Advanced Bridge; The Higher Principles of the Game Analysed and Explained

THE DEFENCE AGAINST OVERTAKING AND “DUCKING”

When you open a suit and find that it is dummy’s strength do not attempt to win the second trick if the dealer leads through your hand, that is, unless you can mark the dealer with no other card of the suit to lead; by taking the third round instead, you will often save a trick or two.

In this case the dealer takes the first trick with the jack and leads the queen. No attempt should be made to cover the card. In this way the dealer is forced to win the third round and dummy’s suit is blocked.

CARD STRATEGY

When players have largely grasped the fundamentals of bridge they are frequently filled with complaisance and self-satisfaction that is gratifyingly reassuring to them, but that does not tend to improve their game.

Each hand played, wherein they feel that they have committed no blunders, brings a sense of contentment; but, unfortunately, they overlook the tricks which they may have lost by the lack of a little card strategy.

These are the tricks, which won, decide rubbers. There is always trouble for the player who is looking only for “what he deserves,” and complacently assists the strategy of his opponents by not meeting it with an equal display of skill in attack, or shrewdness in defense.

Good players are frequently likely to be deceived by holding up small cards, though as a matter of fact novices never appear to be fooled by such tactics; play a high card like a King or a Queen, however, and the poor player is decidedly apt to be frightened away from the play of his own suit.

To whomsoever it falls to play the dummy hand there is abundant opportunity to baffle, mislead and confuse the opponents, and still be playing strictly within the etiquette and the admitted possibilities of bridge. In fact it is only just to one’s partner to exercise one’s best endeavor and employ one’s brightest wits to bring about a brilliant finish.

A little of the combative disposition is a valuable adjunct to good bridge play. Combine that with clever strategy and a most commendable desire to send your adversaries on innumerable wild-goose chases, and there will be no further playing merely for “what the hand deserves.”

Pitfalls in the form of false leads, false carding and clever underplay should be dug for your adversaries at every opportunity. Whenever they can do the same thing, the adversaries will not scruple to place them for you.

There are hands in bridge which may be said to play themselves. One holding all the winning cards could scarcely be expected to lose. That, however, is purely primary. As the player himself recognizes, it is something that could scarcely have been avoided. On the other hand, when some well-planned ruse has found the opposition with no sentries posted, and their camp is thrown into confusion by the clever capture of a trick or two which they never had dreamed it possible to lose, you may feel the elation that is a part of bridge when the game is played to the full measure of its theory.

Frequently a hand is picked up at the bridge table which on its face may be read as hopeless, unless, by some means, the adversaries can be induced to blunder. Never exercise charity in a case of that kind. Make it a point to tempt them not only to blunder once, but again and yet again. It is surely far more strategic for a weak hand to take a strong hand prisoner than it is for the strong hand to capture the weak hand.

Subjoined are a few “ifs” that are well to be remembered, for all too frequently the situation arises where one of them may become most effective if you have retained its significance in your memory.

If you find that in some suit a certain number of tricks will go to your adversaries, and that to lead from your best suit is disadvantageous, throw the lead and see what will happen.

If you wish to make four tricks in a suit with but three in sight, give the adversaries a chance to discard a card or two before you show your strength.

If you are anxious to know which of your adversaries holds the Queen of the suit in which you hold the Ace, King, Jack, force a discard and see how kind they will be to you. If no discard can be forced, then give the adversaries the lead and let the suit come up to you.

If you are reasonably certain of winning all the tricks but one, lead out your remaining trumps. You cannot lose and, if your adversaries are uncertain about their discard, the extra trick may be gained.

If you hold the Queen and two small cards of a suit, with small cards of the same suit in dummy and the adversary opens with the King, keep your lowest card. The leader may be tempted to believe that his partner is echoing, and he will establish your Queen by leading the Ace. Do not attempt this play however if you hold length in the suit.

If the King is led and you have length as well as strength in the suit, play your highest card on the King, for if the adversary continues with the Ace, the younger hand will probably ruff the third round and you should therefore endeavor to frighten your opponents from the suit.

