The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-10
STRATEGY IN BIDDING
AT ROYAL AUCTION
No Rule Covers Second Hands
Dilemma With Some No
Trumpers.
REPLIES TO DEALERS CALL
Examples Of the Way in Which
an Annoying Situation
Is Handled.
REPLIES TO DEALERS CALL

During the women's Whist Congress.
which met In this city a week ago. there
was abundant opportunity to discuss va
| rious problems with players from many
and widely separated parts OF the coun.
try. especially with regard to two OF the
most prominent points to which tho at
tention Of the card playing public Is at
| present directed. These are the future OF
the nullo and the standing Of the high
| spade bids.
The fate Of the high spade bids seems
to be sealed. tho general opinion being
decidedly against any system OF bids
which uses the name OF one suit to indi-
cate the holding In another. such as three
spades to show long weak hearts and Ave
or six spades to show various combina-
tons of hearts and no trumpers.
So far as the nullo IL concerned, the
indications are that in spite OF lull in its
popularity 1t Is coming back. and Is to
| stay wherever II has had a fair trial
Manufacturers everywhere are altering
| their score pads to take In the new count,
which seems to have settled down at ten
| trick, no honors. and all the recently
published text books not only describe the
nullo but give some hints as to how 70
play II
But when II came to q discussion OF the
| general principles of the game OF auction
as We know II to-day, II was almost every
| where acknowledged that the game was
In ratner chaotic state. simply for want
OF thoroughly up to date text book that
would review the more common situa-
tons or the game ana state clearly the
conventions that should govern them.
IL is all very well for the expert to say
that any one with common sense should
know what to do in a given case. but com.
mon sense Is Of no use unless the person
has the facts correctly before him, and
unless one knows the reasons that actuats
others II is impossible To analyze their
actions No amount OF common sense will
tell you why payer bids suit In which
you hold five honors.
There Is probably not one person in a
thousand who play auction that can
state. In a few words. a rule which would
be guide to the beginner when a spade
bid comes up to the fourth hand a rule
that would cover every possible combina-
ton of cards lie might hold. II is doubt
full II one player In a thousand could
indicate the dividing line between deny
ing your partners suit and supporting Il
SO that any one could tell which side OF
the line he stood on with certain holdings.
Many other smaller and AS little un-
derstood situations might be named. and
even among the most advanced players.
those who understand every technical do
tail OF the game, there are still some stu
atoms that no rule or convention seems
to meet. Suggestions have been made
from time to time. but they always con-
tiict more or less with conventions which
are already firmly established as mean
Ing something else.
one OF the more common OF such stu
n I IONS and certainly one OF the most an
noying il for the second land to lind
himself with a no trumper which he can
not declare because the deaIer has just
bid the suit IN which the no trumper Is
defenceless. Tat this situation Is COM
mon on. every player must admit. but
that there Is any satisfactory way TO
meet II every player must deny.
Observation would seem to indicate that
there are three ways out Of the difficulty
One is to pass and see what happens. hop
ing TO save the game II the dealers de-
claration is left in, or to make support
Ing bid If the partner shows any sign OF
life as fourth hand. Another way Is to
call something that will make the partner
show his hand.
The objection to the first of these plans
is that there Is little probability OF either
player. third or fourth hand. having much
to say about any suit but the one named
the tops In the three other suits.
To meet this objection many players
adopt third method and call no trumps
anyway. taking the chance that the fourth
hand will stop the suit before II goes fai
enough To save the game or set the con-
tract. The weakness of this method ~
that Il invites defeat II the partner can
not stop the suit and throws away what
m ght have h. en- substantial penalties had
the dealer been left In.
The second rerhod. forcing the partner
to show his hand, stems tn be the most
popular OF the three, but the trouble with |
this system Is that the BID made by the !
second hand is not the one h. wants for |
the winning declaration as what he really |
wants is what he avoids calling, the no |
trumper.
II the second hand oVercalls with one OF |
the major suits he will almost certainly I've |
left In unless the fourth hand has some !
thing phenomenal In the other major suit |
and to go no trumps VIII be- about the last |
thing he will think OF The trick is 10 |
make a bid that -ill force the fourth |
hand 10 take It out, but at the same time |
To make 1t clear that the object Is to lind |
out whether or not the fourth hand can |
stop the dealers suit.
Milton Work solved the diffculty by |
calling five spades which was a conven- |
tion to show strength In all suits excer |
that bid by the dealer But az this has |
nothing 10 do with the spade suit itself, |
II Is clearly a private convention. useless
In the absence of a previous understand.
Ing with the partner as to It's m,a aiming
and therefore forbidden In almost every
card club of good standing,
Here are some examples or the way the
situation Il handled These deals were all
played in local clubs
m n q