BRIDGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 13

BRIDGE.

' DEFENSIVE DECLARATIONS. By " Cttt-Cavexdish." (Author of " How to Win at Brigde,"' J'The Complete Bridge Player," etc.). ! ' (All Rights Reserved.) Defensive declarations do not as a rule come within the dealer's province. In fact, it is a debatable point whether the dealer should ever declare defensively at all. A bkck suit declare to the score, be it understood, does not come under the 6ame category. In the ordinary way, the game being young, the dealer 'finding himself unable to call No Trumps or a red suit promptly leav-es the declaration •to Dummy. There is nothing to prevent the latter holding a powerful hand, and the game may still be won. Should his hand be a poor one, the remedy is obvious. He will be forced to call Spades, a suit, by the way, in which the dealer may be well represented. The great iv.ne in dispute is whether Spades should ever be called by the dealer for defensive purposes. Everybody is agreed that for the dealer to make an attacking Spades declaration, save to the score, is a proceeding not to Be countenanced for a single moment, but fierce battles have been fought over the dealer , and a defensive Spade call, and we are no nearer to a truce being struck. As my views on the subject have undergone no change since. they found- expression in " The Complete Bridge Player," I may be excused if I reproduce the arguments that found favour in that publication. SHOULD DEALER DECLARE DEFENSIVELY. • Although defensive declarations on the part, of the dealer are regarded with disfavour in Clubland, fortuna-tely the great majority of players are beginning to recognise the necessity of acting on the strict defensive when emergency arises. Granted that to win at Bridge you must rely on your attacking declarations to pull you through, yet there comes a time when the dealer has a loss to cut, and had far better call Spades than allow his partner to play ducks and drakes with the score. Let us review the situation dispassionately. The dealer, we will suppose, picks up a hand containing no vestige of a trick in it. By means of a Spade declare he is able to reduce the trick value to a minimum. Surely this is the wisest step to take seeing that he cannot expect to j make a single trick in his own hand, and ! that it is simple madness to imagine that , Dummy is going to score seven or eight tricks off his own bat. The dealer should recognise that there is a loss to be cut, ■ and proceed to cut it. I know you will fail to convince some people of the wisdom of the dealer's ever adopting defensive tactics in relation to the declare. Theirs is a species of Bridge blindness bom of a gambling spirit. They would rather lose 40 games on end by their reckless" obstinacy than chance the loss of a single victory as the result of a defensive declare. Well, I suppose they must be allowd to hold thir own opinions in the matter — they certainly pay pretty dearly for them. Now, what are the arguments on the other side? Against an original defensive declaration it is advanced that the dealer's opponents will probably double the call, and then finesse relentlessy against the declared weakness. Nor can this be denied. But 'tis wiser when the Fates demand it, not to run a fruitless risk. Gamb.le only to the score or when the odds favour your side of the house. With no trick in your hand, to leave it to your partner ••will in nine cases out of 10 result disastrously. H« cannot for a moment know that your hand is absolutely valueless, anl declares in the ordinary way. No Trumps or an attacking suit is pretty certain to be his casting vote, and you are in for a nasty shock. It appears to me a suicidal proceeding to pass the declaration pn to Dummy when your hand contains no semblance of a trick, apart from which the man, who' is known to declare a defensive Spade originally, gains a considerable advantage over the opponents to this system. His partners never need be afraid of declaring up to their full strength, a factor which has no mean bearing on th« game. A WEAK HAND DEFINED. As to what measure of weakness the dealer ought to declare Spades on is the next point to decide. Holding an ace, I should never call a Spade defensively, as you are certain of a trick, Thus if you consider that you have the makings of a trick in your hand you may eafely pae= the declaration with a clear conscience. The hand, which contains a trick, serves, a double purpose, for it enables the diealer to place the lead in his own hand at least once, whilst often allowing him to attempt a successful finesse. Where there are possibilities in your hand, never as dealer declare defensively, except to the score. Thus, should you hold an ace, or a king and queen, or a king and knave, or two queens, or a queen and two knaves, I would advise you to leave the call to your partner. Weaker hands than these demand defensive measures. There is apparently an exception to every rule, and unless there were I suppose we should) have no rules at all. Thus, should the enemy be within a few points of the final game of the rubber, and the declaring" side be toiling away hopelessly in the rear, the dealer, however poor his hand may be, wouldi leave the declaration j to Dummy rather than declare defensively. A comparatively few pop.ts below the line need not be taken into account at 6uch a stage, and a double is very unlikely to come along seeing that the, opposition will be unwilling to take the slightest risk. It is obvious that syc^ess cgn j hardly, be. exjgected. ifi <y&vra the,

manoeuvre, but occasionally the gam* m?-y be snatched out of the fire. \ A DIFFICULT POINT. ; Another defensive declaration by the dealer not generally accepted I am aLo inclined to advocate. Reference is made j | to a Heart, Diamond, or Club declaration ' on cix of the suit irrespective of thtir. size and the weight of the cards compos- i ing the other suits. j Let us take ti6 an example a ha&d con- ■ tain ing six comparatively small '"Hearts [ : "with no picture in any of the remaining j suite. What' is' to be 'done? Shall it be j a Heart, a defensive Spade, or is the de- j clare to be left to Dummy? Any one of those courses has its drawbacks, and the question is which is open to leagt. objection. When all the strength 1 lies' 'in one direction I prefer to throw in my lot : with the six trump declaration. The big cards are, it will be seen, spread over three hands instead of four, and therefore Dummy should be able to assist the dealer materialh'. This being so, dealer's numerical force in trumps should be of considerable value, and might actually be the means of establishing a suit, in Dummy, whilst if the latter holds a gocd No Trumper the game would still very probably be won on a Heart declare. In fact, whether I were the dealer or Dummy, I should be inclined to " chance the ducks," and declare a suit declaration on any six cards of a suit. The oonsequences which wotild occasionally have* to be faced, if the worst came to the worst, would he to find four or- five honours" in one hand out against you, or the declaration doubled. Against this the probabilities are that six of a euit would embrace one or two honours, when the risk incurred would be less. In my previous article I made no men tion of an attacking declaration in Clubs by the dealer towards the commencement of a game. The omission was intentional, as a declaration of the kind does not commend itself to me. Still, it ought to be referred to casually, seeing that scores of players persistently make an original Club call, provided they possess four or five honours in the suit. They attach great importance to the -32 or 40 which accrues above the line. Snch an item is by no means to be sneezed at, and if the game was only sufficiently advanced as to hold out some prospect of the 30 mark being reached, I should be the first to cordially welcome it. But this is not the case in the- early stages of a game, and therefore I say give Dummy a chance of making a more valuable declaration. The dealer's Clubs will still be a trick-majdng factor, whilst there will always be the possibility of winning the game on a left call. Should a weak Spade be the response, the dealer must face the inevitable like a philosopher. His loss cannot be a very serious one. ! A word of caution. When Dummy, never call Clubs on four small ones to an honour, with little eke besides, just because you happen to hold only one solitary Spade. The attacking suit declaration, which can hardly win the game, and may yet easily lose it, is to be avoided like poison.