If a suit is led and the card played by the younger hand is not higher than the ten, do not win the first trick with the Ace holding Ace, King, Queen. The elder hand cannot have King, Queen, Jack, and taking the first trick with the Ace would clearly show the situation.

If you hold a singleton King lead the suit from dummy at the first opportunity, being careful to select as a card to lead a ten or a nine. This gives the impression that you intend to finesse. You may tempt the adversary, with the Ace second in hand, to pass the trick, whereas were a small card led he would probably make no such mistake.

If you hold a small card as a singleton with King and Jack, or King and others in dummy, do not wait until your adversary can count your hand, but lead your singleton early in the hand and do not finesse.

If you want high cards to fall, lead high cards. It is astounding how difficult one finds it not to cover an honor led. With this in mind, with a singleton Ace in your hand, and a sequence in dummy from the Queen to the nine, the adversaries will make no mistake if a low card is led, while the Queen is a temptress that few can resist.

If you hold ten cards of suit in your hand and that of the dummy with the Ace and King both against you, no doubt you will lose two tricks in the suit; but when you do lead it lead your highest card. You may tempt your second hand adversary to cover and the other honor may fall.

If you have nine or more cards in your hand and that of the dummy headed by Ace and King, it is usually unwise to finesse; but it is always good play to lead the Jack towards the high card in the opposite hand as it may tempt your adversary to cover.

If the adversary, after seeing dummy, lead through a King Jack suit he probably has no high cards in the suit. To play the King can do but little harm, and, if he has the Ace, you may shut it out.

If you have Queen, ten and one small in dummy, and Ace, nine, small in your own hand, lead the small card. If the King is not put up second in hand, play the ten; if the Jack wins the trick the King is probably in the same player’s hand, and you must get the lead in dummy to come through this hand. Without the ten in either hand pass the first trick and make no effort to win with your Queen. This may be your only hope to get two tricks in the suit.

If you have the Ace, King, small in your hand and Jack and two small in dummy, the discard may show that your left hand adversary holds the Queen protected. To steal a trick here, you must play the Ace and underplay with the hope that this player will mark the King in his partner’s hand and not play high.

If at “No Trump” a high card is led against you originally, and you have length in that suit, hold up the lowest card to make the adversary think his partner is unblocking.

If at a loss what suit to play for at “No-Trump” choose the one that is shown in dummy, so that the adversaries may not discover the weakness or strength of your own hand.

If at “No-Trump” you are playing a poor hand with little or no hope of winning, or even perhaps of saving the game, try leading the suit that is all against you. Often the adversaries will hold imaginary tenace over your cards and come “banging up” to your strong suit. The collision will be more disastrous to them than you.

If you must lose the lead at “No-Trump,” conceal the strength in your own hand and do not jump around and show strength in three suits, for then when you do lose the lead the adversaries cannot make a mistake as to their own strong suit.

If your adversary’s lead at “No-Trump” is a Jack and you have Ace, King, Queen in your hand, take the first trick with the Queen. Never win with the King. Many players lead the Jack from King, Jack, ten or Ace, Jack, ten.

If a Queen is led at “No-Trump” and you hold both the Ace and King, do not win the first trick with the Ace. The Queen lead sometimes indicates the Ace and Jack, and you may mislead an adversary by playing the King, whereas the Ace would clearly show the situation.

If you are playing “No-Trump” do not blank the Ace in dummy unless you want this suit led to you. Keeping a small card with the Ace may lead the adversaries to believe that you have a high card in your own hand and they may hesitate to lead the suit.

Another point that it is well to emphasize is in regard to being forced to lead disadvantageously from a suit. Be very careful in a case of that kind not to break a possible tenace by leading a high card. For instance with Ace, ten and two small in your hand and Jack and two small in dummy, you are forced to lead the suit from your own hand. Play the small card. Often the adversary makes the mistake of playing a high card second in hand, giving you, perhaps, a tenace over your right hand opponent.

Too much haste in showing ability to ruff by your weak hand frequently brings disaster. In fact a trump lead from you will discourage the trump attack by the adversaries, and they are only too likely to give you the ruff without defining your purpose.

