The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-25
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III: Il Ill.,.
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z dealt and bid A heart. A passed, 90
did Y, but h bid two diamonds, askirg
for q lead. In case 4 went back to hea rts.
Having driven the opponents into a
minor suit. z passed. waiting TO hear
from Y. but neither A nor Y had any
thing to say. so at diamonds 1t was
played at every table but one.
All that b can make In diamonds is
four odd and ne will stop at three II he
does not catch the spade king. as z must
make two clubs and a heart Immediately.
which saves the game. At several
tables the spade king made. Score.
~2l+2s-&9 plus.
But at one table A went two no
trumps when y bid the diamonds. and
! BY correct management of the spade suit
went game on the hand. scorirs 40
l25-l65. instead OF ~ only. Here is
| he play:
Y led the heart and z returned the
nine after winning the first trick with
the ace. This clea red the suit. A made
Ave diamonds. leaving dummy in the
lead. on these z echoed In clubs with
the ten and four while y discarded a
heart and two clubs.
Al this stage A figured Y was keeping
a heart To lead and that T. had only
three left. so tina. rs unknown cards are
either two winning clubs and a spade or
two spades and one club. Instead Of
making the mistake OF leading the queen
20 the ace, without both jack and ten
behind 1t. which would a resulted In
the loss OF the contract. A led a small
spade. caught the ktr'E and led the nine
through the Jack. making four odd.
1t Is clear that unless 4 plays the
spade suit as he does he will be set for
so points. That IL, he will make neither
contract nor game, and 1t IL no more
credit to him to do the one than the
other. II the play was the only thing
to save his contract he would have 10
make 1t. That il also wins the game Is
an accident. because his contract, and
not the anne, IL, his object.
II this hand Is scored or the plan
suggested by THE Sun. giving the bonus
for the fulfilled contract instead OF for
reaching 80 points in trek score. no mat
ter. how. one player makes ~ points AZ
diamonds. the other makes 20 at no
trumps. The difference is nine only. in
stead Of li6.
Attaching The bonus TO the fulfilled con-
tract instead OF to the game makes the
closest approach yet secured TO a reform
for which many thoughtful pla,e rs have
been asking. This is the equalization Of
the suit values. This is somethins that
cannot be done In duplicate without max
ing such a wide departure from the
more familiar rubber that II would never
be popular,
1t has repeatedly been pointed out
that nothing else would eliminate so
much OF the luck in duplicate as to al
low the suits to outrank one another
in the bidding. as they do now. but to
make them all of the same value In the
scoring.
Under the system proposed by THE
Sun, giving the bonus for every full.
filled contract, II would not matter much
upon which suit the player secured the
winning declaration, as the difference
In the total would be very slight. and
the legitimate difference OF opinion AZ
to the better OF two declarations would
not p~enalize the player that did not
ha open to hit II.
II the best possible bidding on a
hand secured the contract at two spades
and the opponents presented the declarer
with an extra trick. why should he not
be entitled to as much credit M II the
best bidding on the hand was two no
trumps and they gave him an extra
trick?
In one case all he gets for the best
bidding and play Is a gift of nine points.
In The other case the gift IL worth 1886.
II this II not luck. what Ia It: BY scor-
ing the hands on tho system OF premiums
% fuiIllltu contTt'ls lHt uliIcTtfCt
would he only one point. instead of lee.
While the figures here given assume
the average value OF a fulfilled contract
to be SO points II must not be forgotten
that this estimate Ia based on the as
sumption that we are playing games.
and that the game In worth l25. and
that this 1875 IL based on the value
Of n rubber's being $50.
There being no rubbers In duplicat e
and therefore no such things as games.
which are only parts Of rubbers after
all. II follows that we are not bound
to regard ESQ for the rubber as the
foundation for any estimate OF the va lue
Of a fulfilled contract when the game
Is duplicate.
All these figures, the ESQ for the rub
Der, the 1873 for a game, and the So for
a fulfilled contract, are based upon
something with which duplicate has
nothing to do. the rubber.
AZ a Anal suggestion. therefore,
THE Sun would ask why We should NOT
make a fulfilled contract worth an even
100, which would make It easy TO re-
member. easy TO score. easy to add up
and al the same time would bring al,
premiums and penalties into one olsas,
SO points or 100.