BRIDGE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14441, 6 February 1909, Page 4

BRIDGE.

THE I'L.W OF THE HANI). Br " Cirr-CAVBNiiisir." (Author of " How to Win at Hridgc," file (oinplete JJiidge-J'laver," etc.). (All ltiglit.i Reserved.) Much has already been written dealing wil.ii the play of the hand, heads, dis° Cards, doiiok's, each one has its bearim; on the subject , yet. much at ill remains unsaid. _ Doubtless the dealer's task is the simplest. Xot only lias he or his partner eiijoyeti the privilege of ihe declaration, but once the initial lead lias been madi; ho knows wherein lies his strength or weakness. Home plan of campaign (should quickly originate in his brain an the result of reviewing Ihe forces at his disposal. ( ertaiii cards he can fee at a glance are good for tricks, whilst there are possibiliik s in other*. A successful linosso or the establishment o," a long suit may assist him to victory. (lowliest lie must never iia/.ard Ihe loss of a. game for the .sake of a few extra points.

TO KSTAJIMRH A SFIT. On a djcbration of No . Truuips the dealer's first aim must Iw to'establish one of liir, long suits. Af. the play of tho hand advances, his opponent's discards should show linn in which quarter danger is to lie apprehended, for he knows what manner »; discard they praeti.se. To apply the information so gathered will fre(|lKMitly lead to a r-:iiccc.*afiil finesse, and by liiicli hnesse Iw not only hopm to v/in the immediate trick with' a loner card than is out against him, but to tall that intcimediate card in the process when all should bo plain sailing. Whenever possible a finesse is left, to the second round ol a suit, as the fall of the cards in the lirel round may throw light on the position. Again, all things equal, yon would finesse into a hand wlkmicc, in'the eventof failure, you would rather tin lead sprang.

A linosse may he die moans of making »in additional card 01 re-ent-rv iu a curt, anil such additional card of' renij' r * V i lllll,v ' m>vo '"tstim-iiile value. J lie dealer inus ( know where ht> wishes to plaee the Irtiil, hut Ikhv is it to he done if there he no curds of re-entry in th;> do.sired (|u:irt«r? lie should retain a fttrd of re-entry in either hand just as long as ho «in. Nothing k quite so annoying as to have n manner of winnim; tricks in a hand with no card of re-entry to the same, alt-liouuh sometimes the dealer will l>e .able (« gc t over the difficulty by die timely sacrifice of a card in Ills other Ikiihl. Thus he may try,to draw the are of a suit with his king so as to make i;ood his queen in the other hand: hut Ms opponento will doubtless bo on the look-olit fur sneh manaMivres, mid tiro not always to be drawn. Take hand, and let. us suppose that- it contains nee. kinj,'. to five of Diamonds, with no other cards of re-entrv a,, y ? J n 't or kind. The dealer, who has called No Ttiiiiips, has only two small JJiamonds at his eommand." Two tricks ■are to lie won in the suit, without diffi(■•idty hut should Dummy's ace and kins; be held up 011 the iirst round, just double tho number will be made if (.ho outstanding Diamonds be equally divided. nrcCKIVINU THE OPPOSITION. A formidable weapon in the hands of tJK» dealer is the false-caul, which, as its name implies, .is a card played with the sole intention of deceiving the as t« the other cards held in the suit. An in tli<> raso of the finerse it ni.iv he employed to tiie play of any dcchu-atiim, Its object if> to make your opponents cither discontinue or continue n suit thev liuvo opened. For example, the dealer iwy ftW'j king, of » Buit, iuul wishing

it led him again would take the trick with the ace, so that one or both the

allies would he inclined to place the king with his partner rather than with the dealer.

Next let me cite an instance of the dealer wishing to frighten the enemy oil a suit they have opened. Hearts i.i the declaration and the load is a Diamond, a suit in which the dealer recognises that he. has three trie-Its out against him.