Inference frequently will come to you from the cards held in the combined hands as to what suit will probably be led by the adversaries, but do not expose your weakness by discarding from this suit.

Last, but one of the most important facts of all, decide which of your cards you mean to play before fingering them. Indecision may tell your adversaries exactly what they are most eager to know.

Bear in mind that these suggestions are advanced to try to impress all players with the fact that there may be much more in the hand than it seems to deserve, and that “much more” is the real test of skillful bridge. It is a far greater source of enjoyment than lackadaisically wading through deal after deal, stirring only the surface of the shallow water and not venturing into those more fascinating depths where the secrets of bridge await those who will try for them.

LOST TRICKS

One development of bridge, seldom touched upon, has to do entirely with what may be designated the “lost tricks.”

Hands that play themselves are, to an extent, colorless and featureless accessories of the game; but the “lost tricks” are the “might have beens” of bridge that rankle in the memory long after the rubber is finished.

They are usually found in hands that require a thorough understanding of the score, good judgment and keen perception, and are lost many times because of a lack of understanding between partners.

There can be nothing more trying to one’s finest nervous sense than to play with a partner in whom one has little confidence, who makes each situation as difficult as possible, gives no correct information as to his own hand by the play of the cards, nor seeks to take advantage of the information correctly given by his partner.

There is one essential to bridge which must never be overlooked, nor can its importance be too strongly impressed upon all players, and that is, that to play the game well involves the closest kind of a business partnership in which implicit confidence must exist. Evil effects attendant upon deceit cannot be too highly overestimated, nor can such play be too severely condemned, if your aim is to attain, as nearly as possible, the standard of perfection.

All players must understand that rules are but the mere convention of the game, holding it to certain conformity, that, it is evident, is necessary for its preservation and the perfect enjoyment of its enthusiastic devotees. Certain rules, that govern the technicalities, are absolute, as they are in any game of cards, but rules in general are not the masters of bridge; rather should they be considered as second to circumstance and the fall of the cards. Brilliant plays are made in contravention to rules, yet we would not attempt to deduce from that fact the theory that rules are not essential to the game.

There are those disaffected individuals who rail at everything. To them rules are bogey men; conventions are pitfalls. They scoff at partners who play as such, and argue weakly for disconcerted play in which one puts down a card, his partner another, and for all the information that either conveys to the other a pinch of snuff would be generous recompense. You might as well take a chance on a card of any denomination or of any suit, as to try to adhere to a union of forces with such a school of philosophy to guide you.

Do not be influenced by theories somewhat wildly and illogically advanced by players thus minded. Time and experience will assuredly teach you that heresies fail in bridge, as they fail in other subjects where cool, philosophical reasoning will lead to a sane and intelligent understanding.

Never forget that the dealer is in the possession of the strength of twenty-six cards all the time. If you, with half that force, play at random, and your partner, with no more numerical strength than you possess, is also playing a fourth of the game on his individual account, with no particular interest in what is being done with the other three-fourths of the fifty-two cards, it is surely not common sense to imagine that you and your partner are likely to be superlatively blessed with success.

United play in bridge is absolutely essential to success. This has been demonstrated from the inception of the game, and those who are most mindful of this fact are those who see fewer ghosts of “lost tricks” stalking dejectedly about as they recall the hands of the past.

Occasions do arise however when you may deceive the dealer and not your partner. If you wish the dealer to finesse, it will often pay to play a high card second in hand, holding a small one. For instance, with King, Jack, nine, four and three in dummy, the dealer leads the Ace and then a small card. By playing the ten from the ten, five, deuce on the second round of the suit you may lead the dealer to believe that you hold the Queen or no other card in the suit, and this may tempt him to finesse.

When Ace and Queen are in dummy over your once guarded King, you will probably be led through and your King be captured. It will pay you at times, especially if the card next to the King is a nine or ten, to lead the suit in the hope that the dealer will play the Ace second in hand and that he will infer from your lead that the King is in your partner’s hand.

