A BRIDGE CLINIC.

Southland Times, Issue 21193, 20 September 1930, Page 13

A BRIDGE CLINIC.

APPROACHING THE PLAY

(By

Horatius.)

Auction Bridge may be divided into two sections: bidding and play. Both open wide fields for study and progressive development without fear of their variety being exhausted. Of course, the bidding of the hands is vitally important, because, apart from the chance to play the game in the trump of one’s own choice, it affords opportunities for giving and garnering information which influences the subsequent play’. Naturally the probabilities of the play influence the bidding, because the value of a hand, in all cases, cannot be estimated without the skill of the person playing it being taken into account. In all cases, however, it must be assumed that the player acts reasonably, and is of average capacity in playing the cards. Therefore let us consider bidding. As the Pencil Bridge editor uses the four points of the compass to represent his players I will follow suit, and so A and B, with their old opponents, Y and Z disappear to make way for West and East, and North and South. It is of vital importance to remember that the silent partner is not popular. The object of the partners is to combine their hands to the best advantage, and if one of them persistently refuses to bid his friend will quickly become exasperated and tired of continued plunging in the dark. As soon as the beginner comes in contact with experienced players he hears about Conventions, and usually he defends his ignorance of them with the declaration that they are unfair and that he could never retain a list of arbitary orders which would be useless unless one’s partner knew all about them. He may fined some encouragement in the attitude of Colonel Buller, one of the stalwarts of the Portland Club, who says that he never plays conventions but relies on card sense, even in Contract Bridge. But even Colonel Buller believes in and uses the Informatory Double, and in the Portland Club there are players who use what is known as the Two Quick Trick approach bid—but more of these mysteries later. It is true that the employment of extravagant conventions, especiallv some borrowed from Contract, is a nuisance, but, as we shall see, some of the common conventions are based on commonsense, and can be remembered easily. In the meantime let the beginner remember that conventions are not rules. They are merely devices to assist partners to make the best use of their opportunities in bidding.

The first problem confronting the beginner is the valuation of his hand for initial or unfettered bids. These are bids made when no other bid has been made. For instance the Dealer's first bid is an initial or unfettered bid, and if he says “No Bid,” the player on his left has the opportunity to make an initial bid. This bid is most important, because it can convey so much to a partner, and it is the nlace where serious mistakes are frequently made. In their anxiety to obtain some guide in valuing a hand for this bid, many beginners rush to systems based on points, the object being to secure some mathematical or automatic method of determining how many tricks may be bid. There are a number of these systems abroad, most of them complicated and burdensome, and none of them sufficiently reliable to meet the varying conditions of a game that is always developing. One system allots so many points to an Ace, so many to a King, and so on through the honours after which the aggregation of a certain number of points is said to justify a particular bid. Beginners

will find, however, that the Double Valuation method is preferable, and we will proceed to consider it, because in the discussion of it we will be able to learn quite a lot about bidding. First, it must be understood that the basis of this system is the discovery that in attack (when the bidder plays the contract) a hand is approximate'-- twice as strong as it is in defence (that is, when the other side plays the contract). Consider a suit of five cards, headed by the Ace and King (This is called “five to the Ace, King”). If this is the trump suit it will be worth three tricks for certain and probably four; but if some other suit is the trump, it will be worth only two tricks. Mr R. E. Foster provides an excellent illustration of superiority of attack over defence. He arranges the cards so that each hand is the same in value. North may have Ace, Jack, Ten, 7,2 in Spades, East will then have the same in Hearts, South the same in Diamonds and West the same in Clubs. Similarly with the distribution of the other cards. Now at No-Trumps, the player (anyone of the four) who plays the contract will make eight tricks, possibly more, leaving the defenders five or four. This means that the superiority of attack to defence is as 8 to 5, or 9 to 4—approximately double. In suit the superiority is just as marked. In Auction, therefore, remember that the attacker has an advantage because he can see the two hands he has to combine —his own and Dummy’s—while his opponents have not this privilege. They’ can see Dummy, but not the two hands they wish to combine.

Remember I am talking about the Double Valuation system as the best guide to values, especially in the modern game which favours what is known as forward bidding. In the meantime we will use this sy’stem to discuss Major suit bidding suited to the beginner’s capacity’ to play the hands. A few years ago one never bid One of a major suit without holding five of the suit headed by the Ace or the King and Queen, and assisted by’ an outside trick. These were hands on which One Spade could be bid as an initial bid:

S: A, 10 x x x; H: A x x; D: x x x; C: x x.

S: K, Q x x x; H: x x x; D: A x x; C: x x.

When the tyro has made this bid he expects his partner to hold two trumps, one of them an honour or three small trumps and an outside trick. This may be called “normal expectancy,” and it does not justify’ the partner increasing the bid to Two. Remember I am talking of tyros. Today bidding in suit is done on only four trumps, but we are advancing by’ easy stages and gaining an understanding of card values. Now assuming that the bid is made on the first hand I have given and the partner accepts, we will look at four hands: S: 9,8, 4. H: J, 5,3, 2. D: A, 10. C: Q. 8,5, 2. North S: Q, 6. 5. S: K, J, H: K, 10. H: Q, S, 6, 7. D: Q, 8,6, 3. West East D: K, J, 7. 5. C: A, K, 9, 3 C: J, 10, 4, South S: A, 10, 7,3, 2. H: A, 9. 4. D: 9,4, 2. C: 7, 6. (Continued in Column 6.)