The sun., 1917-05-27
NEW AUCTION BID '
TAKEN FROM PIRAyB
Declaration Of Two In a M,
Suit as an Opening fora
No Trumper.
By r. r. FOSTER.

Among tho many susrestiop. 49,.
have been made recently with /. 49,
improving tho bidding at auction a. "
are several ideas which havc Sscn 49,
rom pirate and which seem to vov. =.
well In that game One Of tbe ~
points about pirate is that there 10 , N.
for every holding. and all the bid, ~"
one to three are used.
In auction there arc some BIDS v.,.,
were never made, and some which A.. :.
longer made by up to date player. a..
Of those which are never made-st ,....
] never heard it made-is An or,,..,
declaration OF three no trump. N,n
ing can be accomplished by such . 4,
that would not be accomplished BY \,
Of two, 20 why bid three?
Among the bids that are obso,.,. :.
the original declaration of two I,
minor suit clubs or diamonds. Thn Nj,
used to be very common and vss ,.
sarded as a sort OF about to the par+,..
to 70 no trumps II he had anyth,n, +,
the other suits.
The old textbooks all recommend.
this bid. and In even the most r.,.,.
textbook. Tho Declarations" MILF,
Work tells US that It is the moi, +,
formatory declaration of modern ,p,
tion because It shows exactly one hols,,
and nothing else.
4 year or two ago that was the r.,.
eral view OF It. but we have advance
since then. A bid of two in a minor ,,,
conventionally showed an establsh.,
suit Of five or moro cards. such as for.
top honors and a spot or two: o. =
meant q suit that could be establishes, h,
ono round. accompanied by a sure. ou,ss
reentry: an ace. or king queen suit.
II an established minor suit wa, ,r.
companied by an ace. or II 1t could h.
established In one round and there w,,,
two reentries, 1t was a no trumper e,.
cept for timid players. These minor
suit bids were Informative only, and ,,'
pressed no desire to play the hand with
the minor suit for trumps. This d,s,ir.
guished them from bids of two In IN,
major suits, hearts or spades
Tho system Of bidding in vogue I,
year ago was to regard a bid OF two IN
minor suit as a request to the par,nr
to bid something better; a bid Of tvv
In a major suit asked the partner to SUD.
port II, not TO shift
1t must be confessed that none OF n.
really UP 70 date players start with .
bid of two in q minor suit now Just b.
cause the suit is solid. They think on,
is enough. The objection to the hlrhs
bid is that It forces the partner to 20 10
two no trumps. or two in a major sui,
and prevents his getting a line on u,
situation by shutting out an opponent,
bid in between. Many a player thai
would overcall a club or diamond vii
not overcall two clubs or diamonds
The argument Is that a bid Of on
shows at least two tricks at the head o.
five card suit, and IL that is not enoug.
to Justify the partner in going one n,
trump or one in a major suit, he woult
not be willing 10 go two no trumps BE-
cause the minor suit was solid.
A suit OF FIVE cards headed BY tv,
sure tricks. such as ace queen Jack o
king queen jack. will be good for tor
tricks oftener than 1t will bo good fo
two or three only. Then why force IN
partner to bid two in something els
Just because there are fve sure trick
in the suit? Why not let the opponent,
show something and thus get line OF
tho situation? II they bid your partnS
knows what to lead or what you VII
lead whether YOU have bid one or two.
A bid of three in any suit at aucto
is preemptive and indicates strong proe
ability of going game even in a n.no'
suit. A bid of three at pirate shows III
solid suit and an outside ace. This ht
is unknown at auction, as 1t would he a
no trumper In that game. Tho p!rat'
player does not find 1t necessary TO taxi
similar chances and never bids no trump
on two suits. With a solid suit he eid'
two.
A bid of ono in minor suit at p!rat'
does not always imply two sure trick
at the head OF five cards. Il sinrl'
asks for assistance ip that sui, II y
distinct denial that the suit is solid. tn
pirate player uses this distinction 70 A.
vantage in trying out no trumpers 'Na
have one weak suit In them lie bid
the weak suit and as soon as lie gets a
acceptor he goes at once to no 'rur'I~.
The combination of the two bids l"a'e
no doubt as to tho nature Of IT." tarf
as the immediate declaration q, r
trunSps shows that the suit frs' h'd w'
all that was wanted to IN out the r
trumper.
There Is no hid in auction that vii
this. The weak spot in a no tru1,pcr
always a gamble and the partner n""
knows what that weak spot Is Cons
quently all such no trumperS arc lae'
to come a cropper To remedy IRIS I
suggestion has recently been made =
adopt the pirate idea and ask tLo pa"
ner IL he can control the suit 30 Wa
the no trumper Is weak.
Tho method suggested IS to ut.9s 80
discarded two trick bid In the -''7'
suits. II that bid Is no longer 10 he u''
to show unusual strength in minor 81
II is going begging, like three old ~ =
trumps, and might MS well be put
some use.
Tho conventional answer Wou't
for the partner to go two no trlinii'
he could stop tho suit twice. o'Af
wise to bid his best suit, which he r.ig
he assured would be supported. as -
original bidder is strong in all the sl'
but the one he bids.
Here is the hand that came up a. ~
Knickerbocker duplicate game tNN orr
day. upon which the holder n ear n
seven tables started with b'd ~ '-'
no trump:
II. A Q s Z