Evening Star Newspaper, June 21, 1931, Page 84

® THE BRIDGE HE longer the suit the less is the value of its hizh cards on defense against a suit bid. Many players, who bid automati- cally aceording to some table of card values, scem never to realize that basic fact, and ccnsequently present their op- ponents with pienty of points by means of unsound business doubles. - A hand such as th2 following, with its strength bunched in short suits— ¥ AAK YVAQJ &3 BhJO87542 would rightly ju iify doubling an opponent’s original pre-empiive bid of five diamonds. The same amount e¢f P -h-card strength located thys— B YR VAQJ ¢3 BSAKBT542 would make the cdouble a much more specu- lative proposition. No more than one trick at the outside coulc be expected from the ace and king when they werz in a suit of seven cards. In fact, when a pre-emptive bid had been made, it is entir:ly likely that the opponent will be able to trump even the very first round of the suit. The piinciple is recognized in all expert circles when the opr nis have bid a small slam. An ace lead sgainst a six bid in a suit is frowned upon by all good players if the suit is of three cards or less. By leading some other suit and waiting for the short one with the ace there is a good chance of killing off an fmportant king or queen held by the declarer. If on the contrary the ace is in a suit of five cards or more the likelihood is that it will get trumped unless it is led right away. The op- ponents, having bid the slam, probably can take the first trick of any other suit. Also, having bid the slam, they probably can im- mediately get the discard necessary to keep the adverse ace from winning, so that its only chance to score is on the very first lead. When the ace suit is of four cards the question of whether to lead it.or not against a suit small slam is a close one, depending largely on the composition of the rest of the hand and any peculiarities of the way the slam was bid. In considering a business double, though, a fully to an opponent the of any double when the opponent The player who is a real play and refuses at any time to have vantage of a perfect understanding with partner while the opponent is completety in the dark Contract Systems. Mow would you bid and play the following hand, South being the dealer and neither side vulnerable? &K10752 & None YAJ10953 ®97 MAKI1098 . 8OUTH & Q984 yQ2 ®AQl088 *64 " " After South’s pass, West opened this hand in & recent championship tournament with two hearts, which South passed. West could now tell that game was a cer- tainty, also that a small slam was almost surely in the cards if North led anything but - diamond. So instead of bidding four hearts -called four diamonds to prevent a diamond knowing that his partner would not pass @t least game was bid. When East, North’s pass, made the expected shift to four hearts, which South, of course, passed, West bid six hearts. It was an ill-timed effort on tlic part of THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE 21, 1931. Great Length in a Suit Decreases Defensive Value of Its High Cards—1he Weaker Sex—DProblems of Play. A Dub in the Game. Some people'never.nke it When a dub is in the game; They’d rather just do nothing Or most anything you name. They say they're doomed as losers If a dub is in the game; Although you cut for partners, They get him just the same. To doubt the laws of average Shows their intellect is lame; Their chance to win is greater When a dub is in the game. BY SHEPARD BARCLAY. Continued from Ninth Page sories and smaller articles of clothing in their y t s ho would have a modern husband will undertake it early and prosecute it it she expects to retain her self- respect and to respect him as well. “A modern woman can afford a hus®and—if he is a modern husband, or if she can see a chance of modernizsing him. But there are other factors to be eonsidered, factors more concerned with her part of the alliance. “It is highly essential for a modern woeman who is wondering whether or not she can afford a husband to make a careful appraisal of her own mental attitudes. She should consider whether or not she is modern herself—or just partly modern. “Many an up-to-date woman who prides her- self on her modeérnity Will find upon severe self- scrutiny that there are departments of her thinking where she is behind the time. She may be modern in her taste in clothes and 1I"THE woman who contemplates marriage and insists upon a modern husband must This is especially important if she is to attempt $o modernize her partly modern husband, for he will be quick to note her inconsistency and excuse his own conservatisms on the ground he is entitled to as many as she. “In the First Humanist Soclety of New York we use a new ceremony which we believe over- comes the objections which I have just men- tioned. Outworn ideas and archaic phraseology are discarded, and a new principle is introduced. It is-a truly modern marriage ceremony. “When & couple come to me to be married was, and 5o led his king of diamonds against the heart slam. His partner, Philip Hal winner of more contract championships the inauguration of the game than any player, could tell from his own possession %iE?LEE “The old type of ceremony contains a ctit dried statement which is dictated to groom and bride in turn and which they repeat parrot-like the 3 “The essence of the marriage vows is the mutual interchange of promises, and the promises should be adequate and sincere and TORUM e ———— A e R 2 L the queen that Karn's lead was irregular and might possibly be a singleton. So he overtook it with his ace, returning the queen and the slam was beaten. Against ordinary players * the shrewd effort would have succseded. How would you bid and play the following hand, South being the dealer and both sides vulnerable? HI53 ¥953 ®J817 HK853 AKQT642 AAS YAE $AQl103 HA1063 109 vJI812 $96542 &4 The Weaker (9) Sex. For the first time in the history of the famous Cavendish Club in New York the season’s prizes for best -average score on both the North-South and East-West sides of the sgven- month-long duplicate competition have been won by members of what used to be called the weaker sex. Two young women, Miss Eleanor Murdock and Miss Marjorie Hanna, are the respective winners. ‘This is not any fly-by-night, lucky, one-time victory, due to fortuitous card holdings or a successful guess here and there in bidding and play. It is a triumph based upon consistent work week after week, the same cards being played each time by their opponents. ‘There is no reason in the werld why women should not play as good a game of bridge as men. These two have proved the point, and when the figures were added up no happier Problems of Play. How would you play the following hand, five v S KQ10743 &HAQT2 4963 YAQ10542 AKJIST8Q YEKJIS 5 »1093 Bg siEi