The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-11-16

/
listening in, was an excellent dem
onstration Of expert modern bid
ding.
Wilbur Whitehead was paired with
the recognized authority on the
mathematical features of Auction
BRIDGE. v. Shepard, of New York,
president of Shepard's Bridge Stu
dio. Miltcn G. Work had for part
ner, Frank H. Bachman, of Phila-
delphia. one of the Quaker City's
best players.
These were the hands: Whitehead,
dealer, South-Spades, A, ], 10, g.;
Hearts 5; Diamonds K, @, j, Z, 8;
Clubs, K, J, 8.
Work, West-Spades, 7, 6; Hearts,
A, K, 7, 6. 8; Diamonds, 8, 5; Clubs,
7, 6, 4, 2.
Shepard, North-Spades, K, @,
4; Hearts, 10, 8, 4, Q; Diamonds,
A, 9, 2; Clubs, 8, d, 3.
Bachman, East-Spades, 8, 5, 8,
Q; Hearts, @, j, 8; Diamonds, 10, 6,
4; Clubs, A, @, 10.
Whitehead, the dealer, had a
hand with many possibilities. He
had No Trump strength, but his sin
gleton Heart was a menace to that
bid.
OF his two other possible bids,
Spades or Diamonds, he preferred
the four-card Major to his five-card
Minor, bidding one Spade with the
intention of showing his Diamonds
later should occasion demand.
This was in line with the best
modern practice which holds that
an Jackie four-card suit is
worth an original bid, if supported,
as in this hand, with side strength
greater than one quick trick.
/" HITEHEAD also might have
lWI bid a Diamond originally,
" planning to bid No Trump if
his partner bid Heart, or to make
an informatory double if the OPP
ponents bid the Hearts.
This double would have given
Shepard, Whitehead's partner, a
choice between Spades, Diamonds
and Clubs. Whitehead, however, evil
IDENTIFY decided that his Clubs were
not strong enough for this scheme
of bidding; therefore he named his
Spade suit first.
Work, West, bid two Hearts. He
had strength enough-two quick
tricks in Hearts-for even an orig
inal bid.
Shepard, North, said two Spades,
an assist fully justified by his three
cards of his partners suit headed
by King Queen, and his side Ace.
Bachman went to three Hearts.
Here is where Whitehead showed
the high caliber of his game. His
partner had raised Whitehead's
original Spade bid, thus showing
at least normal support and two
probable tricks. Most players with
that encouragement and with
Whitehead's strength would have
continued the suit that seemed to
fit the two hands, by bidding three
Spades.
TUT Whitehead appreciated
that by shifting his suit to
Diamonds he could show that
he held only four Spades and had
five strong Diamonds.
AS he would not shift had his
Spade suit been a five-carder, such
a shift would be most informative
to his partner, and would leave it
up to the partner to go on with
Spades if his hand justified.
Whitehead realized that with
Hearts adversely called and assist
ed, he would be compelled to
trump, which he could not afford
to do, with his four-card Spade suit
unless his partner also held four.
Therefore, Whitehead bid four Dia-
monds.
Work passed, as did Shepard.
Shepard understood and needed tie
warming conveyed by his partners
switch to Diamonds, and having
only normal length in the Spade
suit, he allowed the Diamond bid
TO stand.
Bachman also passed. giving
Whitehead the bid for four Dia-
monds. Work led the King of
Hearts, the conventional lead from
an Ace-King suit against a suit
declaration when holding more than
two cards of the suit led.
Dummy went down, and White
head played from it the of Hearts.
Bachman, upon seeing Dummy's
hand, cleverly played his Queen OF
Hearts to show his holding of the
Jack and thus induce his partner
to lead low instead of continuing
with the Ace, which would estab-
fish the 10 in Dummy on the third
round. Declarer played his single
ton 5.
Work, obeying his partners signal,
continued with the 6 of Hearts,
Dummy played the 4, Bachman the
g, and Declarer trumped with the
3 of Diamonds.
Before leading to the next trick,
Whitehead took stock of his sit
uation. He saw at once that he
could go game if he could avoid los
ing more than one Club trick, as he
had Spades and Diamonds solid and
could now. trump Hearts, having lost
only one trick in that suit
However, the Club situation was
bad. His only hope was that the
high Clubs lay at his right, SO that
he could play through them by lead
ing from Dummy, finessing his Jack
on the first lead. The outcome was
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