Evening star., 1934-08-25
Contract
BY p, HAL SIMS.

By p. HAL SIMS.
Mr. Sims is universally acclaimed the
| greatest living contract and auction
player. He toGs captain of the renowned
-Four Horsemen" team, poio disbdnded,
ana has icon n national champion
| ships since 1924. These articles are
based on the Sims system, tDhich
includes the one-oper-one principle,
tDhich the Sims group of players tCas
the first to employ and develop.
On Pushing.
HERE must be final retribu-
ton" reserved for those bridge
| players who push their op-
Il ponentS into q game contract.
Their partners, temporarily
overlooking the fact that partner
ship rises or falls together, usually do
the obvious. They double.
Occasionally We may all be guilty
of this cardinal sin of pushing"
especially in duplicate. For example,
ones partner opens the bid with
club. The opponents overcan with
spades and gradually get themselves
up to three spades. Holding five clubs
to the king and a particularly blank
hand otherwise, you decide that four
clubs will go down one trick. Even If
you are doubled, the one trick set is
less than the value of part score for
the opponents. So you bid four clubs,
hoping devoutly that your partner can
handle four spades. 1t turns out that
he can't. Moreover, since you have
pushed the opponents into four
spades, he doubles, making bottom
| on the board an absolute certainty.
| OF course, either one of you could
have bid five clubs, but here is your
reasoning: Five clubs goes down two
| tricks-a loss of $50 points. I could
have let them play the hand at three
| spades, making four, giving them ITO
points. Most Of the people in the
room will probably play the hand at
part score in spades, so our $50
set will be a bad score anyway. What
! a dumbben I was!
That Is the reason for so many
| doubled games making. 1t all boils
down to a question of pride. You re-
fuse to take the sacrifice when you
could have let the opponents play the
hand in partial. And in order to
prove to the world that you reopened
the bidding in order to force the op-
ponents one trick higher, you double
their game contract in a loud, firm
tone of voice. If you don't, your part
ner does, with an II hope that'n teach
you lesson" expression. It usually
does.
This is the worst type Of pushing:
An opponent bids one spade. You
overcan with two diamonds. The re-
sponder bids two spades and your
partner bids three diamonds. Now
the opener goes to three spades and,
| in order to prove to your partner that
you have a very fine diamond suit,
you bid four diamonds. Pass! There
is no indication that the responder
will bid four spades. assume that
you are not prepared to double four
spades; that you intend to sacrifice
with five diamonds. Wait for the
game and then bid your sacrifice.
Suppose the responder has three small
diamonds. Every diamond that you
bid makes his partner, by negative in
ference, shorter and shorter in dia-
monds.
Even when you are positive that
you have a game yourself, it is some
times a bad policy to push the op-
ponents. For example, you bid a
heart in the following hand:
a5s. 81; zKexx oi. of. Aa Axxx1
Your left-hand opponent overcalls
xr;fL fuyo nI,,I,c opd voiir rNortpar hidS
two hearts. The other opponent bids
three hearts, even though you are
positive you can make four hearts.
Wait for the spade support. Here it
comes-three spades. Your partner
passes, the other opponent passes, and
you still have your chance to bid four
hearts. But reflect q minute before
you bid it. A four-heart bid will al
mostly surely push the opponents into
four spades. Have you any defense
against four spades? No. You will
have to bid five hearts and go down
one trick. Whether you decide to do
this or not depends on your vulner-
ability. Not vulnerable, the push may
be worth while. Vulnerable, you will
surely lose 200 points, and there is a
faint possibility of loss of 500 points.
Naturally, it Is very bad taste to
push the opponents into slam. You
will probably be ostracized from your
bridge circle for the remainder of the
social season. AS one great authority
put 1t, IF you push 'em up, be pre-
pared to double EN-" And John @.
Public answers, Double 'em anyway"
tCopyright 1e34)
Mr.. Sims will answer all inquiries on
contract that are addressed TO this news
paper with elf-addressed. stamped en-