Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-20
BRIDGE TALKS
By MRS. JOHN NrUNcE. u.

We will now take up how third hand
answers his partners initial bid Of two.
The initial bid Of two means that bid
der holds ace, king, queen and three
small cards Of the suit bid, and nothing
else. This applies to minor and major
suits alike. When dealer bids two Of
minor 1t means his hand contains
six Of the suit, headed by the ace, king,
queen, and that he has no other high
cards in his hand. If second hand
passes third minor suit bid, third hand
should allow the bid to stand unless
he has q very strong major suit. one
with which he his likely to go game
If he holds such a major suit, he should
bid two of that suit. For example,
dealer bids two clubs, second hand
passes, and third hand holds the fol-
lowing:
IS Spades-Queen, 8-spot and 5-spot.
HeartS-Ace, king, jack, 9-spot, Z
spot and 5-Spot.
Diamonds al.
Clubs-Ffye-spot, 3-Spot and 2-Spot.
You can readily see where 1t would
be to third hands advantage to bid
two hearts, although he holds three
small clubs. AS stated several times
before, it should be the desire Of every
bridge player to make game in one
hand, and you certainly stand better
chance of doing this with major suit
also, a strong minor, such as this, is
most valuable as side strength, once the
trumps are exhausted.
If dealer bids two Of a minor suit,
second hand passes, and third hand
holds two or more Of the minor suit
bid, and, the three other suits safely
stopped, he should bid two no trump,
as he can rely on his partner for six
tricks in the suit bid. For example,
dealer bids two clubs, second hand
passes, and third hand holds the fol-
lowing:
Spades-Queen, jack and 9-spot.
HeartS-Ace, 7-Spot and 5-spot.
Diamonds-Jack, 10-spot, 8-spot and
4-spot.
Clubs-Six-spot, 4-spot and 2-spot.
You can readily see how much easier
it would be to go game with the two
hands at a no trump declaration than
it would be at clubs.
We now come to the question Of what
third hand should do when dealer has
made one bid of a major suit, second
hand having passed. To increase your
partners contract it is necessary to
have, in addition to normal support,
one or more additional tricks. 1t Is
we'll to note here that additional
length over normal support in trumps
is not as desirable raise to assist part
ner's initial bid as tricks in side suits.
To illustrate, dealer bids one spade,
second hand passes and third hand
holds the following:
Spades-Jack, 7-spot and 5-spot.
Hearts-Ace, king, 5-Spot and 3-spot.
Diamonds-Ace and 5-spot.
ClubS-Eight-spot, 6-spot, 4-spot and
2-spot.
This hand contains two quick tricks
over normal support, and as the OBJ
ject of bridge is to make a game in one
hand, third hand would be justified in
increasing his partners bid Of one
spade to three spades. There are two
reasons for doing this, one to indicate
the strength of third hand. and the
second Is that 1t would probably pre-
vent fourth hand from making a lead
directing bid, or hesitant about bidding
a so-called defensive bid. In other
words, fourth hand to bid, following an
increased bid of this kind, would have
to bid from extreme strength rather
than anything else. Bids where you
increase your partners initial bid are
extremely useful in major suits or no
trumps, but are seldom made in minor
suits, unless there is the assurance Of
going game in the minor suit.