Evening Star Newspaper, September 14, 1930, Page 109

HE man doesn’t live who could stack the cards into as interest- ing hands as some that develop in actual play. The inanimate old deck of pasteboards can act like a fiend incarnate, seeming to relish its diabolic pranks and practical jokes, plus the dismay wrought on its victims. Or it can become the most friendly sort of ally, bestowing favors upon those who are ready to recognize and grasp them. It is a fact that many example hands used in the writings, lectures and broad- casts of various authorities are delib- erately set up by them for the purpose of illustrating some principle of bidding or play. It is also true, however, that their most interesting ones, full of the surprise element, are generally those which bob up during an actual deal, are recorded by some one present and then passed on to the one who promulgates them for the benefit of others. Most of the non-obvious hands come in the natural or accidental classifica- tion, including one which was dealt recently in a team-of-four match won by a team headed by Ralph Reed Rich- ards, the outstanding bridge expert of Detroit, who is ranked by many West- erners as the greatest player in the world. The other members of the team H 1 are Frank S. Eaton, who was a favorite - partner of “R. R. R.” in the days of whist; Irvin (“Cy”) Huston, who, besides his bridge powess, is famed for promot- ing billiards in the West, and R. Roosen, a youngster of 22, brilliant protege of Richards. Eaton held the south cards in this lay- out: & 3763 w3 ® AT65 & A432 NORTH |4 10843 v K ¢ KQ32 Q QJ 104 v soutn |[# QJ86 10876542 E & AK95 VY A9 ‘¢ Jo8 & K1098 West dealt and passed, Richards in the north passed, East passed and Eaton’s opening spade bid in the south was over- called by West's three hearts. North’s three-spade call was lifted after East's pass to four by S8outh, which ended the contracting. When the queen of hearts was led it appeared to Eaton as if he might lose two tricks in clubs, two in diamonds and one or two even in trumps. With proper ‘play, however, he limited his losses to one club trick and one diamond, thereby getting five-odd, or one over his contract. East’'s king falling on the first trick showed that it was a singleton, for with a guard to it West’s three-heart bid un- doubtedly would have been supported. This therefore placed West with the other eight hearts. South then led the trump ace, and the drop of West’s queen showed that he had no more, and therefore had exactly three cards between diamonds and clubs. The ten of clubs was now led and sacri- ficed to the jack of East, who hated to lead away from his hand. He chose the king of diamonds, which lost to the ace, North returning another diamond for East to win with the gueen. Now no matter what East leads North gets the rest of the tricks. Forcing East to lead twice wrecked the latter’s hand in a way that could hardly be cooked up with a stacked deck. B rirlge Intimacies. ENRY P. JAEGER of Cleveland, sec- ond president of the American Bridge League and one of the greatest of players, used to make collecting rare stamps his hobby. Ferhaps that is why he has acquired the habit of collecting rare bridge hands, The principal dif- ference is that he might have lost his collection of stamps, but his bridge hands can never be stolen from him. They are in his memory to stay—and howl! THE SUNDAY STAR, WRSHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 14, 1930. & 7uEe BriDGE FOrRUM * No Man Can Stack Up Hands as Intere;ting as Those That Are Dealt in Actual Play. “Bridge.” Drawn for The Star's Sunday Magazine by F. Stroihmann. Retribution: Suppose you were a deck of cards and heard yourself reviléd By some one with a bitter tongue until he drove you wild; You wouldn't merely take the knocks and brace yourself to spite him, You'd want to smash his eyes and nose and kick and gouge and bite him. But if somebody spoke of you as true and kind and good, You’d try with all your might and main to aid him all you could; You’d help him beat the yellow dog who hurt you with abuse; Each time you let him have an ace, his foe would get the deuce. Engaging Frankness. 13 O you play bridge?” Arthur Free- man was asked recently by an- other prominent advertising man. “No,” he replied, “but I can't give up the game anyway.” Signs of Fall, As the first robin betokens the ap- proach of Spring, so does Wilbur C. Whitehead’s annual bridge teachers’ week mark the proximity of the busy Fall and Winter season for bridge. The fourth annual one, to be held in the Lombardy Hotel in New ¥ork, is barely a week away, beginning Monday, Sep- tember 15, and lasting for six solid days. Teachers from all over the country will be drilled in his semi-forcing system of contract bidding, other methods also being explained by prominent sponsors of them. Teaching technique, the con- duct of tournaments and other matters will be covered, and those who success- fully complete the course will carry certificates or diplomas back home with them. A Law a Week. DRAWING for partners and deal—At the start of each rubber, in regular rubber play, a shuffled pack shall be spread face down on the table. Each player draws by lifting a card from the spread pack and showing its face. If a player shows more than one card, or one of the four cards at either end of the pack, it is a misdraw by that player and he must draw again. In the draw, as between cards of equal rank, the suits rank: Spades highest, hearts, diamonds and clubs lowest. He who draws highest becomes the first dealer and has choice of packs of cards and seats; he may con- sult his partner before choosing; but, having chosen must abide by his de- cision. He who draws second highest is dealer’s partner and sits opposite him. The third highest has choice of the two remaining seats; fourth highest takes the vacant one. At the beginning of every rubber the players draw for partners and for choice of seats and packs. (Next—A pass out of turn.) Contract Systems. HAT is the “forcing raise” used by some players, as