The development of auction bridge under the new count

Preface

To an analytical mind, the changes wrought in Auction by the New Count are very marked and very fundamental. The entire basic principle of sane bidding and sane doubling has been altered; methods which were formerly sound are now both unsound and futile.

I find that there is great demand for a book that will simply dissect these changes without forcing its readers to wade again through pages of description of the game itself. This, with its laws, I have already fully discussed in my previous book. The Fine Points of Auction Bridge, a thorough knowledge of which is presupposed in these pages.

Portions of this volume have already appeared in the New York Times, dji6. 1 have been strongly urged to issue them in a more permanent form. The test-hands, especially, have all awakened lively interest on their original appearance.

I must remind my readers, once more, that poor Auction is a bore to one*s associates ; fair

iii iv Preface

Auction is but little better; good Auction makes for wide popularity; and expert Auction is a rare delight. To be an expert player, is to be in constant and unceasing demand.

F.L Hastings-on-Hudson, October, 191 2.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Changes Necessitated by the New Count.

The Opening Bid i

Chapter I Changes Necessitated By The New Count; The Opening-bid

A YEAR of the New Count has revolutionized Auction. As is always the case, the necessary changes grew more and more apparent as time went on. At first, we realized merely that the closer proximity of the suit-values made for better bidding and more perfect balance. But the differences are more radical than that.

Chief amongst these is the change in the opening-bid. Under the new count, every bid should he a make (except, of course, *'one spade*'). In other words, when you bid a suit, you must be able to play it.

Under the old count, no-trump was the only valuable suit, save hearts. It was impossible to establish a heart-make, between partners, unless good hearts were dealt them. But it was entirely possible to establish a no-trump by information gleaned on the various rounds of bidding. For instance, if you held the ace-king of clubs with one small card, or the ace and three or four small, you would bid ''a club''; this did not mean that you wanted to play clubs; it meant that you commanded clubs and that your partner might use that information as a help to a possible no-trumper. You were practically sure that your partner would not raise your club-bid very high, — the suit was too low in value to tempt him to do that ; instead he would use the information to establish a no-trumper if possible. In other words, you could hid "a club ''when you were unable to play a club, because you were practically sure that your bid would neither stand nor be raised; it would be changed. You had simply ''shown suit'' as an invitation to no-trump.

Under the new count, conditions are quite different. No-trump is worth less, and the other suits are worth more, than formerly. In addition to this, we have a brand-new suit that is a very tempting and valuable one. Consequently, no-trump is neither desired nor bid,

THe Opening-Bid 3

as frequently as formerly. It is astonishing to note the decrease in the proportion of no-trump hands. And, to me, it is most refreshing. ''Variety is the spice of life, '' and no-trump was growing a bit monotonous.

For the reason that no suit is now beneath notice, your partner will allow your suit-bid to stand, or will raise it when it becomes necessary, in place of changing it to no-trump. It follows, therefore, that you must be able to play it when you bid it. Ace and three or four small would be a sorry club bid or diamond bid, under the new count. Formerly it was good as an ''invitation to no-trump.'' Now it is misleading and worthless.

A bid should be a make. Don't misunderstand this, and think it will allow you to go back to yovir old Bridge makes on jack-suits and ten-suits, provided they are sufficiently long. You positively cannot bid a suit on the first round, unless you hold the ace, the king, or (possibly) the queen of that suit. No jack-suits or ten-suits may be bid on the first round, unless in some very unusual and critical situation. Even queen-suits are barred by the most conservative authorities. I consider bids on queen-suits perfectly permissible provided the suit runs to great length, and the hand holds something

4 XKe Opening-Bid

beside trumps, — such as side-aces, or ruffs. I will devote more space to the subject of queen-suits a little later on.

There are players so conservative that they claim that you should never make an opening-bid in a suit unless you hold the ace, or the king-queen. With this, I do not concur; I think that by such over-carefulness, you lose many chances to make excellent bids and to give your partner information that will enable him to go game in the hand.

Your suit should certainly be headed by one of its three highest cards, and it is infinitely to be preferred that that card should be the ace or the king; yet I do not see why you need hold both the king and the queen. King-jack-ten and two or three small, or even king-jack (or king-ten) with three or four small, is a perfectly good opening-bid.

You must hold, then, the ace, the king, or the queen of your suit, — but you must hold something else beside, A bid, to be safe, should come to seven points; that is, when you count two points for each honor and one point for each plain card, the sum of the points should be seven or more.

This ''point'' system of counting a hand is invaluable; before I go further, I will explain it more fully.

In every suit there are eighteen points; two points each for the five honors, — ace, king, queen, jack, and ten, and one point each for every other card in the suit. You must not bid on a suit, on the first round, unless you hold its ace, king, or queen; and you must not bid on it, even then, unless the suit will add up to seven points. An occasional six-point bid may be tolerated, if the occasion demands it; but a safe bid must come to seven, and a queen-high suit should be even more. A six-point make is always light, and should never he made unless the suit holds the ace and another honor, or the king-queen. Even then, the hand should have outside strength- A ruff cannot be considered outside strength in a four-trump suit, — the hand is too short to take a ruff; and all six-point suits are four-card suits, for two of the cards must be honors. These two honors will count four points, and that leaves but two more points for plain cards. To bid on a six-point suit, therefore, you must hold outside aces, or guarded kings.

No bids are permitted on three-card suits even though all three cards are honors. You might have to play the hand with ten trumps against you. Seven points or more, then, for a safe make, and six points if the occasion makes it absolutely necessary !

