Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-06
BRIDGE EVOLVING
One Proof is that the Value of a
Rubber is Less.
MUCH OCCASION FOR ARGUMENT
But n stiH Disputed Point f. the
Opening bid from n weak Hand
One school who suggest
One In NO Trumps.

DrluBe seems TO pc undergoing a gradual
process Of development.
One Of the best evidences OF the changes
Is the fact that we are continually reduc-
ing the value Of tho rubber, which shows
that we are constantly eliminating our
mistakes. When II. II. Ward of Boston.
captain of the champion American club
team, and famous as the best bridge
player in the United States, first took up
auction he kept careful records Of the re-
suits. He found, among other things, that
the average value of all the rubbers played
during one month early last year was a
gain OF $50 points for the winners as against
an average gain Of 10 In bridge.
Since that time he has found that with
the growing experience OF the players, the
better understanding between partners and
a more Systematic study of the tactics Of
the game the value Of rubber has been
steadily and surely reduced. until now It
is very little more than double that Of the
average in bridge. ranging between 400 and
$50 points.
The greatest element of loss at auction
is easily t%raceable to the misunderstood
ings of partners in the bidding. Instead
OF supporting each other in the scheme
which is best suited to their hands be-
ginners are continually working at cross
purposes.
One Of the chief attractions Of auction
bridge is that you can get all there is to Il
out Of your cards and IL you manage them
well and II your partner does not step in
and spoil It all. When you have very good
hands you can play them for all they are
worth, and II they are pretty bad you can
frequently, by judlcious bidding. coax the
adversaries to undertake with their cards
ffaN ~ NrfnIg r,a-. 49, -. 4
set, aud 50 defeat a declaration. In bridge
you win nothing unless you get the odd
trick yourself. In auction you may get
only three or four tricks out of the thir-
teen and still score all there is to score on
that deal.
But nothing is so annoying, after Won
have cautiously jollied your adversarIes
along until they have undertaken to make
three tricks in hearts when two in hearts
is all their hands are really worth. as TO
have your partner step in and overbid
their three hearts, under the mistaken idea
that you wanted to play the hand your
self.
The fundamental difficulty in auction
bridge was soon discovered to be the
initial bid by the dealer. So forcibly was
this brought home to many good players
that 1t was suggested to abolish the rule
compelling him to make a bid of some
kind; but that would spoil one Of the fine
points OF the game and render many deals
void. The trouble Is not that the dealer
cannot declare on his own cards, but that
1t is so necessary for his partner to be
able to distinguish between bids that are
merely waiting bids and those that are
invitation bids. In the first class the
dealer wants to come in again and show
his true colors after he has heard what
others have to say; In the second class
he wants to induce his partner to make
the real declaration, especially no trumps.
TIL first theory Of the game was for
the dealer to declare one spade when he
was not strong enough to call a red suit
or no trumps. A bid OF one trick in any
other suit meant winning cards In that
suit, not length. and one in clubs usually
meant at least three sure tricks in it. but
not enough outside to go no trumps. The
penalty being then unlimited, the second
hand always passed a spade bid and IL
the dealers partner did not say something
the fourth hand would pass also, unless
he had a sure game hand, and they would
let the dealer struggle with his spade
make. No matter how good the hands
held by the adversaries, their strength was
infinitely better employed In defeating
spades at fifty points a trick than in win
ming upon any declaration of their own,
because the spade maker WAS always CIV
ing them odds Of Is to l and could not pos
sibly go game himself.
To remedy this the committee on laws
decided to limit the losses on an original
bid of one spade, whether doubled or not,
to 100 points. This completely knocked the
hntfnFVn out 80 Nha sa,NFA. - 81 -.
ers.'' who sat tight and said nothing when
one spade was bid. The opportunities for
picking up penalties of 400 or 800 points at
a time suddenly and permanently disap-
peared. When the dealer bid one spade
and his partner had nothing the partner
said nothing, and between them they were
very glad to get off so cheaply as to lose
only 100 points In honors, their adversarles
scoring nothing toward game.
The adversaries soon found that IL was
not worth while to waste their strength
on such small gains. The only remedy they
had was to get into the bidding them
selves, and so sure was the dealer that
they would bid something IL they had the
strength and third habit passed, that the
dealer took advantage of the new condi-
ton Of things thus brought about, and
gradually got into the habit OF bidding one
spade as a starter, no matter what he had,
confident that he would have an oppor-
tunity to bid on the full value Of his hand
when It came around to him again. In
stead Of bidding one spade on nothing at
all, the dealer would bid one spade on any-
thing short Of seven or eight sure tricks
in his own hand, without any assistance
from his partner. 1t was only when he
feared that no one else had anything that
he bid freely himself.
This evolved another complication. be-
cause when the adversarles knew that one
spade did not mean weakness they passed,
and left the dealer to play his big hands
with nothing but spade for trumps when
he might have gone game with a legiti-
mate declaration. The dealers tactics be-
Ing to bid spades with a view to shifting
when 1t came around to him again, the ad-
YersaTtes' tactics were to refuse him this
opportunity to change and II became neces-
sary for the dealers partner to pull him
out" OF his one spade bid. This led TO the
established convention that II the dealer
bid one spade. third hand must overcall n
SO as TO give the dealer a chance.
IL the third hand had anything he named
the suit. II his hand was very bad he
conveyed that information by bidding two
spades. While this opened the door FOR the