Evening star., 1934-03-04
Conquering
Contract
by P. HAL SIMS


Mr.. Sims Is universally acclaimed the
greatest hring contract and auction
ployer. He was captain of the renowned
-Four Horsemen" team, noD disbonded,
and has Don "a national champion
ships since 1924. These articles are
based on the Sims system, Which in
cludes the one-oDer-one principle,
which the Sims group OF players ,OoS
the first to employ and develop.
Continuation of Yesterdays
Article.
T THINK I had better keep right
on with our advanced king-show-
ing procedure following an OPEN
i ing three bid. Yesterday I
showed how with
aps.Ix sP,[k Xxx xxx Ok Ok X
II the bidding went-three hearts,
three no trump by you; four clubs
by opener, you should now bid four
spades instead Of five clubs; by this
bid you show at the same time the
king he called for (clubs) and the
king you actually bid (SpadeS). This
saves him probe and allows him to
probe also for the king of diamonds
without getting beyond five hearts, a
bid which he has enabled you to
know to be safe when he announced
that the king of clubs would eliminate
q loser from his hand-that is. 1t
would reduce him to not more than
two losers. If he now probes for the
diamond king by bidding five dia-
monds over four spades, you deny 1t
with bid of five hearts. He now
knows the exact situation and now
makes the final bid-pass or six
hearts. according to whether the
spade king also eliminates a loser or
not. You naturally have nothing
further to say.
With the Two Minor Kings.
Naturally the king of trumps does
not enter into this bidding, as this
Is king he cannot call for. 1t is,
as explained earlier, card which
enables responder to give a final
raise at the end Of all things when
1t is clear that opener has stopped
because he expected to lose a trump
trick which responder can take care
Of. So forget about the trump king
In this connection. Suppose you hold
a5stx sRk 11ti.Ekk1xx1
and the bidding goes as before-three
hearts, three no trumps, four clubs
Now what should you do?
Denying One King and Showing
Another King With One Bid.
Your bid of five clubs-a direct re-
ply to the question. This bid says
three things:
l. have the king of clubs.
2. have not got the king Of
spades, otherwise I would have in
cluded both kings in one bid by bid
ding four spades.
3. I may or may not have the
king of diamonds. If you are inter-
ested in it, if it will eliminate one of
your remaining losers, call for it now
by bidding five diamonds. If have
to deny it, I can still do so by bidding
five hearts, a contract We both know
to be safe because you told me the
king of clubs would eliminate one of
your losers, and 1 have told you that
possess that card.
Surely this is clear, logical and
sound, is it not?
King of Spades and Diamonds.
With these two kings. if the bid
ding went as before. you can only
make exactly the same response as
you would if you held the king of
diamonds and no other king at all.
Your bid over four clubs is four dia-
mondS This says:
!. have not got the kings Of both
spades and clubs, otherwise I would
have bid four spades.
2. have not got the kings Of both
diamonds and of clubs or I would
have bid five clubs, leaving you free
to call for the diamond king at the
five level, still enabling me to deny it
by five hearts.
3. have not got the king of clubs,
otherwise I would bid it either in
combination with that of spades -four
spades) or in combination with that
of diamonds five clubs) or, If 1t were
my only king. naturally would show
it by a raise to five clubs in the ordi-
nary, simple, question -and-answer
manner.
4. have got the king Of dia-
monds; I may or may not have the
king of spades.
With Only One King.
With only the king of clubs, you
bid five clubs plain answer to the
probe. This denies the king of spades.
With only the king of diamonds. you
bid four diamonds, as explained above.
This denies the king of clubs. but
neither denies nor affirms the king of
spades.
With only the king of spades. you
cannot drive your partner beyond
the four-level as this card may be
useless. Your bid over four clubs is
therefore four hearts. This obvious
ly denies both minor suit kings but
neither denies nor afflrms the spade
king.
With all three kings as already ex-
plained, you bid four spades. If part
ner now probes for the king Of dia-
monds, show it, and he can then bid
the limit. Do not volunteer informa-
tion about the diamond king as it is
q useless card unless your partner in
quires about it. You have enabled
him to put that question at an abso-
lutely safe. gratuitous level. You do
not know what aces are out against
you-but your partner does.
(Copyrisht 1934J
Mr.. Sims will answer all inquiries on
contract that are addressed to this news
paper with self-addressed. stamped en-