CONTRACT BRIDGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23040, 18 May 1938, Page 24

CONTRACT BRIDGE

SHUT-OUT BIDDING

WHEN TO PRE-EMPT

BT 0. L. EASTGATB

In the hand given last week, tho value of pre-emptive bidding is clearly shown. Here is the hand: — West dealer. Uoth sides vulnerable.

The official pars for these Olympic hands have not reached me at time of writing, but I should imagine tho bidding would go like this:— W«*t North East South pass 14* double 4 A pass pass pass Over South's pre-empt vulnerable, West can hardly go five hearts, even with his five-card suit headed by queen-jack-ten, and his partner's take-out double. As it happens, it would have been an excellent sacrifice bid, as fire hearts can only be defeated one trick by the best defence. But it is just n shade too risky, and might easily incur a heavy set. Against the normal lead of the heart queen by West, four spades should be made by South; only against a diamond lead should it be defeated. Careful Flay Needed Hand No. 3 looks like a six-heart contract by North-South, which can be made by careful play. The hand is:— South dealer.

* AKQ 10 3 2 North should be the declarer, .and East's natural lead is the king of diamonds, ruffed in dummy. Declarer must make provision for a 4 —l break in trumps. Two diamonds havo to be ruffed if this is so, and the club suit brought in. His safest plan is to immediately lose a trump trick, by leading a trump from dummy and ducking in his own hand. East should return a trump, but declarer can ruff a second diamond* with the last trump in dummy, return to his own hand and draw the outstanding two trumps, and run the club suit, which, with the ace of spades, will give him twelve tricks, three hearts, two ruffs, one spade and six clubs. Viewing Trump Situation At first view of this hand the natural inclination is to lead out trumps, but a good player should always pause and view the trump situation especially, and plan his play accordingly. Safety is the great factor in some contracts, according to circumstances. t ln the above hand, a spade lead will defeat the contract, as declarer's ace will be knocked out before the trumps are all taken out, and the player with the long trump is also short of clubs, but this is the only lead which would seriously trouble the declarer, and no doubt should this lead be made the declarer will get due credit. CURRENT EVENTS At the Northern Contract Bridge Club the third round of the monthly pairs, match-point, resulted: —NorthSouth: Mesdames Heighway and Tucker, 68 per cent, 1; Mesdames Fenton and Mackenzie, 65.5 per cent, 2; Mesdames Nettleton and de C. Lowe, 64.7 per cent, 3. East-West: Heighway and Warren. 59.3 per cent, 1; Dr. Mackenzie and N. Mitchell, and Mrs. Spencer and Miss M. Wright, 56.5 per cent, equal, 2. NEXT WEEK'S HAND This is another Olympic hand, and looks like a contract of four spades by West, with North leading the heart king. The play is the thing and is a little tricky:— West dealer. North-South vulnerable.