two; and refuse to lead the suit because, according to their wooden and inelastic code, the first discard always indicates weakness. Disregarded danger signals cause the worst catastrophies at the Auction, table as on the railway. Players should be very careful about re-bidding a suit which partner—either by the bid of another suit or by doubling the opponents—has denied. In the case o£ the double, of course, a rebid may be necessary, even with, certainty of loss, in order to prevent opponents from, going game; but it must not be made without careful calculation:

In good company, at Love Score, look out for the overbid of One No-Trumps byTwo of a Suit from Second-in-Hand. The bid is not made by a sound Bridge player on less than eight tricks, and Third in Hand should treat it with the greatest respect. He should not support the NoTrumper unless he holds two stoppers in the opposing suit and normal ■ support outside; and not even with this strength should he double. In most cases the best course is to abandon the No-Trumps and concentrate on a suit.

For example—lf "One No-Trump" is overcalled with "Two Hearts" by Second-in-Hand, Third-in-Hand may bid "Two No-Trumps" holding

Spades—J, x, x. .-■ Hearts—Q, J, x. : Diamonds—Q, 10, x, x.' Clubs—X, s, x. : but I do not think he should double ou this strength. The chances are that Sec-ond-in-Hand is long in Hearts and short-, suited elsewhere, so that, were he left in with his bid, ruffing would play an important .part in the game. . On such a holding as the following, Third-in-Hand should pass— ' '" ■.-.•■■■ Spades—X, x, x. Hearts—lo, x, x. Diamonds—X, Q, x. Clubs—A, x, x, x. The hand is strong enough for an original No-Trump bid, but not for an assist when ,Second-in-Hand has shown Hearts. The chances are that that suit is also unguarded with Declarer, and Second-in-Hand will be able to run out a string of winners before the others can get a look is.-. ■' The following hands justify a switch to .the. best suit: — ■ . Spades. Hearts. Diamonds. Clubs. 1. A.X.x.x. x. K,x,x,x. Q,x,x,x.' 2. J.x. x,x,x, K,Q,10,5:,x A,x,x. 3. Q. 10, x. 3,x,x. A,K*JWt.x. The thing to aim at is to give what information you can to' your partner to enable him to defeat the opposing strength; but with a bad hand, pass, and keep on passing. It is the best way to keep down the adverse score. . Another aspect of the same general question—the attitude o£ the other players to an initial One No-Trump is the course

to be pursued by Second-in-Hand when his partner has shown a pnit and been overbid by Two No-Trumps .rom the original No-Trumper. Fourth-iu-Hand's bid was probably only made to direct the lead, and his partner-must be very chary of supporting it. His best course is to leav; the Two No-Trumps in and not to support the suit unless iFourth-in-Hand rebids it. PORTLAND CLUB RULINGS^ 'The following decisions have been given by the Card Committee of the Portland Chib:— 1. Case: After some bidding, B bids "Three Spades"; Z, "Double"; A, "No Bid"; B (out of turn), "No Bid." Who bids next? Decision: Should the bid out of turn be allowed to stand, the bidding reverts to Y. Should V make no bid, the bidding is closed, but if V makes a further bid, the bidding continues. 2. Case: After some bidding, Z bids "Two No-Trumps"; A and V, "No Bid"; B, "Double"; A (out of turn), "No Bid." Who bids next? Decision: If the bid is allowed to stand, it is for V to continue the bidding.