Should you and your partner hold all the remaining cards in a suit, do not hesitate to play or discard a card of the suit so as to mislead the dealer and make it difficult for him to count your own and your partner’s hand.

To enumerate the many situations wherein tricks are lost and where partners go astray would need a keen observer and a pencil and pad at almost every rubber that is played.

It is usually accepted that a short suit is led for the purpose of establishing a ruff. Very good. Yet players are often met who complain about being forced after showing a desire to ruff. Then avoid giving the invitation. Your partner can only read it as you played to him and followed out your own suggestion as he felt in duty bound to do.

It is not invariably necessary that you open a short suit and play for a ruff. It does seem to be a common impulse. There appears to exist a desire on the part of most who play bridge to do something with trumps, and players are always eager to begin their employment, hoping to see Aces and Kings go by the board. Your short suit lead may establish that suit for your opponent, and bring disaster through an effort to make a small trump trick; while, on the other hand, the lead of your long suit may force and so weaken the dealer’s trump hand as to make it impossible for him to take out the trumps against him.

Tricks are lost by players not showing the correct numerical strength of their long suit. A player who leads the deuce from a six card suit assuredly would not have done so had he confidence in the ability of his partner to read or count his hand.

Frequently the under card of a sequence is led, or the highest card of a sequence is played second or third in hand, and repeatedly that has cost a trick or two because it conveyed misinformation.

One who continually leads the top of long, weak suits against a declared trump, gives misinformation and often leads his partner to believe that he is opening a short suit, and frequently a trick or two is lost by the dealer obtaining discards.

The player who continually refuses to part with the best trump should bear in mind that ruffing with the commanding trump rarely loses a trick, and often gains one.

Remember that the partner who doubles usually has trump strength, and so do not strew his pathway with obstructions by forcing him when it is most fatal to his chances.

There is one type of partner who is particularly trying. He is that persistent individual who, having acquired the notion of establishing his long suit at “No-Trump” keeps at it with a bland faith that would be amusing were it not so vexing. With little or no chance of ever getting in, he sacrifices the only hope of saving the game by refusing to switch off and see what his partner has got.

Think, too, how your partner must feel when marked with a card of your established suit, and in the lead, he witnesses a discard on your part of one of your good suit, and is met with the feeble apology that you had a “King or Queen to protect.”

It is a maxim in bridge that the weaker hand should always consider itself subordinate to the stronger, ready to sacrifice the high card holding so that it will be a gain to the partner in the end.

How selfishly and at what cost partners will decline to unblock because it appears to them to mean the sacrifice of too high a card. Too long they cling to their Queens and their Kings only to see the great army of “lost tricks” obtain fresh recruits because they would not, or could not, read what their partners were vainly trying to publish before them.

Another rather cool invitation and one bound to be fraught with disastrous results is when you request your partner to play for a suit in which you have neither length nor strength. It would be just as logical to ask him to play for cards in your adversaries’ hands.

It is always good practice in bridge not to attempt to play for too much. To bring in two suits is, of course, a very delightful sensation, but it is a great deal better to confine your efforts to bring in one sure suit than to attempt two with the result of getting neither. Bear in mind that when one is a bit greedy, “lost tricks” are likely to foot up rapidly.

Before the subject of “lost tricks” is abandoned it is well to call attention to what may be sacrificed by bad makes. Players overanxious to win will attempt declarations which they know to be unsound, being influenced by a speculative impulse rather than by sound judgment.

Countless rubbers are lost—not tricks, but rubbers—because players do not know the score and, because they lack that information, are not playing with an intelligent idea as to how many tricks are absolutely essential to save the game.

In conclusion bear this in mind for it is a justifiable loss of a trick: Do not hesitate to lose when the only chance is to find in your partner’s hand the card that will save the game; you may be astonished to ascertain how often this will happen during the ordinary course of play.

Play so to perfect your whole game as to take care of the “lost tricks.” The winning tricks, it will quickly be discovered, take care of themselves.

“YOUR PARTNER.”

HIS IDIOSYNCRASIES, AND SOME OF YOURS

All games of cards, even the simplest—those that require but little thought or mental analysis—afford an excellent field for the study of human nature.

