BRIDGE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIII, Issue 7, 18 August 1909, Page 11

BRIDGE.

Bridge Problem and Solution. Score: AB,O;Y Z, 0. Z deals and declares no-trumps. Y’s and Z’s hands are as follows:-— Y’s Hand (Dummy).— Hearts, queen, 4, 2; diamonds, jack, 9,5, 3; clubs, 10, 6; spades, jack, 4,3, 2. Z’s Hand (Dealer). —Hearts, king, 3. diamonds, ace, queen; clubs, queen, 9, 7 4,2: spades, ace, 7,6, 5. The first three cards played are ai follows:—

How ought Z to play the hand, and why 1 SOLUTION. There is nothing to be gained by holding up the ace of spades, because A’s next lead is more likely to be harmful than helpful to Z. If he continues with the 10 he will take out Y’s only certain card of entry, and if he branches to hearts, the king can be drawn quite cheaply, and, if the ace is with B, the whole suit ean be brought in when A next gets the lead. Z should take with the ace of spades, therefore, and lead out ace and queen of diamonds. If the king is played, Y’s knave will be established, and possibly his 9 as well. If the king as not played, Z will at least have made two tricks in the suit, whereas he may .only make one if he waits for the finesse. Jn this case the next lead should be a spade. The rest of the hand must depend upon the play of his adversaries. A QUESTION OF LEAD. !A correspondent of the “London Sporting and Dramatie Journal” points out that the lead of king, from king, queen, knave, etc., irrespective of the leitftrt

length of suit, ia recommended by a ■well-known writer on bridge, and asks whether they adopt this lead, and the editor replies that they do not, because it is not the recognised lead at bridge, but, on the contrary, it has always been the custom of the best players to lead the king if they have only four in suit, and the knave if they have five or more, precisely as at whist. The reason of this distinction is, of course, that with the greater length in suit they want their partner to put on the ace, if he has it; whereas with four only they do not want him to part with it at once. At least, this was the idea at whist; but, as we shall endeavour to show, the reasoning does not remain quite as good at bridge.

At no-trumps, for instance, no good partner will ever block your long suit with the ace. If you lead him the king, and he has ace and one other only, he will put on his ace and return you the small card. If he has ace and two others he Will wait until the second round, and Bo on. And with the king lead there Is this advantage: that it tells your partner conclusively that you have at least the queen behind it. He knows, if it is your original lead in a no-trump band, that you have led from king, queen, knave—king, queen, ten—or king, queen, and at least four small ones, and this information may be of the greatest service to him.

Suppose you lead the knave, on the Other hand, and the dealer wins it with the ace. Your partner cannot tell where the king and queen are, for the dealer may or may not be false-carding. Now, if you have simply led him a strengthening card, it would be utterly useless for him to return the lead; but if you have led from king, queen, knave, etc., you naturally want it back at the first opportunity. What is he to do? He can only make a mental toss-up, and with the result that he probably does the [Wrong thing.

it will "be seen, therefore, that there is a good deal to be said in favour of the king lead, and, as a matter of fact, wo sometimes employ it in actual play if we think it important to let our partner know at once what we have behind it, But the number-showing leads are a pretty piece of whist convention, and we should be sorry to see them abandoned; for they enable a skilful partner to count your hand, and thus may help turn considerably in his play, even though your suit may never be established.