The Washington times., 1932-06-15
Ss T w5 cts@ Tss@: Ps s @ m: % %: By Faith BaIdwi
Contract
Bridge
By E. v. Shepard
Our Smallest Messenger

The deuce is the smallest
messenger in the pack. How
many players have ever thought
of the many important mes
sages borne by that unimpor-
tant appearing card? A witty
Irishman once remarked: HE
delivers his message almost as
promptly when he does not
appear as when he does"
When the deuce is held by
the observer, or when it ap-
pears among dummy's cards,
the lowest unseen card takes
its place as messenger. Aver.
age players learn quickly to
read the messages of import
ant appearing cards, but to the
careful player the messages Of
the unseen deuce is as import
ant as that of the higher cards.
An Urgent Message
Suppose that you lead a K
against a trump declaration,
and the deuce is not visible at
the end of the trick. On its
face the message is urgent:
Lead this suit again." If your
partner holds only the 80, he
must play the 3 on your K
lead. When he drops the 2
on your second lead, he offers
to ruff the third lead. He may
hold Q-7-2. His Z, followed
by the 2 on the second lead,
then means that he holds the
missing @. But in either event,
his echo "a higher card, fol-
lowed by a lower card, means
"come on"
Of course the declarer may
be false-carding, trying to de-
ceive you into thinking that
your partner wishes you to con.
tinue with leads of your suit.
There is just one situation
where you must be wary; that
is when the Bath Coup threat
ems. To be dangerous, the situa-
ton may come this way; you
hold something like KOS,
dummy shows three small
cards, as 9-7-6; your partner
holds something like 1888; the
declarer holds just four cards
the A-J-4-2. On your lead of the
K, of course your partner will
play his lowest card tthe 81;
wanting you to lead the suit
at once, the declarer may play
the 4, leaving you in doubt
whether your partner holds the
Az, and wants to win the
next trick. If you lead a low
card, the declarer'S j will win
the trick, and his Ace will
win the third trick. If you lead
the @, the declarer'S Ace will
win the trick, leaving his J good
for a third trick. There are
only a few combinations of ad-
verse holdings where the Bath
Coup can be attempted, but
be careful in any case where
such a mjShap may overtake
you. Of course it can do you
no harm in case the declarer
false-cards when you hold AK,
without the j, if dummy shows
three small cards of the suit.
If there is no lower small
card than the one played by
your partner, unless he hap
pens to be playing a singleton,
he never invites your continue.
ton of leads of that suit.
Full of Meaning
At no-trumpS the fall of the
lowest missing card from your
partners hand is full of mean
mig: Partner, I have fewer
than four cards of your suit;
do not hold even three with an
honor that may aid establish
ment Of the suit"
The basis of all signals. in
the game is the "echo." This
Is made by playing a higher
card on the first lead than on
the second lead of a suit. This
signal occurs in various situa-
tions. To be rated as anything
beyond an awful dub, every
player must learn the various
echos. Any elementary text
book should give these forms
of echos: "the come-on;" "three-
trump echo;" "plain-suit echo"
Card valuation is the first
step in learning to play the
game. 1t is impossible to learn
how to bid until you know the
probable number Of tricks you
can win. The first steps in
play are to learn the tables of
trump and no-trump leads. The
third step is to master the
signals of the game, and an
important item of this is to
read the message conveyed by
very low cards.
ICo.,u;rLt 1aao Wing Taaturea