Evening star., 1932-11-04
BY WILLIAM ]. HUSkE,
Ely Culbertson's Editor in Chief.

Ely CCLDsTSOn EQllOI III SL!CI
(Writen for the Associated Pre5s)
NEW YORK. November AFTER
reading the revelation Of the system OF
contract bidding by his friend, P. Hal
Sims Ely Culbertson told me that Mr..
Sims unquestioned skill as a player
appears all the more remarkable to him.
Mr.. Culbertson pondered On the Sims
system" of contract bidding compared
with the simpler, more direct and more
precise differences available to those
who use the CuIbertson or approach
forcing system Of bidding.
In Topsy-Turvy World.
To Mr. Culbertson it appears that
Mr.. Sims. when he sits down at the
bridge table. lives in topsy-tur1r
word where favOrs go by gues sing no.
by scientific precision III the bidding
For instance. take the requirements
for an opening bid of one. In the
system which bears CulbertsCn'S name,
first or second hand holding two and
one-half honor tricks makes an open
ing bid, not vulnerable. If the player
has a biddable suit, he bids it, his choice
OIL d u6CldldIlOll dPSAi 'AAS
approach principle which, briefly stated,
is that whenever a hand contatGs a
biddabe suit, or is a no-trump hara, the
suit, and not no-trump, shculd ffst be
bid.
The approach principle is the
cornerstone Of scientific bidding. II
permits the cheap and easy interchange
of information between the partners.
The opening bid is the first step OF an
aggressive campaign, and Mr.. Culbert-
son never has belonged to school OF
bridge players which SUBSCRIBE" 10 tne
doctrine of passive resistance as the
win rubber.
Naturally. with third or fourth hand,
after passes by first and second, the
requirements for opening BIDS are
slightly higher Either the trump SUIT
must be longer and stronger or the
hand must be buttressed with add
tional honor tricks. This to Mr.. Cul-
bertson seems logical, clear anc stralght-
forward.
Sims Procedure DifferFnt.
However, he finds. through studying
MI. Sims methods that the procedure
should be entirely different. The first
decision to make, Mr.. Sims states, before
making a bid, is to determine whether
or not your side will eventually win tne
auction and become the declarer. ms
decision must be made with the rapldlty
of the blink of an eye-lash: II you
have reached this decision, the rest IS
easy. You keep on bidding and biodlng
and bidding, because you nave al "e-
gressive" type OF hand.
On the other hand, you may see IN
YOUR hand three fine honor tricks-tWo
oon-kiOC COnCelEdDly
three aces-but in weighing the prop
ability as to which side will win the
eventual declaration, for some hidden
reason you have determined that the
other side and not you will become tne
declarer. Embraced in hands OF TINS
type he includes all hands OF 4-3-5-3'
4-4-3-2. or 4-4-4-1 distribution. Ger
tainly the classification OF the unusual
freak of 4-4-4-l with the hypocrite type
of distribution, such as 4-4-3-z ol
4-3-3-3 is in itself the mark OF genius.
In the approach-forcing system, the
opening bid of one no-trump Is PROB
ably the weakest Of all bids. 1t does
not suggest a hand in which the pros
pect of game is great unless partner
can respond with show OF strength.
Mr. Sims. however, reserves his no
trump bids for hands containing from
3-plus honor tricks up to 4.
The principle upon which these
strength-shoWng no-trumps are based
Is. of course. unsound. The opening
bid, whether it is bid Of one in a SUIT
or a cne no-trump bid is leap In the
dark. You and your partner are IN
position of generals of allied armies:
You are seeking to establish lines OF
communication, even against the enemy
forces which oppose you.
Attack Best Defense.
It is folly to say that if your hand
contains no biddab!e suit that you must
then pass over the right to attack IN
the bidding of your opponent. Contract
bears a close analogy to war. and one
of the soundest principles OF military
strategy is that attack is the best de-
fense. Mr.. Sims personal preference
for opening no-trump bids is well
known. Some Of his teammates, as well
as others. have suggested that his pref
erence for this bid is based upon the
fact that he plays such hands extremely
well.
It is hard to analyze system Of bid
ding which is so extremely indlvid-
ualistic, so contradictory in many re-
spects as is the bidding system used by
Mr.. Sims. Mr.. Culbertson has fire.
ouently said that a majority of the
great players are poor analysts. He has
never thought that he would secure
such absolute proof of this statement as
is offered in study Of the Sims sys-
tenn"
He notes another feature character
istic of the Sims system. AS already
said. the bidding of this master player
is highly individualistic Hence he out
lines no plan for developing the part
nership hands A great contract player
is to a considerable extent law unto
himself. He may do what he pleaSes,
and so long as he succeeds there will
be those to bow their heads and bend
their knees in acclaim of his proves.
Must Build Precise System.
When one seeks to teach others,
however. unless he wishes to be hope
lessly mired in a bog of contradictions,
he must build up complete, precise
and accurate system Each part OF
it must be related to the other. The
approach forcing system which has
been used with success by Mr. Culbert-
son and associates since the incep-
ton of contract is carefully con-
structed plan of bidding covering all
phases of the game. Its corner stone is
the exchange of precise information
between the partners. Mr., Culbertson
can never believe that the suostitu-
ton of guessing for scientific lnforma-
ton will result in better game Of con-
tract for either the average player or
the SupereXpert.
AS regards the use of the one-over-
one response, the only departure that
Mr.. Sims has made from the Culbert-
son system is that he regards such a
bid as absolutely forcing for one round
Mr.. Culbertson prefers the much more