Dummy holds three nr four worthless cards of tho suit, and the dealer knave to thriv. His express desire is to drive I ho opposition off the suit so that he may finally discard from it. lie therefore plays his knave to the second round in the hope that his opponents', fearing a small trump on the third round, will drop the suit- of their own accord.

In conducting the play of an attacking suit declaration the dealer's firct- duty will be to draw his opponents' trumps. Onro having drawn them, he can ruff their long suits and procecd lo establish a plain suit on his own. The opposition, on the other hand, cannot return the compliment. Only in the event of his being able to utilise one or two little trumps in the weaker hand or the establishment of a cross ruff should the dealer steer clear of

several rounds of tramps. To hoard trumps till the end of a hand is worse than useless.

To the allies I would say, do not over elaborate (lit? conventions or tliev niov distract your partner instead of assisting him. Against No Trumps your prospects of success lie in making a small card or two in a long suit. Make a point of returning your partner's original lead, unless you are satisfied that you hold a suit that can be more easily established. To open a fresh suit and to lead up to weakness in Dummy simply because yon see the latter can win the next trick in the suit originally led is a snie:d;il proceeding. Changing and chopping suits at No Trumps is not to be encouraged. False-carding must he eschewed by the allies, as it would merely mislead' each other. Finessing, too, is seldom to be attempted. and it is a inistuke to finesse against one's partner's le;id to an attacking suit declaration. It may lead to the loss of a trick or two. as later in the hand your high cards may be trumped, besides which it may very easily mislead your partner.

Occasionally, however, a finesse may be attempted against a No Trnmper. That is to say, if third-in-hand, in response to an original lead, sees that Dummy can only be prevented from making a trick in the suit by his trying a finesse, then lie may tempt the gods.

THE CALL. Jhe call tor a suit at Bridge is the playing of an high card (notabove a 10) followed by the play of a lower one. To a suit declaration it is tantamountto saying, " i can trump the suit ou the tuird round. Against No Trumps the '■call" signifies that you possess great sticngth in that suit, and in cither instance it is a demand for the suit to be'led again.

One .'orm of discard which has not yet been mentioned is useful on occasion and ran be put into effect against a, No Trnmper oi'.suit declare. H is the .discard of the ace from a sequence which includes .tt, king, queen, knave, etc. On m, your partner would instantly give you a card of the suit, and your good cards would then not ho wasted

Above all things, avoid ctu'elcsfincss. The play of one small card instead of another may completely deceive your partner and is calculated to ruffle his temper to a sad degree. Thus yon 1 , should ever play to a. trick from the boltoni of a sequence, it is only the leader, who opens from the top of a sequence, always excepting tho leiul of king from, ace, king, and'others. The loader to a red suit declare need never be afraid of forcing tho declarer's ftuiinps, but he must caretuily avoid leading ■a card which will admit of the dealer 'trumping from his weak band.

THK PLAY Of TIIIED-IN-HAXD j presents few ililiicultics. His business is 'to take the trick i! lie can in the majority of instoi*, mih'Hi it is already his partner's. Occasionally he will deviate from this course and hold up. a card in a suit •so as to prevent- Dummy from establishing a long suit. Against No Trumps he 'must also he careful not to (jet- in his partner's way and so block the suit originally led. To prevent, such an unfortunate inMhance lie had better retain tho lowent card of the suit led to the last, even it it bo-the means of his taking a trick already his partner's. Thus,"holding ace and ono oiJier. lib would take his partner's king if it were led. unless ho could see that by so doing Dummy was hound to make a, trick in the suit.

Ihe allies will also draw Dummy's card? of re-ei thy whA feasible if by sncli methods iho-y can prevent a long suit being established in his hand.

Secoiid-iii-hand plays tho lowest card to a trick, but should he sec his way to annexing it' with a- lower card than aco or king he had better win it. in the case of a suit declare, unless it be. a trump and lie can niaku the card in question in good time.

('over queen, knave, or 10 if it, be led and ynn hold the card above it in value. Depend upon jt a- finesse is in progress. Tho trick will in ail probability be lost, but. it. will have cost, the position two high cards to your one, and may help you or your partner to a trick in the long run.