distinguished from the “forcing takeout”? The forcing takeout, which is now used by more than nine-tenths of all good contract players in all parts of the country, is one feature developed by the new game which has become practically standardized. Another name for the same thing is “jump shift.” It is used only after partner has bid, and consists of a takeout—a bid of some suit not named by the original bidder, one higher than necessary to over call. Thus, one diamond having been named by original bidder, his partner’s bid of one heart would not be forcing, but two hearts would, for the bid would be one higher #han necessary; two clubs would not be forcing, but three clubs would, since it * is one higher than the minimum. The minimum strength indicated by it is usually about three high card tricks, or else 2 good two-suiter.: Original bidder must not pass after such a force by partner, who has guaranteed enough strength to bid again even if the origipal bid is minimum. s Most players, if they raise partner’s suit bid, show the full limit of their strength by the raise. Some, however, have developed a “forcing raise” in the partner’s suit, notably Gratz M. Scott, president of the Cavendish Club, and Edwin A. Wetzlar, its secretary, who form one of the greatest tournament pairs in the game. As they use it, a player raises his partner’s suit bid by one if he has the strength for that raise. He also raises it by exactly one if he has the strength for a double raise. He does not raise it by two unless he has a triple raise.” The latter type of raise, there- fore, is the forcing raise, for it shows the original bidder a reserve raise; he can go one higher himself even if he has a minimum hand, knowing his partner has guaranteed the strength for it. Pre- ferably, he must bid something different from his original bid if he can, for it may be that partner’s hand can better support the second declaration than the first, or the making of the second de- claration may disclose the presence of a better mo-trumper than a suit hand. It also may reveal slam possibilities which otherwise could not be located. When using this device, if partner raises your suit bid one, you don’t know whether he has one raise or two; if you are strong enough to bid once more your- self you will find out, because he will then give you his second raise when he has one. If, however, you happen to have a minimum hand you will wind up playing for two instead of three, giving you a margin of safety. The making of such a forcing raice shows, of course, strength in trumps and otherwise, but also with most players denies possession of another bidable suit and the ability to make a forcing take- out by a bid of one more than necessciy in it; the strength in high cards may be in your hand for such a forcing takecut but not in suits long enough to bid. Why is the business double more im- portant in contract than in auction? Auwvction Problems. & HE seven of sf)ades haviag been Tod at no trump, how would you plan the play of the following hand? DUMMY. Spades, 9, 5; hearts, ace, king, queen; diamonds, aqueen, 10, 4, 3; clubs, 8, 7, C, 2. DECLARER. Spades, A, 8, 6; hearts, 8 5, 4; diamonds, king, jack, 9, 5; clubs, ace, king, 4. With only five spades in the offensive hands, there are eight in the hands of the adversaries. It is more than two to one that these are not merely divided four apiece. Therefore, the original leader probably folds at least five of them and can tage at least four tricks in the suit if he “gets in” after declarer’s ace is out of the way. These, plus the trick declarer must lose in diamonds, would make enough to prevent game. If declarer, however, can keep the orig- inal leader from getting the lead again after the spades are established he ¢~n make game surely, with one spade trick, three heart tricks, three diamond tricks and two club tricks. His only chance to keep original leader from running Lis spades is to find the ace of diamonds in the hand of the other adversary. With that hope in mind, declarer should refuse to take the first two spade tricks and play his ace on the third one. He now should lead his diamonds. If his right-hand adversary wins with the ace and has no more spades to lead de- clarer will run on to game no matter what is returned. If the right-hand adversary happens to hold another spade then the spades are evenly divided, so that only three spade tricks can be won anyway by the defense, declarer making game. Playing the hand this way, declarer’s only possible chance to lose his game wiil be to find the original leader with five or more spades and the ace of diamonds. If that is the situation nothing he ean do will give him game. The New Problem. THE king of spades having been led at no trump, how weould you plan ihe play of the following hand? DUMMY. Spades 6, 4; hearts, 9, 6, 5 4, 3; diamonds, king, 8, 7; clubs, queen, jack, 2. DECLARER. Spades, ace, jack, 3; hearts, ace, queen, 3; diamonds, ace, jack, 6; clubs, ace, king, 5, 4. Search for Beryllium. THE discovery of the value of the rare mineral beryllium to the eonstruction of airplanes has brought about a rush to find supplies to meet the demand. The resull has been os blasting to the hopes of many as the finding of fool's gold was to gold-seekers. For one thing, had the mineral been found in anything like the quantity its search might have disclosed, there would be far too much of it to carry much value. The only common mineral containing beryl- lium is beryl, and this ore yields but five per cent of the pure metal. Numerous samples of rock have been sent in to the Bureau of Mines Rare and Precious Metals Experimental Sta- tion in the hope that they contained beryllium, but the hopes were groundless, for the samples sent in were found to be rose, citrine, milky and chrysoprase quartz. Both guartz and beryl are quite similar in physical appearance, such as color, harness, specific gravity, luster, color and insolubility in aeid, which accounts for the hopes of many that they have found t‘Ae“ rare and valuable mineral,