Evening Star Newspaper, November 16, 1930, Page 106

Y3 RUMP POOR” is a bad fiix to be in. Though a trump al- ways outranks the best card ~ of any other suit, and a superabundance of them usually can be counted an asset, it can at times be a liability, imposing problems of play on the declarer which may not be sub- ject to satisfactory solution. Many a declarer would be willing to swap a trump, sometimes several trumps, for a high card in -a particular suit, perhaps for even an intermediate card. Things are not always as bad as they seem, however, in some- cases of -“trump- . poorness.” If the declarer will only do a bit of detective work, analyzing the various clues to the missing facts, he may ° be able to find a way to make the ad- versaries do something for him which he is unable to dg for himself. George Kling, veteran star of the Knickerbocker Whist Club and one of the shrewdest students of the game’s intricacies, who ranks with the best teachers of advanced bridge to be found anywhere, played the part of Sherlock Holmes recently on what might be called “The Case of the Missing Queen.” Here is the bafler: &1 WATS ¢J8754 $8652 &AKJB 4 YJi1o93 ¢K3 Kling got his first clues from the con- tract bidding—a diamond by himself in the South, a spade by West, three dia- monds by North, three spades by East, his own game bid by five diamonds and West’s justifiable double. West opened the king of spades, then switched to the deuce of hearts, hoping to establish a ttlek/there. Aftér winning it with the king, Kling counted his sure losers. One trick lost to the king of diamonds— virtually certain to be in West’s hand be- cause of his spade bid and double—would e it necessary for him to get two club discards, and only one could be thrown away on North's heart ace. Ap- 1 ..‘:-J?.m o THRE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER 16, 1930 & 7ue BripGE FOrRUM % Being “Trump Poor” Imposes Problems Requiring a Wily Declarer to Solve. By Shepard Bai‘clay. The Hand Hog. You can’t expect that every hand will furnish you a score; It’s vain to think that all of them are worth a game or more; To bid and bid and bid and bid whene’er your rivals do Does not reveal your optimism, but makes a goat of you. The optimist is he who lets the others score a bit « And knows he soon will get a hand and clean them up with it; The one who tries to hog the bid at bridge is just a clown; His foes pile up the count as he goes A Law a Week. ‘T occurs if a player has incurred a penalty requiring him to play the highest or lowest of a suit or to win or lose a trick, or to lead a certain suit, or to refrain from playing a certain suit, and he fails to act as directed when able to de so? He is subject to the penalty for-a revoke. ' Next week—What occurs if dummy has failed to follow suit when able to do so? Contract Systems. WHAT is the correct bidding of the fol- lowing hand, with East and West vulnerable and North and South not vulnerable? &8 VKQ9S ®AQIES 1073 . 497654 ¥10865 ™ 80UTH o AAQJ 10D ¥ None OKT58 HIG42 This hand involves no particular dif- ferences between systems, but tremend- ous variations in the application of them. It is typical of many hands which may bring an almost unlimited number of methods of treatment, each of which can be justified by more or less sound reasoning, but producing widely different results. Practically all players will make an original spade bid on the South hand. West has a choice between a double or two hearts. If he says two hearts, North down down down. tions. Those who use a redouble of such a low bid as an informatory re- double may inject that. East and South now would pass, West bid two hearts and North again has an option— double, two no trump or three diamonds. If he doubles, South should not leave the double in, but may go to two spades or two no trump; if the latter, North will conclude with three no trump; if two . spades, North will say two no trumps or three diamond, and South will lift either to a game contract. When North fol- lows West’s heart bid with two no trump, three no trump will be the contract, for South will either go direct to that point or call three spades, causing North to do it. When North chooses to over- call the two hearts with three diamonds, South, of course, takes that to a game bid. When North overcalls West's first- round double with two diamonds, South lifts it to four and North makes it five. North selected still another course at one table where this hand was actually bid in a duplicate match. He passed, feeling that he was probably prepared for any response by East. He forgot that East might pass with a weak hand, thereby preventing a possible game for the side— exactly what happened when Mrs. Earl Smith, an astute player of Little Rock, Ark., held the East hand. That kind of pass would never be made on pure weak- ness in auction, because game would be possible from a double bid of one spade, which could not be so in contract. In this particular case South passed, though he would have been justified in making an 8§ O S informatory redouble and thus keep the bidding open until the side found a better fit. Some players who insist on two and a half “sure tricks” for a dealer’s bid would pass the South hand originally. West then would open with one heart, and still How would you bid the following hand, in which East and West only are vulner- able and South is the dealer? AQJI10032 Vves . ¢ Jsss »9 r % & None VvAQ ¥109873 ¢AKQ102 $91 SHAKQ43 [T 1 a3108768 VPKJIE o443 »2 Auction Problems. How should the following hands be bid, granting that opponents con- stantly pass? NORTH 47 VAQSS gAXeses gos SQUTH - (Dealer) ; GAKJI043 PEJNE ¢2 ge When one suit of a two-suiter is de- . cisively better than the other it should be bid a second time before the other suit is shown. That principle applies to both the North and South hands of this deal. South should plan %o bid his spades twice, if he gets the chance, be- fore showing his hearts. North should plan to bid his diamonds at least twice before showing his hearts. One spade is the correct opener for most players, to which North would reply with two diamonds. South would rebid with two spades, North with three dia- monds and South would show his hearts, which would become the final call. 2 With a hand like this, if South should show his hearts on the second round North would display his preference for much better off at spades. first suit. has been rebid, however, fore the second is shown, North not prefer the second to the he prefers it strongly, as in Players who use an original auction to indicate a hand more than one declaration high' ecard strength would spades, practically to ‘co from partner and make bidding. After that the bids on in the same sequence as from a of ome, except that they would all one level higher. The New Problem. T would you bid, as dealer, on the following hand? &H087.5432 wses 453 ANom What if the long sult, Instead of having the nine at its top, were headed by the king? By the ace? By the ace and queen? By the ace and king? What, Stump Hits Hired Man. Tnhlmdmmonlnmmhu“ as hard hit as any class of worker in the . 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