Evening star., 1936-11-29


TN THE first days Of contract. the
most approved bidding was q
series of leaps and bounds, occa-
L sionally landing at the right con.
tract. but not particularly often.
After q while, our leading players
discovered that 1t was necessary to
make haste slowly, and the one-over-
one was adopted as a temporary forc-
ing bid, although 1t was some time
before the writers followed suit.
Since this important bid is still mis-
understood by many players, we shall
give a brief description Of it. First,
it Is forcing in that after such a re-
sponse, the bidding must be continued
for one round by the original bidder.
As such, 1t Is the most delicate instru-
ment In the experts tool chest. and
should be in everybody's tool chest.
With q strong hand, you may re-
spond with q one-over-one bid and
trap an opponent who rashly over
calls. With a weak hand, you may
also make a one-over-one response
without Immediately disclosing your
weakness. Now, If the adversaries'
strength Is divided. neither may hold
enough to enter the bidding safely.
At the same time, the one-over- one
response allows you to secure ad-
ditional information about your part
ner's hand at low range in the bid
ding.
1t is very important to bear in mind
that the one-over- one, while tempor-
arily forcing does not force the bidding
past the one level-hence 1t may be
made Just as weak a hand as the one
no-trump response. In fact. in many
instances one should give it with a
still weaker hand.
A year or so after the one-over-one
was being generally adopted, 1t was
found advisable to make all suit re-
sponses forcing for one round. This
was the start Of the exploratory re-
sponse Of two In lower-ranking SUI.
Unless the one-over-one, the explor-
atory response takes the bidding past
the one notrump level. and hence
should always show some definite
values.
As a corollary to the exploratory
response, it was found necessary that
the original bidder, particularly when
he opened with major suit, should
have sufficient strength to rebid at
the level of two and the rebid prin-
ciple was adopted into all bidding.
Under this principle. the player who
opened with a suit bid in first or
second position promised to rebid
once, if his partner responded in an
other suit.
Shortly after this rebid feature was
put into the bidding, what we call the
"merry-go-round school came into
existence. In the ''merry-go-round"
school. practically every bid was
forcing. There was no way of stop
ping. and once you opened the bidding
and your partner responded, you had
no way to avoid reaching game or a
slam contract. Against the merry
go-round" school an alert opponent
would simply sit back with a good
hand. wait until the inevitable game
was bid, and then double.
And yet that school kept rolling
merrily along until 1888. when we an
nounced the principle of anticipation
This principle, touched upon briefly
last week, consists Of selection. at your
first turn to act. of that bid which
will be most likely to simplify your
future problems. For example. we
are the dealer and hold:
Spades-A X Xxx
HeartS-x Xxx
Diamonds-x
Clubs-A @ Xxx
Authorities always have agreed that
that hand is an opening bid. and prior