Players frequently permit little mannerisms and idiosyncrasies to intrude, and, if not corrected at the start, the habit is likely to grow.

For the most part such offenses are, of themselves, but trivial breaches, as it were, of the etiquette of the card-table; but at times they are intensely irritating and the cause of some displeasure that finds relief in word or action, both of which may quite seriously disrupt bridge harmony.

When a rubber of bridge is in contemplation and after the preliminaries you sit down to play, it is just possible that “your partner” may have his ideas about the game. If you have omitted to ascertain in advance what they are, it will help neither of you in the least if you immediately begin to differ as to leads, discards and signals. Your game will strongly resemble a tug-of-war—both at opposite ends of the rope, instead of at one end pulling conjointly.

It is an invariable custom that the player who cuts the lowest card has the choice of seats and the cards. If “your partner” objects to moving do not advise that he would better change. Very likely his reasons why he should not are quite as urgent as any that you can advance to the contrary, and why interject at the start anything that shall tend to create a slight element of discord.

If you ask “your partner” for advice rest assured of criticism during the remainder of play, whether it be for a rubber or for an evening. It is one thing to consult, quite another to request. The moment that you show subserviency you admit superiority, and there are those who play bridge, and some with little experience or knowledge, who as critics, in their own estimation, are par excellence. Better agree with “your partner” at the start on the common principles that are essential to be observed, and then play with an eloquent silence that will command respect and admiration at the table.

If you pass the make with a weak hand and your partner declares “No-Trumps,” look as cheerful as possible, and make up your mind to do the best that you can with the cards that have been given to you. If you begin by abusing your partner for the make, you practically say that your hand is weak and that the situation is hopeless. That is most valuable information for your adversaries.

Some times “your partner,” sitting behind the dummy hand, has a queer way of waking up just as you are leading a thirteenth card from his hand, and asking you whether you have a card of the suit led, thus distracting your thoughts from the selection of a proper discard.

The partner behind the silent hand, to hasten the play, has no right to touch or suggest the use of a single card from those which lie exposed before him, yet often players find the impulse to push out a card from dummy almost irresistible.

Haste and waste are antitypes in bridge as they are in everything. Playing the hand as if you are in a hurry to catch a train may lend a spectacular appearance to your disposition of the cards, but many a rubber is lost by not stopping to give the situation the careful thought that it demands.

The occupant of the “high chair” usually has a monopoly of giving advice. That kindly and courteous soul who can see it all—and who may know it all, or imagine he does, which amounts to the same thing in this particular case—and who sees no hand played without voicing personal ideas as to the methods used, is a well-meaning adjunct to the game, even if occasionally distressing.

When a player spreads out all the cards of an abandoned spade hand, scrutinizes each with an air of anxious concern, and conjectures as to what might have happened had some other declaration been attempted, it tries everybody at the table. What is done with a hand cannot be undone. All time at bridge should be devoted earnestly to what confronts a player, not to what is of the past.

A penalty of some kind should be exacted from the player who makes a practice of insisting that the dealer has led from the wrong hand. It is very disconcerting and frequently disturbs the one criticized to such an extent as to interrupt the train of thought for the subsequent lead.

Post mortems have their interest and are unmistakably convincing as a rule. Don’t venture upon them unless you are certain what the scalpel is going to reveal, and above all things when the corpse is buried don’t continue to talk of the harassing details with another hand awaiting play.

Be careful how you criticize in all cases. It is not an invariable rule that he who points out the first mistake had the best reason for doing so. How about a blunder that may have been committed earlier by the critic himself, and the possible embarrassment that may follow if a complete analysis of all the cards played is insisted upon.

There are personalities in bridge that can be avoided in addition to arguments with “your partner” or public criticism of his play. The actual time saved in “claiming all the rest” will not shorten the game by two minutes. Better play all the cards out and save yourself the possible mortification of having it placed in evidence that you had not read your hand, that of “your partner” and those of your adversaries, as intelligibly as you had imagined.

Bridge knowledge is not acquired in a moment. Some persons are naturally better players than others. Intuition is an aid to some, the ability to forecast assists others, but both are powerless without a thorough grasp of all the details that are accessory to the game.

