Evening star., 1934-05-30

VI YOU have read and assimilated
all of my previous articles, you
should have a pretty good idea of
/ my system of bidding. Various
phases Of it-more particularly
the one-over- -one, the distributional
forcing bids, and the placing of the
no trump-have proven their worth.
and are used almost universally by
good contract players. Using my in
ferential forces, and sign offs, you can
confidently bid slams, or correctly let
the bidding die at one no trump. 1t
is very difficult, however, to know
what to do with the in-between hands
the hands which will produce game
one time, and be set two the next.
1 have laid down certain guiding
principles which I, myself. may vio-
late upon occasion. Your partner
your opponents. your digestion, your
feeling that things have been going
badly or well for you, and many other
psychological factors are all bound
up with your decision either to slightly
overbid or slightly underbid the part
nerShip'S holdings. II all of us we're
bridge perfect, contract would be a
sorry game indeed. A mistake in play
"a misinterpretation in bidding
and championship is won or lost!
Many of you have told me that
the more you play my system, the
easier it becomes. Once you train
your mind to think in terms of con-
tract, rather than auction; once you
begin to bid 26 cards instead OF con-
flning your vision narrowly to l3-
the correct bids seem to be the only
possible ones on your holdings. A
smooth interchange Of information is
effected within the safe zone
Now I should like to try an ex-
pertinent. Instead of continuing the
discussion of the more delicate phases
OF my system as applied to unusual
hands. l am going to follow four Sims
players through an evening of rubber
bridge. and later, possibly. through an
evening Of duplicate When you see
my system applied to actual hands
you may be able to realize its possi-
bilities more fully. I reserve the
right TO criticize the bidding or play
but otherwise all mistakes will be
chronicled.
Since these players prefer to re-
main anonymous, let us call them. for
the sake Of convenience, Mr.. and Mrs
Aggressive, and Mr.. and Mrs. Con-
servative.
All four are better than average
bidders and players. Mr.. Aggressive
Is perhaps. the strongest of the four
The only difficulty in that direction
lies in his overwhelming confidence
IN his ability TO pull himself out OF
tight situations by magnificent play
II any one is going to go down 800
points, double, and vulnerable, it will
be Mr. Aggressive.
And now we come to the person
on whom the blame will rest for
such a debacle-Mrs. Aggressive. From
long years OF playing with Mr.. Ag-
gressive, Mrs. Aggressive has become
a carbon copy of H. T. Webster's.
The Timid Soul" She is perfectly
content to let her lord and master
take full control of the bidding Re
moved from his baleful influence. she
might not be a bad player; but in
this game, she will merely respond
with yes. dear" whether Mr.. Aggres-
sive is chortling over a grand siam
double and redoubled. or upbraiding
her for failing TO rescue him from
horrible bid.
The Conservatives provide the
necessary conservatism. They have
been happily married for Is years.
even though they play bridge to-
gether constantly. Mr.. Conservative is
perhaps a better player of no trump
contracts. but, on the other hand
Mrs. Conservative can exc the last
possible trick out Of the suit bid. They
are not in the championship class by
any means, but every once in a while
they make some brilliant bid or play
which wreatheS them in smiles for
the rest Of the evening. Such things
are regarded differently by Mr.. Ag-
greSslve, however. He feels that the
customers are cheated if he doesn't
attempt to make some brilliant" bio
at least once on every hand.
Lay your bets now, ladies and gen.
tlemen. Which will win? The Con.
servatives or the AggreSsives? The
big contest starts tomorrow, and ]
will give resume Of the score each
day.
tCopyright. 1934l
Mr.. Sims will answer all inquiries on
contract that are addressed to this news
paper with self-addresSed, stamped en-
velope.