THE BRIDGE TABLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20650, 23 August 1930, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE BRIDGE TABLE.

SEMI TWO-SUITERS.

BY MAJOR TENACE. The bidding of what Americans call somi two-suiters has always been a subject of dispute and we are no nearer agreement on it now than ever we were. A semi two-suiter is a hand containing a four-card and a five-card suit, both up to bidding strength; such, for example, as the following: —Spades—A, K, 7, 3; hearts—A, 10, 9, 6, 2; diamonds—B, 3; clubs—lo, 5. If the five-card suit is of greater value' than the four; if you hold, say, five spades and four hearts no difficulty arises. You. bid the five-card suit on the first round, and, failing support from partner, the four-card suit on the second. The trouble arises in such hands as the one set out, where the four-card suit is more valuable than the five. If you bid the four-card suit first, and then the five on the second round, your partner will naturally assume that, while you leave the ultimate choice to him, you yourself have a natural preference for tho suit you bid first. If, on the other hand, you bid tho five-card suit first, you may bo forced to bid higher than is prudent to show the four-card suit on the second round. Suppose, for instance, holding tho hand set out above, you bid one heart and the auction proceeds thus: A, two diamonds; Y, no bid; B, three clubs. You will then have to bid three spades to show the second suit, and you may well hesitate to do this, as your partner has not bid and may hold a Yarborough for all you know. Higher Value First.

My own practice, and I think the practice of the majority of good players, is to bid the suit of higher value first. Partner, in exercising his choice, is bound to be guided by his own holding. If his holding in the four-card suit is definitely stronger than his holding in the five-card suit, he will bid it, and a four-card suit well supported is just as likely to yield ga«ne as a five-card suit indifferently supported. If, on the other hand, his support for the five-card suit is stronger, he will pass. In cither case, this method tends to keep down the size of the contract.

For example: Supposing you hold four spades and live hearts, both suits worth bidding, and your partner, though unable to deny either suit, is stronger in hearts. If you bid one spade on the first round, A overcalls with two diamonds, and B -bids three clubs; when you bid three hearts on the second round, your partner has merely to pass the bid to show that he prefers it. But suppose you had started with one heart, and A and B had bid diamonds and clubs over you; when you bid three spades on the second round, your partner would have to go to four hearts to show his preference, thus raising the contract you had undertaken. The Five-Card Suit.

There is only one occasion when I show a five-card suit first in these circumstances, and that is when I am chicane or hold only a singleton in one of the other suits, for with hands of this sort the four-card' suit is very much weaker than the five—so much weaker, in fact, that I feel justified in showing a marked preference for the five-card suit by bidding it first. In all the illustrations I have given the choice lies between the two inajor suits, but the argument is all the stronger when the two-suiter is a major and a minor, particularly when no agreement has been made as to majority calling. Problems of Inference. Most of the problems I have given have been taken from play, and all of them call for the same methods of inference and deduction which one must apply at the card table if one ia to win. Moreover, I have deliberately, though reluctantly, rejected one or two ihtcresting problems which depend on the value of a particular card, for these problems do nob arise so frequently as problems which depenß for their solution on the distribution oI suits and major probabilities.

Here are two more problems, one in attack, and one in defence: — At love score Z deals and bids one no trump, and all pass. A leads the two of spades, and the hands of declarer and dummy are as follows: S—J 10 4 H—Bs 4 3 D—B 6-2 C—lo 5 4 Y A B Z / S-Q 7 H—A K 6 D—A K5 2 ¥ C—A KJ 9 How should' Z plan the play of the hand and why ? \ At love score A bids one spade; Y and B, no bid; Z, one no trump; and all pass. The hands of A and Y (dummy) are as follows: — S-Q 6 H-Q8 4 3 - D—lo 98 4 C —B 7 5 S—AK7S2 y H ~ J 7 A B D-K Q 5 C-10 6 2 Z The play is as follows, winning cards being starred:— Tricks. . Score. A Y B Z Y.Z. A.B. 1. S—s S—Q* S—4 S—3 1 0 2. C—2 C—s C—3 C—J* 2 0 3. C—6 C—7 C—Q C-K* 3 0 4. C—lo C—B S —B C—A* 4 0 5. ll—7 S—6 ll—s C—9* 5 0 6. H—J ll—3 H—6 C —4* 6 0 At trick 7 Z leads the ace of diamonds. How should A play and why ?