The sun., 1918-07-07
Two Common Mistakes
of the Player Who
Opens the Game at
Bridge IllustratedF From
Deals in the Knicker-
booker Clubs Dupli-
cate Contest
By r. r. FOSTER.

Among the minor details Of the play
at auction upon which experts are not
quite agreed Is the manner OF opening
the suit that the partner has declared
when he fails TO get the contract.
For opening leads In general the
textbooks lay down 1--WE rules cover
Ing all situations. The principal vari-
stlons depend upon whether or not the
leader has a suit OF his own with
which he can not only win the first
trick but still retain the command.
This requires him to hold an ace king
or an ace king queen suit. Suits not
headed by both ace and king do not
hll this requirement. A king queen
Jack suit will retain command of the
suit. but not the lead.
The usual rules for tho leader.
whether against a trump or no trumps,
are:
l. Holding any suit. not the trump.
headed by both ace and king, lead the
king. regardless OF the bidding.
2. II your partner has declared a
suit follow the, king of your own ace
king suit with the highest card you
hold in his suit.
3. II you have no ace king suit and
your partner has made bid begin
with the best--you hold OF his suit
=. II he has no. made a bid lead
your own suit without regard to its
being headed by ace and king.
5. IL your partner or you have de-
clared a suit and you do not lead 1t
and do not start with a king he will
infer that your lead is a singleton and
that you want to mako a small trump.
There are Of course cases In which
this rule may be departed from. You
may have a bid suit in which you hold
tenace and may be anxious to get
your partner In on something or other
so as to come through declared
stopper in the declarer's hand.
Where Experts Differ.
The chief difference Of opinion among
experts ds with regard to the manner Of
leading the partners suit when you have
four cards of 1t. Some think It is better
with four in suit to show number. and
lead the smallest card II they do not
hold two honors. with three or less all
are agreed on leading the top. The
argument in favor of the small card
from four is that the partner can count
the number in the declarers hand as
soon as he sees how many the dummy
lays down.
The contrary argument is that num-
Der is not the important thing when
you are on the defensive. and that what
the partner wants to know is what high
cards are out against him. The num-
Der will be developed later by the fall OF
the smaller cards. In some cases it is
impossible to tell whether the small card
led is the highest of three, or the lowest
Of four. or a singleton. There can be no
such ambiguity about the lead of a Jack
or ten. which marks all the higher
cards In that suit as against the leader.
This Is a minor technicality. however.
and 1t is much more important for the
beginner to avoid infractions Of Rules
1 and 2. The more common error is the
failure to show an ace king suit before
leading the partners suit. Another 10
continuing with winning cards in your
own suit. under the excuse of making
tricks while you are in the lead. instead
Of shifting to the partners suit.
Here are two examples of these mis-
takes. both in deals that came up on the
same evening at one of the Knicker-
booker duplicate games last winter.