The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-02
No. 70.

GOpNrfEnI.f lSUo. DY n TOSNSi-
one of the. .mooted questions in the
tactics of modern bridge. is the per-
instability of opening short suits
against no-trumpers when your part
ner has not doubled
Beginners are always. told that the
opening of the longest suits is de
rigueur. at no-trumps, but soon to- find
that the strictness. which is enjoined
upon them is not always followed by
their preceptors.
1 There are two things to be said in
favor of the invariable opening of the
long suit. IT is the one in which you
can make the most tricks yourself If
you can get it cleared and bring <it
into play. and it is the suit which is
least likely to help the dealers game.
While a no-trump declaration is
usually based on general strength, dis
tributed among three suits, the most
successful no-trumpers are those in
which there is one long suit which is
brought into play by the good manage
ment of the high cards in other and
shorter suits. These high cards in
other and usually shorter suits are
very useful-in fact, they are vital.
but their value is most marked after
the long suit is established.
An illustration will make this clear.
Let us suppose lli6l lllt 0te1lci AOAOS
six clubs to the Q. J, 10. and has the
ace of each of the other suits, and
that he uses one ace TO get in with
on the first trick. After forcing out the
king OF clubs, he gets in with another
ace and forces out the ace Of clubs.
He then uses his third ace to get into
the lead and make his established club
suit High cards in side suits like
these aces are called ''re-entry cards.
This is merely a supposititious case, or
course-highly improbable. but useful
as a simple illustration of principle.
Is il not clear that if the dealer had
not three aces he would never get in to
make the clubs after they were estab-
lished? Is it not equally clear that two
aces would have been enough il he had
not had TO use one TO get into the lead
in the first place-that is. if his club
suit had been opened by the adversary?
The original lead of long suit at
no-trumps usually forces from the
dealer one Of his re-entry cards before
the time has arrived at which ii would
be most useful to him. But the open
ing of a short suit is more likely to be
the dealers long suit and to enable
him 70 clear il, or at least to take some
steps toward that end, without having
to part with any OF his re-entries.
That is why beginners are told al
ways to open their long suit at no.
trunps But there are exceptions to all
rules. and bridge cannot be played by
machinery.
Many no-trump declarations are
made upon nigh cards, without length
in any particular suit. In the same
way many opening leads must be made
from hands in which there is no par
long suit. and one is. just as
likely 70 be the dealers long suit as
another. With not more than four
cards in any suit, there is no great ad-
on account of number. and
other things must. be taken into con-
hold four cards of one suit and three
or even two only of another is not
enough to Justify a slavish following
OF the rule always to lead the longest
suit
When there is no suit of more than
four cards in the hand of the leader
and no-trumps is the declaration he
must determine his opening on differ
ent principles from those that are used
by the beginner, who merely counts UP
the number in each suit and leads the
one he has the most Of
The best guide is to reject all such
suits as are headed by combinations of
high cards which are known to be bad
ones to lead away from. When there s
no suit of more than four cards in the
hand you can do worse things than Sc
lect a two-card suit in preference to
one of four.
In the last article we enumerated Ger
tain combinations of cards and CLASH
fed some as better than others when
playing against a trump declaration
The same principles apply when play
ing against no-trumpers If the suits
are short. When there are no trumps
il is even more Instantaneous 20
lead away from tenaces. such as .
and K ], than it is with a trump suit
against you, because such openings
frequently result in freeing inferior
cards in the dealers hand or letting
him win tricks which would have .been
impossible but for your leading the
suit up to him.
When you have two or three suits
which are bad ones TO open on account
OF the honors at the head of them not
being in sequence. little or nothing can
be lost by leading a shorter suit which
is free from disadvantages. even if II
is against no-trumper. and even il il
is a card which cannot be of any as
sistance to your partner.
Many people hold up their hands IN
horror the moment you mention short
suits. but there is not a writer on
bridge who does not recommend them
upon occasion. Here is a hand which
I saw played the other day in which u
dealt and declared no-trumps at the
score of to 0 on the rubber game:
9A593
O 8 4