Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-06
not long ago, z having dealt.
H-1O 752
Go 3 3.
MOI
So s 4 2
H-K ]. IA =.
CA OS2 A u C-K J g.
DIX D-A z
S-A X q. 81 Z .
H-g 8.
C.
d. 10
$50 4.
H-g 8 G 4 8.
C.
D-J 10 6 3
SO S 3.

o-W . D.
n bid one spade, A passed, although
he had a no trumper, and Y bid two
spades, to show that he had nothing. but
to give the dealer the conventional OPP
p%ortunity to bid what his hand was
actually worthy. B passed, so as TO let the
dealer go deeper into the hole IL he wished
to, but the dealer passed and A doubled,
Ali having passed, A led three rounds of
trumps and the only trick Y and y made
was the nine OF spades. Having undertaken
to win eight tricks and getting one only,
they lost ZOO points.
While II is quite true that A and d could
have made a grand slam at no trumps
with forty aces, that is a long way from
7S points in penalties and spade honors.
The sad part of the hand is that had either
Y or u known that his partner had so
many hearts they could not have lost
more than one trick, even II hearts had
been doubled, and It is very unlikely that
either adversary would have doubled with
only two trumps in hand.
A few doses of this kind soon make
it apparent that there should be some way
Of making third hand leave things alone
when the dealer does not want to be
pulled out"
Several systems arc now on trial that
have this for their object. The most radi-
cal theory of all seems to be that the
dealer should never name a suit, not even
spades, unless he is actually strong in it,
strength in auction bridge, it must be re-
membered. being a term which Is confined
to aces and kings on the first round Of the
bidding. Length in suit is not shown until
the final calls.
If the dealer has a sure trick in spades,
says this school, he should name spades;
not otherwise. On the same principle that
he names other suits that have sure tricks
in them, he should call spades, making no
exception for that suit. The old way to
show great strength in the spade suit.
with nothing to support 1t, was to bid two
spades originally, so as to distinguish it
from the weak one-spade bid. The idea
Of the two-spade bid is to coax the partner
to go no trumps IL the spade suit will help
him out. One in clubs had the same in
~vitation in 1t and meant great strength.
According to the new school one in
spades is enough to show strength in II,
and the only thing to do with an all around
worthless hand is not to name any suit,
because there is no suit that has a sure
trick in it. AS the dealer must make a bid
OF some kind the only thing left for him
10 W Dlu 10 SulJ1 mat Is, nO-trumpS.
This may seem like madness to some.
but 1t can be supported by some very in
genious arguments. A no-trumper cannot
lose any more than a spade, as the penalty
is only fifty points in either declaration.
The no-trump call has the great ad-
vantage that even If the a~dversaries know
1t means weakness, IL they want to play
their cards they will nave to bid two tricks
| In ANYTHING thew name Annthar and N Cpao II
ial advantage is that it never deceives the
third hand, who has none of the old diff
ficulty Of guessing whether the one spade
meant weakness or only waiting. The no
trump bid effectually shuts him up and
tells him that it is not necessary to pull
the dealer out, and that II he bids he will
nave to do the work on his own cards.
one OF the effects of evolution is seen
In the dregs left in the average bridge
players mind Of his respect for no-trump-
ers. To bid no-trumps on nothing strikes
him as absurd and c~onjures up visions OF
fearful losses. But these are largely imaRi-
nary. Take the example hand printed
above and suppose that the dealer had bid
one no-trump on rs cards. It is doubled
and ABB make a grand slam. Hoorayl
What Of it? The dealer undertook to make
seven tricks. He made none. Loss. 700
points, exactly as 1t was when he bid one
in spades and his partner pulled him out.
Those who did not like this system or
who never heard of 1t looked round for
some other way out Of the dealers diff
culties with his partner and they hit upon
the plan of reversing the old order of
things and bidding two spades on the bad
hands and one spade on the strong spade
suit.
The trouble with this system, which was
used Tor a long time by the Boston play
ers' was that In order to pull the dealer
out OF his weak bid, the third hand. hav-
ing nothing for himself, was Obliged n hid
three spades, and as three spades are worth
SIX points, 1t forced the dealer to go two
tricks In clubs or diamonds and limited
him to hearts or no-trump for single
trick bids! This laid him open to attack.
As things evolved further, experience
pointed out to the Boston players that an
original bid Of one club would be Just as
good a signal OF distress as two SHADES
and had the enormous advantage of allow
ing the partner to pull the dealer out with
a bid of two spades. which is better as a
bid than one club, although both have the
same point value, four. The striking adj
vantage OF the one-club bid, however, is
that 1t leaves the dealer free to overcau
-
his partners two in spades with a single
trick bid in any suit, and the other side
are not likely to leave a player in with
a one trick bid II they have anything them
selves. Experience shows that one trick
bids, unless they are no-trumpers, are very
seldom played.
This seems to be as far as they have
got, neither school having been able to
convince the other as yet. Those who be-
lieve in the original no-trump as the safest
bid for showing the partner that they do
not want to be pulled out, have the very
good argument on their side that It is the
only bid that says just that, and that II
the third hand has nothing it is more than !
probable that the other side has somethipe
worth while and will want to play Il.
While the no-trump bid is perfectly In
telligible to them as a bluff, 1t stin forces
them to undertake to win eight tricks in
any suit they name, and II they don't name
anything they will never win the game.
wanted to Know the brand,
The Rev. DR.. Pockman, a well known
New Jersey clergyman. told a story at a
[ mems RInh nnAattn2 In Va.... NJ.