In connection with this subject it may not be out of place to observe that while the object of the game is to take tricks, the same number can be made in a great many different ways. That you did not happen to lose on a hand is no palliation for the very bad play of which you may have been guilty. Always bear in mind the fact that there is a right way and a wrong way to play, and that the acquirement of playing by the right method should be the purpose of all who devote their time to the game.

Play bridge as if a genuine pleasure, whether winner or loser, and eventually you will discover that it is far easier to win in that spirit than it was with the critical idea predominating; and, if you do lose, it is with the consciousness of good will toward your fellow man, who happens, in this case, to be “your partner.”

Endeavor to be serene under all circumstances. Keep in mind that it is a pastime for sound mental training. Never forget that a cool head is a most valuable essential, and try just as far as possible to sink all peccadilloes in play, avoid all whimsicalities and correct all personal mannerisms.

ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS

The following hands are illustrative of the principles discussed in the previous chapters, and while, to the experienced players, some of the points will appear simple, the hands all show interesting situations which merit careful study from those who wish to improve their Bridge play.

All the hands have been taken from actual play and show by no means unusual situations. The writer has endeavoured to eliminate freakish distributions of cards and unsound play.

Play each illustration as though but one hand were exposed, without previous reference to the notes.

In each case Z is the dealer and A the leader.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 1

Many players would be tempted to declare “no-trumps” with this hand, but the declaration of hearts is sound. No risks should be taken with a strong heart make when one weak suit is held.

Trick 1.—There are two lines of play that could be adopted by the dealer in this hand, one to exhaust the trumps and try for the spade suit, the other to try to establish a ruff in the weaker hand. The former course is preferable. As Z holds but one trump, the adversaries would probably prevent the ruff. To make the spade suit an entry card may be necessary. Y takes the lead, in order to save Z’s entry card.

Trick 8.—This position will be appreciated by all students of the game. Z has three good spades and the commanding diamond, Y the losing trump and the ace of clubs. Should Y now lead a diamond and take Z’s re-entry card, the adversaries’ trump would stop the suit. Leading the losing trump is a clever play.

SAVING AN ENTRY CARD.
LEADING THE LOSING TRUMP.

It is the first game, score sixteen to nothing, in favor of the dealer. Z deals and passes the make. Y declares hearts.

The dealer makes a small slam.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 2

Trick 2.—This situation demands careful attention. If the diamond is led from Y’s hand for Z to trump, the adversaries must obtain the lead at the next trick, and would promptly lead trumps to prevent any further ruffing. Z can estimate that he has but five sure tricks in the two hands, three trump tricks, the diamond trick, the ruff, and the possibility of making a trick with the king of clubs. This, however, would give the adversaries the game and the rubber. To win the game, two ruffs must be obtained and Z cannot afford to make the situation clear to his opponents. He leads the seven of clubs from Y’s hand in order to establish the cross-ruff.

It is this form of strategy that wins games and rubbers for the clever player. Z takes the one chance to win the game.

Trick 3.—B’s best play is unquestionably the trump. He has both the spade and the club suit protected, his partner is marked with strength in diamonds, and he can lead trumps with safety, but not knowing that the weak hand can ruff, he returns his partner’s original lead.

Trick 7.—A can stop the cross-ruff by trumping with the king of hearts, but this play would not afford him any advantage, as Y would discard a losing spade, and Z may not have another trump.

Trick 8.—There is no reason for B to trump. To discard is his best play.

NOT SHOWING ADVERSARIES THAT
THE WEAK HAND CAN “RUFF.”

It is the rubber game, score twenty-four all. Z deals and passes the make. Y declares hearts.

The dealer wins two odd tricks.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 3

Trick 4.—When the commanding trump is against you, the best play is usually to force your adversary to “ruff” with it, but if you hold an established suit in one hand, it often pays to take out the winning trump. Your long suit can then be continued without interruption.

LEADING THE LOSING TRUMP

It is the first game, score love all. Z deals and makes it hearts.

