AUCTION MADE EASY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17865, 5 June 1926, Page 23 (Supplement)

AUCTION MADE EASY.

BETTER PART OF VALOUR. No. 3. Before we come to the comparatively simple business of playing the hand, let us complete our consideration of the far more subtle art of calling it. I have already briefly dealt with the main problems that arc likely to pttzzle humdrum players. Though the advice so far tendered may sound simple and obvious, I know many fairly respectable club card-table habitues whose fascinations as partners would be enhanced from twenty-five to fifty per cent by practising consistently what I have inadequately preached. But there are other devices in the bidding that merit just a passing comment. A favourite coup with lots of players is the pre-emption call. This means a first-call bid, right off the reel, of two, three, or even more, with the avowed object of frightening off all opposition, and telling the player’s partner to stand clear and mind his own busiThe Pre-emptive Pitfall. While I am far from condemning this device for occasional and exceptional use, my own experience has been that, on the whole, it does not pay. It often provokes a still, more intimidating opposition bid, for all Auction Bridge players are not timorous “rabbits,” and obviously, if the original caller holds a real preemption bid, treak hands are quite likely to be dealt elsewhere too. Besides which it still more often shuts out what would have been a still more profitable, as well as safer, bid by the caller’s partner. llow often have I watched the bold pre-emption bid crash amid the dust of incalculably freak hands, and heard a disillusioned partner, after duly debiting his score with the ex--pensive totals above the line on the opponents’ side, observe, more in anger than in sorrow. “Jf you had only called one, or even two, of your suit, partner. I should have gone, and got, three no-trumps.” The Bid cf Two. If you hold a long suit, with top honours minus the ace, a two bid right off as a first call is not so much preemption as a signal to y*our partner that you have exactly what you hold. That is a sound bid, and generally leads to business. If 3-our partner calls you off into another suit, ponder well before going further with your own. If 3'ou hold an honour, or even four small cards, in his suit, the probability is, as lie is most likely devoid of your own, the hand will be better played in his call. If lie calls no trumps, your decision, whether to leave him in at that, or to overcall him in y*our suit, must hinge upon the calling by the opponents, and the real strength of 3'our own hand. If yours is a hopeless affair outside your suit, and that is strong, which implies some breadth as well as great length, better overcall him. If you lack a safe stopper in any suit called against his no-trumps, obviously you either hold your peace, or proceed to call higher in your own suit, greatly fortified by the sure and certain knowledge that vour partner is a safe man, and has - a good all-round hand to back 3-our suit. Discreet Audacity. If your partner passes \*our call in ominous silence, and you are overcalled, think furiously, but verv clearly. before tempting fate again. Another point where weak players often fail badly is where their partner has made an unforced normal no-trump call, and’ been overcalled in a suit, or possibly even in no-trumps. In the former case, if you have a suit, you are immensely encouraged to call it. \\ hether you do so, or prefer to put him up in no-trumps, depends on whether you hold the essential stopper in the opponents’ called suit, or the general sujjport your hand affords to a no-trump call, and on the strength of your best suit. But a suit call, backed by a no-trump bid, is a very useful thing to score with. That way lies the safety-first avenue. And discretion is never more truly the soul of valour than at Auction Bridge, provided it is not pushed to the length of sheer punctilious funk. The great gift is what I might call discreet audacity. But that belongs to the higher order of card sense, and, like the poet, is born, not manufactured.

Partner's No-Trump Call. There are two way’s of supporting a partner against an overcall in a suit on a no-trump bid. If your hand is reasonably good, support for no-trumps, and you have the suit overcall well and truly stepped, which means something more than king and another,''or queen three times, you may either put him up in no-trumps or double the suit call. That gives your partner the option of leaving in the double, or resuming his no-trump bid on a higher call. In actual practice the policy of putting up the call is best when you hold no more than a stopper in the menacing suit overcall, with good cards outside in other suits; and a double

I is best when you hold the challenging I suit particularly well, but have not j much outside. The strategy of the !game is always to play the hand with the most favourable chances to your own partnership and the worst to the enemy. If there is an obvious risk, and , no rubber is at hazard on that particular call, let the latter incur it rather than yourselves. With practice and intelligent observation you develop a sense of the psychological moment to stop bidding, and allow the other firm to rush in where angels would indent for trench waders. When Ace is Needed. If you hold two suits fairly well, try to bid both, beginning with the lower denomination. Thus, if y*ou hold clubs and hearts, start with one club, and, if overcalled by* one spade, call two hearts next time. It is always possible your alert partner, on this revelation of reserve strength, will either change you over to the suit he prefers, or blossom forth into no-trumps. A one call in clubs on the first round of bidding is a generally* recognised signal to the caller’s partner to try* his luck at no-trumps if his hand holds any promise. But except in dire rubb*er emergency*, sound play*ers do not call one in a minor suit without some strength distributed elsewhere too. And, let me add again, never without the ace. To break that golden rule is morally equivalent to firing on the Red Cross or hitting your own partner below the belt. In a really civilised community it would be made a criminal offence, and the offender shot at dawn, without breakfast, by* a platoon of cross-eyed sappers! Now I hope I have emphasised that point sufficiently*. It will henceforth be taken for granted. It is an old adage of the. London club cardrooms that all the best midnight seats on the Thames Embankment are occupied by people who did not lead trumps. We may* come to that later. Meanwhile, I state categorically that, not on, but underneath those shivering embankment seats, repose those who called one without the ace. Let us proceed to less gloomy* topics. Note Your Opponents’ Calls. When the bidding is going on, it is just as important to remember, and ponder, your opponents’ call as y*our partner’s. When the agonising position is that a rubber is at stake, strong men and determined women do many things that, in other circumstances, might be deemed rash and adventurous. Even at such a crisis, however, temper heroism with sanity*. Save the rubber if you can, but not at ruinous cost. Personally I hesitate long before putting my* partner tip to three on any suit called against a firm bid of two no-trumps. Similarly* I am reluctant unless there is reason to deduce quite exceptional circumstances, to put him up to three, however good my support, against what look like genuine bids by the opponents in two different suits. A sound plan, when in doubt whether to put up your partner’s bid, is to pass the first time, even though he is overcalled. If he goes up himself, without any encouragement from you. it may be safe to give him one extra lift, on the strength of your own hand if he is again overcalled on the next round .But this must never be done without some support, and, if the support is obviously good, a first-round failure to advance his call may* be disastrous. Intelligent attention to the bidding will generally enable a keen play*er to deduce how far his partner’s call is a genuine attack, and how far dictat- , ed by* hopes of luring the foe into the open fer a good double. Because Auction Bridge is not an exact science. If it were, it would be deadly dull, instead of alive with subtle fascinations. And there is spendid scope for astute hunton psychology as well as real Sherlock Holmes detective analysis. My* object is to persuade timid players that there is no difficulty in perfecting themselves in these gentle arts, and that, while super players are in a class by themselves, anyone with enthusiasm. and ordinary four-ounce mentality*. can acquire adequate expertness U> plav safely* in any company* that does not include professional card sharpers. . (Another instalment next Saturday).