A BRIDGE CLINIC

Southland Times, Issue 22345, 9 June 1934, Page 11

A BRIDGE CLINIC

AUCTION AND CONTRACT PLAYING THE CARDS.

(By

“Horatius.”)

In a letter a reader asks when he should lead out trumps. That is an awkward question to answer, because 1- the only proper reply is: when it is of advantageous. However, it is a matter m worth considering, because there are re many players who do not know how to le manage their trumps when they are ae playing a contract. st First let us go back to the Declarril ant’s duty to his hand. If there has s” been any bidding from the other side 1_ he must endeavour to use this to place ss certain key cards and to gauge the to distribution. An opponent has bid n > Hearts and you hold the Ace. It is a si fair assumption that he holds either K-Q-J-x or a 5-card suit headed by K or K-Q. If he holds a 5-card suit ‘n someone at the table has fewer t- than three in that suit. His bid n. may also give some indication Li of his honour strength, and posid sibly the cards held. The opening h. lead may add to your information, and the Dummy increases it. Therefore, ly do not play on the first lead until you i- have studied Dummy, counted your re sure tricks and considered how you may develop others, as well as the id effect of allowing your opponents to lead to later tricks. This last is the st Time Factor. You should assume your ‘e opponents will attack you at your j® weakest point as soon as the chance ;e offers, so that you cannot protect yourit self by anticipating this attack where J" and when you can. Take this hand: n S. A-K-x-x-x; H: x-x-x; D: A-x; C: K-x-x, with these cards in Dummy—is S: Q-x-x; H: A-x-x; D: K-Q-J-x; C: n Q-x-x. Spades are trumps. It is clear I: that if the Diamonds are established, losing Hearts can be discarded, but if i- the opponents obtain the lead they d will force the Heart position or the b Clubs. If the opening lead is Hearts, o the play is simple. The Ace takes and e the trumps are cleared, after which ,f the Diamonds are played to gain the it Heart discards. Nothing is done with y the Clubs until this position has been e protected because otherwise two tricks must be lost in Hearts and two in ® Clubs. That is a simple example of . the Time Factor. This point is important because it I will often determine whether you will lead trumps at once or seek to estabt lish a ruffing position. Remember e that when you lead trumps you take g them from Dummy. If you hold A-K- -_ Q-x-x in your own hand and J-10-9-8 s in Dummy you will make only five ) tricks in trumps if you keep leading i them; but if you hold A-K-Q-J-10 and i, x-x in Dummy you will make six or 1 seven tricks if you can use Dummy’s L two little trumps for ruffing. Theref fore, it is often advisable to estab2 lish a ruffing position before you touch / the trumps, and the advisability of 1 doing this will depend also on the Time * Factor: what will happen if the oppon- • ents obtain the lead when you at--1 tempt to obtain a ruffing position? 1 Where you are short in trumps and *■ suspect that one of your opponents 3 has length equal to or exceeding your • best in trumps, the ruff may be the J best way to escape his strength, particularly if you can sit over him in * ruffing. Remember, too, that when you ' force him to ruff you shorten his ' trumps and this may be of great assist- ’ ance in the later stages when longsuits are established. If you wish to ruff a suit prefer the one which ’ has cards which can be established as , winners. Assuming you have a choice, it is better to ruff out a suit like Q-J--x-x than one Q-x-x-x, because the former’s Queen can be established as a winner, which the enemy must trump. While you are ruffing losers you are lessening your own trumps and the enemy in front of you will not be compelled to trump, knowing you must, and he will discard other suits to provide himself with a favourable ruffing position. Holding A-K-Q-x and J-10-9-x in Dummy would you lead out? Look at the two hands and count your losing cards. If you lead out your trumps you will still lose these tricks. Can you protect those losers, or any of them? Say all the five opposing trumps are in one hand against you—to lead out will be fatal. But if you cross-ruff using your top cards when there is a danger of being over-ruffed you can make eight tricks in trumps, whereas to lead out will secure you only four. Of ’Course, if you have winners in the other suits and can see outside of the four trump tricks enough to make your contract, go ahead; but even then the value of overtricks makes it worth while playing for the fullest use of your trumps. Assume the cross ruff position is established. You trump small on the first rounds and then having unbeatable trumps you proceed about the use of them, but not before you have made any established winners in other suits, because while you are making these high trumps your opponents will be obtaining discards and you may find your beautiful Ace ruffed in turn. Therefore, holding the lead and being resolved on play which will carry cross-ruffing through all your trumps, make your established winners before you start—Aces or honours established as definite winners. Don’t risk throwing the lead away unless you are prepared for a lead of trumps which will rob you of a trick by reducing your ruffing opportunities. Sometimes you have the high trumps in one hand and small trumps in Dummy. Ruffing with Dummy’s increases your power, and leaves your high honours to deal with the enemy’s trumps when they are led. Amongst modI erate players this inability to see when to adopt the ruffing play is common—it is the sign of inefficiency. Do not accept the old Whist dictum that you must first clear the trumps—that is hopelessly obsolete. Your first duty is to see how you can use your trumps to turn the tricks you must otherwise win into tricks you can win. Suppose you hold: S: A-K-Q-J-10-9-X--x-x; C: x-x-x-x and Dummy holds S: x; H: x-x-x-x-x-x; D: x-x-x-x-x -x. You cannot make Four Spades by leading out, but if you lead a Club for Dummy to ruff the game is made. Four-card bidding involved a new outlook in trumps. Culbertson’s Distributional Count gives certain values to voids, singletons and doubletons because they offer ruffing opportunities, if you deliberately throw them away you are casting aside values which were counted in lifting the bids to the contract you are playing. Do not allow your own hand to be forced to ruff when you see that trump-clearance is your best line. Take this hand:

East opened with One Heart and South got the contract in Spades. West led the 10 of Hearts. It was a fair assumption that East has a 5-card suit, headed by K-Q-J ; so that West probably holds only one other. If North’s Ace wins and trumps are led, West, taking the first Spade lead, will return

Hearts and force South to trump, leaving himself with K-Q-J, while West holds 9-8-3. To clear trumps will exhaust himself, and South knows that the Heart suit will be fatal to him. He hasn’t the re-entries in Dummy to ruff the Hearts but if he did he would find West discarding to ruff the Clubs. Here South should protect himself by letting the 10 win. When the suit is continued he wins with the Ace, discarding a Club, and leads trumps. Now, West can win with his Ace, but he must lead Diamonds or Clubs both of which assist South. If the Diamonds, and East’s Ace makes, he may lead Hearts, but now the Diamond suit is established, and South will ruff with the Jack. He will make the 10 in Dummy and exhaust West with his King and Queen, after which the Diamonds and Clubs are good. The crucial play is on the first lead—don’t allow your own hand to be forced to use a trump.