The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-01-25

AT the request OF NUMBER OF WOm-
en- of this city who are prominent in
social circles the society editor pub
fishes the following concerning "Auc-
ton Bridge" which is rapidly gaining
in favor here. The first party of this
kind was given recently by Mrs. Omar
Hollingsworth.
The interest in auction bridge which
was introduced TO the readers of Ran
dom Notes sometime ago. has been
SO keen among bridge players and so
many inquiries have been received
asking for more definite information
on this new development of the old
familiar game that Random Notes this
morning returns TO the subject in
answer to these requests. for cincin-
natl, like other places that have been
invaded by the new game, will soon
find the old standby little duh in the
face of this youngster who offers less
science perhaps but more exhileration
and greater sport. The game of course
is still in swaddling clothes and its
godfather is Dalton, who cannot be
consulted in this country except by
importation from England. Auction
bridge originated in India about eight
handed game by force of circum-
stances Three members OF the Indian
civil service. finding themselves
stranded in one of the faraway sta
lions and unable to And a fourth play
err. and bored with a round of cut
throat" set about evolving u more in
teresting game of three hand bridge.
When the result of their effort reach
ed England II was soon changed in
some essentials, made four handed
game, and finally adopted avidly by
the Bath and Portland clubs. After
that it spread like wild fire. and last
year joint committee was formed
| by the Bath and Portland clubs to
perfect a standard code of laws which
father the game as it is now played
everywhere. One correspondent ol
Random Notes pathetically says: 1--WE
tried to play the game from your de
scription, but one person always got
the deal, and the rest of us didn't have
any fun at ALL" And there you are
The declaration is the whole secret OIL
stumbling block of this new amuse
ment And word of warning, too
the good auction-bridge player must
discard his hard-earned preconceived
idea of the make in the old game Of
bridge, and he must remember tina,
auction bridge is an affair OF aces anl
kings and not numerical strength. The
declaration Is made upon high cards
and not length suit. And now for q
1 rough sketch of this pulling infant
with apologies to Dalton. It's very
thrilling and terribly exciting yougs
| ter, and any one who does not wish
to be weaned away from his old one
had better "cry quits" at once. fol
once on with the new he'll never e
back to the old. AS everybody knows
| the principle of auction bridge is thai
| the deal is sold to the highest bidder
and in making the trump the declarel
specifies how many odd tricks he in
tends to win.
The advantage held by the dealer
in the ordinary bridge becomes dis
advantage at auction" The new
game is clever combination Of poker
and bridge. The scoring. the value o.
the suits, the method of playing the
cards are exactly the same as at or
binary bridge. 1t is the declaration
that adds an entirely new interest tt
the game. The cards are dealt and
the dealer looks at his hand He must
declare something and he has not the
option of turning the responsibility
over to his partner. If he has veal
hand he calls "one spade" which II
exactly equivalent to passing 1t over
ness and nothing more. and tells the
table that he contracts to win one
odd trick at spades The player or
the dealers left can then double the
spade call or he can pass. The third
hand must then double the previous
bid or go higher, or pass: the fourth
player the same, and then the dealer
comes in again, and he, like the others
can overcall or double or pass. and
SO it goes on ad infinitum. Every
time a declaration is made the other
three players have the right, in theil
turn, of overcalling, no matter how
many times the call may have gone
round, until everybody is satisfied
The highest bidder gets the deal and
plays both hands, with one exception
and that is when the original caller oil
the suit is raised by his partner. Their
the original declarator plays the hand
For example calls lone hearts" and
his partner B, in his turn. raises it tc
two hearts" and nobody overbids. Il
| is z and not B who plays the hand
for he spoke first" and the theory Ii
that the real strength of the suit lies
| with him. So far the principle of the
game is simple. Now comes the rub
| The value of the suits is exactly the