THE GAME OF BRIDGE OBITUARY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 65, 16 March 1940, Page 19

THE GAME OF BRIDGE

OBITUARY

THE LATE MRS.-MACKIN

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London Representative.)

LONDON. February 16.

The funeral of the late Mrs. Mackin, widow of Dr. P. Mackin, of Wellington, and sister-in-law of the Hon. Mark Fagan (Speaker of the Legislative Council), took place on February 13. There was a Requiem Mass at the Church of St. Mary of the-Angels, Bayswater, the Rev. Father Moran officiating. The burial took place at the Kensal Green cemetery. The High Commissioner for New Zealand (Mr. W. J. Jordan) attended the church service and also the cemetery. Others present were Dr. Elizabeth Bryson (Wellington), who had attended Mrs. Mackin recently, Mr. W. Innes, Miss Cresswell, and Mr. H..T.. B. Drew. Wreaths Were sent by the Hon. Mark Fagan, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, Dr. Bryson, Miss McLaren (Wellington), Miss McGarry, Miss Sheridan, and others. , The death has occurred of Miss Kathleen Beckley, who for 22 years had been a popular and efficient mem-, ber of the staff of the High. Commissioner's Office. She was attached as secretary to many delegations from the Dominion, including those to three Imperial Conferences. She was the holder of many awards for high-speed shorthand.

Mr. C. A. Knowles represented the High Commissioner at the funeral service at St. Andrew's Church, Little Kingsbury cemetery, and a- wreath was sent by Mr. Jordan and the staff.

AN OPENING TRUMP LEAD

i Inferences drawn by a defender during the bidding of a hand by his opponents may lead him to the decision that an opening trump lead is his only line of defence. The following hand, contributed by the late Louis Watson, is an interesting example of defensive tactics at their best:— 4 j.8.5. 9 5.2. . +A.7.6.4. Jft A. 10.9.3. ♦ A.6.4. North. I ♦ 32" ~ j« *7.6. 4 5.3.2. $ £ 4Q.J.10.8. Jj> 7.6.4. \" South. I Jf, K.Q.J.5.2. 4 K.Q.10.9.T. 9 A.Q.10.5.3. 4 X.9. South, dealer. Neither side vulnerable. The bidding:— South. West. North. Kast. 1 4 Pass 1 N.T. Pass 2 <y Pass 2 N.T. Pass 3 9 Pass 34 Pass 44 Pass Pass Pass The opening lead is with West. If he has listened carefully to the NorthSouth bidding, he has gained a good deal of useful information: (a) SSouth's bidding marks him with at least ten cards in spades and hearts (bidding the heart suit twice after opening with the % spade suit guarantees the hearts as not less than a five-card suit, and the spades as either a< six- or five-card suit);, (b) North's response of two notrumps on the second round of the bidding indicates that he holds the maximum honour-trick value for a negative one no-trump response—considerably more than the requirements, for a one no-trump, but not quite enough for a (forcing) two no-trump response on the first round; (c) after Souths rebid of three hearts, North showed a preference for the spade suit, so that the chances are that his holding is four diamonds, four clubs, three spades, and two hearts. If this is so, South, given the opportunity, willquite probably be able to make use of dummy's trumps to ruff hearts before drawing trumps, as it is clear that he must depend for his contract on establishing his hearts as a side suit.

From 'the abpve inferences drjtwn from the North-South bidding, Wes;, holding three almost certain heart tricks, realises that dummy's trumps must be eliminated as soon as possible if a heart ruff is to be prevented. He therefore leads a small trump. His reason for leading a small trump instead of the Ace and then a small on^ (which would remove two trumps from dummy at once) is. that he knows that. South at the firfet opportunity will take a finesse in hearts. West, on winning the trick, can then lead the Ace and

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another spade, thus entirely eliminate ing dummy's trumps. " - If, instead of a small trump. West leads the Ace and another, dummy would still hold another trump., and South, on regaining the lead, would, simply lead the Ace of hearts and then ruff a low heart with the Jack of spades, thus limiting his heart losers to two instead of three tricks. This ruff would give him his contract. By leading a small trump," West, holding three certain tricks in hearts over. Souths hand, must defeat the contract,? which, against any other defence,, is unbeatable. ! POINTS TO NOTE. It is the experience of many a player when sitting at a table where he is a much better player than any, of his three companions, that he is frequently a loser at the end of the session,; though he has held-better than average hands throughout. The stronger player should realise that in this con> pany he should depart in some measure from text-book tactics. Bids and plays which would be quite correct with a sound partner are dangerous when playing with a weak partner. For instance, after an opening bid of one spade by partner, the Culbertsoa system allows a response of one notrump, on a hand as weak as: ;

4 6.4.3., *J. 7.2., 4Q. 7.5.4., Jf, Q.93.V if there has been no intervening, bid. After such an opening bid by a weak player, however, the responder should ijot make the text-book response on the above holding. He should pass, considering that, under the circumstances, he would need at least one and a half. honour-tricks, in case his partner, after a negative one no-trump response, should rebid only to be faced.1 with a difficult proposition in the weakness of the hand above.

It; does not pay to open with an .exploratory bid in a three-card, minor suit A weak partner would most probably fail to realise that it was possibly a three-card bid, in which case the opening bidder might find hiiriself in trouble later. Slams, unless they are "cast-iron/ which is seldom indeed, should not be bid. Take the game and be satisfied. Do not make a penalty double, which depends for its success upon* accurate partnership play. Though the prospects appear to be good, a slip in defensive play, may be costly. , If partner is to be the declarer, be wary about bidding to game when there is a doubt as to the issue, for where a strong player would make the most of his opportunities, a weak player will be handicapped lby his lack of knowledge when playing the hand. • : Finally, simple bidding and play by a player in the company referred to above has the best chance of success. "Clever" bids will probably result in throwing a partner into a state of confusion..