The dealer makes a small slam.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 4

Trick 1.—To win the game the king of hearts must be in B’s hand and the lead must be arranged so that Y can lead the jack of hearts toward the ace queen. To make an entry card in Y’s hand, Z throws his king of diamonds on the ace.

Trick 2.—A would like to change the suit, but, undoubtedly, the diamond is his best lead.

ARRANGING THE LEAD

It is the rubber game, score eight to twenty-four against the dealer. Z, the dealer, declares Hearts.

The dealer wins three odd tricks.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 5

Trick 2.—To many players a trump lead at this trick would seem imperative, but if trumps are led, the adversaries obtain the lead and must make three tricks in the club suit. The clubs must be discarded before the adversaries obtain the lead. The king of spades should be led, otherwise the spade suit would be blocked.

Trick 4.—It seems like tempting fate for Z to lead his high cards, but nothing can possibly be lost. The discards which Y takes on these high cards offset any trump that the adversary might make. There is everything to gain and nothing to lose.

NOT LEADING TRUMPS UNTIL LOSING
CARDS HAVE BEEN DISCARDED

It is the rubber game, score eighteen to nothing in favour of the dealer. Z deals and passes the make. Y declares hearts.

The dealer makes a small slam.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 6

Trick 2.—Should B lead another round of hearts the weak hand would “ruff” and the strong hand would discard.

Trick 4.—The dealer requires every trick to win the game. To accomplish this both finesses must be successful. The trumps held in the two hands are in sequence from the six to the queen, and should B have the king of trumps three times protected, the lead must be kept in Y’s hand. Many a hand has been ruined by the incorrect play of this position.

Trick 10.—Z has the opportunity to make a brilliant coup. To catch the ten of spades he must lead through A’s hand, and, therefore, trumps Y’s winning club in order to obtain the lead.

LEADING THROUGH

It is the first game, score love all. Z deals and makes it diamonds.

The dealer wins five odd tricks.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 7

Trick 1.—As there are but six trumps in the two hands, Z knows that one adversary must hold at least four trumps, and should the force be taken and the trumps led, the adversaries would make the entire suit of diamonds. Z must wait until Y is able to take the ruff, in this way keeping his own trump strength intact.

Trick 3.—A is placed in a difficult position.

Trick 7.—With the best trump against him, Z must force the commanding trump, for, no matter how the adversaries play, the spade suit must be brought in.

REFUSING TO ACCEPT A FORCE

It is the first game, score eight all. Z deals and makes it hearts.

The dealer wins four odd tricks.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 8

Many players might criticise the make of this hand without realising its tremendous possibilities. A hand with five trumps and an established suit is a difficult one for the adversaries to defeat. As Z is short in two suits, there are not many tricks for the adversaries outside of the trump suit. Z hopes to find an honour in trumps with his partner which would enable him to exhaust the trumps and make his suit.

Trick 2.—Many players would find it difficult to resist the temptation of leading trumps up to the ace and queen in Y’s hand, but the danger lies in having the finesse go wrong, for this would enable the adversary to force the strong trump hand and the trump suit would be blocked. To get the lead the dealer would again have to force his own trump hand. If either adversary held four trumps this would be ruinous.

NOT TAKING A FINESSE, WHICH IF UNSUCCESSFUL,
WOULD BLOCK THE TRUMP SUIT

It is the first game, score love all. Z deals and makes it hearts.

The dealer makes a small slam.

ILLUSTRATIVE HAND NO. 9

Trick 1.—Z must save an entry card for the spade suit.

Trick 2.—A refuses to part with the control of the adversary’s suit.

Trick 3.—Should Z not overtake the jack of spades, A would again refuse to part with the control, and hence this entire suit would be blocked. This situation frequently occurs and is often misplayed. When your cards are in sequence and should you know that the adversary is holding up, always overtake to obtain the lead so that you can continue to establish your suit.

Trick 4.—A cannot afford to lead any other suit and continues with the diamonds.

SAVING AN ENTRY CARD. OVERTAKING

It is the first game, score love all. Z deals and passes the make. Y makes it “no-trump.”