The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-02-01
Expert Bidding ON Semi I 7Oo-Smt Hand
Sh07On i'm Bridge Game From WFBl
DRIDGE players who tuned in on

DRIDGE players who tuned in on
Id the radio bridge game broadcast
from Station WFBM, Tuesday night
under auspices of The Times. heard
an expert demonstration of how to
bid a semi-two- suited hand to the
best advantage.
Wilbur M. Whitehead, who was
the South player and dealer, held
this semi-two- suitor: Spades. A, K,
], s; Hearts, @; Diamonds, 5, 8, 2;
Clubs, K, Q, j, 10, 9.
Either of his long suits. Spades or
Clubs, was a sound initial bid.
Whitehead correctly bid the Major
suit In preference to the Minor, al
though the Minor was longer and
stronger. He said one Spade.
j. H. Ballinger of Seattle, West,
made defensive bid of two Dia-
monds on this hand: Spades, 10, s.;
Hearts, 9, 6, S; Diamonds, K. j, 10,
9, 7. 4; Clubs, A, 2. Had Whitehead
passed, Ballinger also would have
passed, as he lacked the two quick
tricks necessary for an opening bid.
Mrs. Helen M Hubbard of San
Francisco, North, passed. Her cards
were: Spades, @, 9, 4. 2; Hearts, j,
8, 7, 2; Diamonds, @; Clubs, 8, 6,
5, T.
With her holding of four Spades
headed by a Queen. and a singleton,
a raise was tempting; but as her
hand could not take a trick except
in the Spade suit with Spades as
trump, a first round pass was more
conservative and would not miSlead
her partner.
Milton G. Work, East, had support
for his partners Diamonds, but pre-
ferred to make a higher valued bid
Of two Hearts on: Spades. Z, 6, g.:
Hearts, A, K. 10, 4, 3; Diamonds,
A, 8, 6; Clubs, 7. 3.
Whitehead than went to three
Clubs. Even had his partner assist
ed his Spades, and East had over
called with Hearts, Whitehead would
have bid his Club suit in preference
to rebidding Spades, to provide his
partner with an accurate picture of
his holding.
His handling of his hand was quite
different from that formerly used
with two-SuiterS. The old rule was {:
Holding Major and a Minor suit,
both sound original bids, bid the
Major in preference to the Minor,
even though the Minor be both
longer and stronger AS a corollary:
If partner assist the suit first bid,
continue with that suit without
showing the second suit.
However the old rule was based
upon the assumption that the suit
first bid was one of at least five
cards; for. formerly. four-card suits
were rarely bid initially in prefer
enc to a longer suit.
n
MORE recent practice. however,
IVA when the hand contains a
Major and a Minor. both sound bids,
is to bid the Major suit in preference
to the Minor even though the Major
suit be one of but four cards, and
the Minor one of five or possibly
six.
This necessitated a modification
of the corollary of the old rule giver
above, as follows: If partner assists
the suit first bid, and such suit is
one of but four cards, show the
Minor suit in order to inform part
ner that the suit first bid is either
extremely weak in top honorS OF
one of only four cards.
Ballinger, West, after Whitehead
bid of three Clubs, went to three
Hearts. Normal length of his Hear
suit, his supporting values in Dia-
monds and Clubs. and his two dou-
bletons. justified his assist for his
partners Hearts.
Mrs. Hubbard, North, then sale
three Spades. In view of her part
ner's showing Of two suits, Mrs
Hubbard's hand assumed a different
aspect.
With either Spades or Clubs as
trump her hand should be good fol
at least three tricks, and since a
two-suited hand played with one OF
the suits as trump may be conSid-
cred worth a minimum of six tricks
Mrs. Hubbard was fully justified in
her bid. Moreover. it requires less
strength to raise a partner from two
to three than from one to two.
TXIoRK, East, bid four Diamonds
w Having shown Hearts on the
first round, this bid showed that his
Heart suit was not particularly
strong and that he could support
Diamonds.
Thus he painted for his partner
a clear picture of his hand. If South
passed the Diamond bid, then
Works partner, without increase OF
contract, could change to Hearts
if he considered it the better dec
laration.
Whitehead passed. Although his
partner had given him a belated
Spade assist, he had too many losing
cards to warrant a bid Of four
Spades.
Ballinger also passed. His preVl-
Gus assist of Hearts showed normal
support for that suit, and he in
terpreted his partners return to
Diamonds as a clear statement that
the hand would play better at Dia-
monds than at Hearts unless Bal
linger held better than normal
Heart support. Lacking this better
than-normal Heart support, Bal
linger let the four Diamond bid
stand.
Mrs. Hubbard, North, bid four
In the Stock Market
lBy Thomson & McKinnon)