Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-21

writer in which this occurs is on the
question of
In California more than in any sec
tlon OF this country the ElWelI rule of
making the first discard from strength
prevails. 1t therefore may seem more
presumptuous here than elsewhere to
advocate different rule, but the writ
er feels that in this, as in all other de-
partments of the game, it is better to
nave rules which, being flexible, per-
mt mt a player to be guided by the con-
oltlons Which are present upon each
occasion, rather than a fixed rule. In
justice to ElWell it should be stated
mat both in precept and practice he
aHofds such an opportunity whenever
Two dlscardS are possible to the ex-
tent OF showing weakness by echoing
IN the suit discarded. Before proceed
ing further with the discussion of the
advantages or disadvantages Of the
strength discard it may prove inter-
esung to note the practice in the Whist
Club OF New York, of which EIwelI.
otreet and other noted authors ami
prayers are members, as it may be as.
Sumed that resume of the different
methods in vogue at different periods
PROBABLY fairly represents the changes
WHlch nave taken place in the country
generally.
Bridge when first introduced into tba
United States found most recruits
among those who had previol1sIv
played duplicate whist.
Inc general rule followed bv thesa
prayers was to discard from strengtn
WHeh trump strength was adverse and
IIoIn @ weakness when possessing tr1mn
9IILellsIh, IL was natural for these
prayers TO adopt the rule at bridge ,1f
alscardlng from strength at declared
trump and from weakness 81 ~
trump and probably 80 per cent Of tha
! peller class of players among +ha
me IIlefhDers OF the Whist club followed
thIs rule until about 1902.
| hlWelI' however, advocated the ruIa
80 81 always making the first discard
from strength, SOundly REASONING that
II the rule was good at declared 3r,I,,S,, mn
When only one suit was declares
against you that it was eoua1Iv COOS
dI no-trump when all the suits y0era
GecIared against you. This rule had
ehe' 10 MN, additional ADVANTAGES that
| II was simple and easily remembered
py MS pupils. Per contra, Street and
tp eUIil5 olhers stoutly maintained that
able. "e-' ~
AS players accumulated exnerienoa
II was found by many that in manv
cases their hands were SO constitu+nd
! tudl following either of these three
rules entailed a sacrifice. Those who
ulScafded from strength adopted the
RUE OF using the echo to show weak
ness Whlle those who discarded from
weakness used the echo to show
strength. ''10"
The first rule of changing the dis
card according to whether no-trump or
a Sult was declared was generalIv
abandoned and it's former adherents
joined the class of strength disorders
I'll I'll. weak Glscarders, generally the latter.
those who discarded from weakness
round the rule to give perfect satisfac-
I!oh h upon those occasions when two
dlScardS were afforded, but when onIv
one was possible it left the partner in
uoupC between two suits. Per contra
the dlScarderS from strength found that
paIt!cuIarly at no-trump they were
making at TIMES a useless sacrifice.
GRADUALLY the following combination
OF the two rules became more general
and is rapidly gaining adherents II
such an extent that the writer expects
IL 70 become practically universal
Wnen discard is impending the
player should first consider how many
d1scards he is to make and whether
his partner or an adversary will have
the lead when the discarding is over.
Inc variations are also affected by the
trump declared. Let US first consider
IhoSe cases in which no-trump is de-
clared by the adversary. Say that
your partner opens a suit in which nv
winning three Or more tricks he gives
you two diScards. Knowing that vo11r
partner will be in the lead it seems a
| useless sacrifice to discard from your
strong suit, therefore by discarding
one each Of the other two suits YOU
tell your partner to lead the fourth
On the contrary, if after the two dis
cards the opponent will be in the lead
1t is manifest that discards from your
weak suits will enable your opponent
to finesse to advantage.
Therefore it is safer to disguise your
weakness and show your strength by
d1scarding first a high and then low
| card in your strong suit.
Under similar circumstances. excent
that the trump is declared ii. e. one of
the four suits), it is evident that by
two dlscards you may frequently get
rid of all or all but one of a short suit.
In such case, by discarding first high
and then low, you ask you partner to
lead the suit discarded to the end that
you may trump it. This is negative
strength in the suit, so it does not vio-
late the general rule that low followed
by high is weakness and the reverse is
strength. When there are two dis
cards three followed by q two is as
much high followed by low as a jack
followed by a two. In the event that
you have two suits in which you are
equally strong this may be shown to
your partner by discarding low and
then high in the fourth suit This ap-
plies to no-trump and declared trump.
Of course there are many instances in
which the hand disclosed by dummy is
such as to give an intelligent partner
sufficient information to enable him to
avoid one or more suits, in which event
it is not necessary to warn him against
them, and he should always consider
the dummy hand before acting upon
the information conveyed by your dis
card.
1t is when opportunity is afforded for
only one discard that real difficulty
arises. 1t is then generally of the ut
most Importance that by this discard
you should inform your partner of your
strength. OF course, if an examination
Of the dummy hand discloses such
strength in one or more suits as to
preclude them from your partners con-
sideration, the discard Of a low card
will enable your partner to determine
what lead you desire. In those cases
in which there are three suits which
your partner may lead and you desire
by one discard to direct him properly,
the method adopted under the general
rule of the combination discard is to
discard from your strong suit, but to
discard a card so high that your part
ner must read it as indicating strength.
How high card is necessary for this
purpose so largely depends upon the
cards held by yourself and dummy that
no iron-clad rule is desirable, but gem
orally it is sufficient if you hold at
least two lower yourself, although you
should make it as marked as possible
without injuring your hand. Another
general rule is that the discard of a
card as high as an eight when there
&c. o,n1,r ono discard ALWAYS indicates