Now, remember, the moment any one makes a bid in a suit (whether that suit stands as final or not) , allow for seven points of that suit to be in that hand. Count your own points, and you can get an approximate idea of the holdings of the other two players. When Dummy goes down, you will have but one hand at which you will have to guess.

Always remember that the person who first bids on the suit may have more than seven points, but he probably has not less. Suppose the dealer opens with **a heart,'' and you yourself hold:

Hearts — ^Jack, lo, 6, 4, 3.

Allow seven heart-points to the dealer; your own hand holds seven more. That makes fourteen points out of eighteen. There are, therefore, but four heart-points divided between the other two hands — not four cards, but four points. If either of those hands holds a king or a queen of hearts, it counts for two points, and reduces the possible cards to three. When Dummy goes down, notice his heart-points and make your own deductions as to the fourth hand.

Of course the dealer may have held more than seven points for his original bid. Also he may possibly have held less; this latter contingency

TKe Opening-Did 7

is unlikely (if he is a good player) unless the score demands something unusual, or unless his side hand is fortified by aces, kings, or ruffs.

Whether the hand I have been describing goes to the original bidder at hearts, or whether an entirely different player gets it at an entirely different suit, always remember the probable approximate position of those heart-points. Follow this process with every suit in turn, as it is named, always remembering, however, that later bids are apt to be modified by earlier ones. Still, by allowing not less than six or seven points for the player who first names a suit, counting your own hand, observing Dummy, remembering that each suit holds eighteen points, and never forgetting which player bid which suit, you will soon come to be known as an ' * Auction wizard. ' '

It is impossible to tell you how this is going to help your game, and it is a system that very few players know, unless they have had professional instruction.

At first you won't realize its value, or you will become a little confused. But before long you will wonder how you ever attempted to play without using this process of ''point-counting/' It will become involuntary and unconscious;

8 TTKe Opening-Bid

but you will **know, *' where formerly you merely ''wondered'' or ''hoped/*

I have taught this method to many persons, and I have never heard more than one complaint about it, and that is that when you have mastered the method, it becomes discouraging to play with those who have not.

It is always discouraging to play out of one's class — ^in tennis, in golf, in Auction, in anything. But that does not deter one from wishing to be in the first class, with the few who have become experts, rather than playing at a game with the mass of non-experts.

No matter how good one's game may be, it is a pleasant and a courteous thing to play with those who are less skillful. But there is no reason why this should be done constantly; in fact, it greatly injures one's game of Auction to play incessantly with players in a lower class of skill. If no one notices signals, one stops making them; if no one makes them, one stops watching for them. In other games, such things are not demanded of the good players. Tennis experts do not play constantly with beginners, either from friendship or from a philanthropic desire to help the beginners in their game. You play in the class to which your degree of skill admits you.

Play, whenever your courtesy allows it, with inferior players, and look upon such games as an act of charity; do not turn them into a lecture, unless asked to do so, and do not be irritated by the mistakes that you are bound to notice. Also try, in spite of discouraging conditions, to keep your own game up to the mark. Then play (eagerly seize the chance to play) with players more expert than yourself; but always remember that such games are an act of charity on their part. And, in conclusion, remember that your general run of games must be in that class to which yotu* skill admits you.

Always remember to use ^'the process of elimination, '' in your bid. The lower the suit you bid on, the more expensive your bid. *'A spade'' is the most expensive declaration there is ; you make less, if you win, than at any other suit, and you lose just as much, if you lose, — unless, of course, you lose more than two-odd. In that case, a one-spade declaration is protected by Law 48.

When you look at your hand, begin at the highest suit, and see if your hand warrants a bid in it; if it does not, go to the next highest, and so on down the line. But always bid the very best suit that your hand allows. Say to lo TKe Opening-Bid

yourself: *'A no-trump? No. A royal? No. A heart? Yes." And there you are. If you have not the material for a heart-bid, look next at diamonds, then at clubs, and never open with a spade unless you are forced to it — never, unless you are sure you must lose more than two-odd!

Let no one misunderstand me and think that I am urging unsound opening-bids to avoid an opening spade declaration. If you have a spade hand, you must bid a spade. But please never bid it unless you have to.

There is nothing more discouraging than to have one's partner open the bidding with ''one spade"; it means that the next adversary will almost surely pass, and that the third player must come to the rescue, or that the hand will be left at " a spade. " Then, if you play it and win, you make 2, or 4, or 6; and if you play it and lose, you lose 50 or 100.

Just look at the odds against you. It hardly pays you to win, it certainly does not pay you to lose, and your best efforts can hardly bring you more than 2 or 4 points.

Again, if you can win at ''a spade," you could win at ''a royal, " and it would be a much more profitable winning; each trick would be worth four and a half times as much. And it would be

TKe Opening-Bid li

worth no more to the adversary if you lost, unless you lost more than two-odd.

Then give a thought to your partner. It is enough for him to bear the responsibility of his own forced bid when he deals; don't put it up to him to come to the rescue every time you deal. Moreover, ^*a spade'' from you is discouraging to him. He feels that to essay "a no-trump/' he must have a phenomenally strong hand, because you have just declared a phenomenally weak one; in other words, he will have to do all the work alone, and keep leading away from his own hand, because you may not have a trick in yours (for re-entry). No-trump is a terrifying proposition after a spade bid from one's partner, it therefore follows that, unless he has a good suit-bid, he will be wise to take shelter under Law 48 : to pass and to limit his losses to 100.

Now, suppose he has a fair average hand with the strength scattered evenly, and suppose you have just the same thing. Then you have a good no-trumper between you, and, thanks to your foolish opening bid, it is played as *'a spade."

Here is a fair sample of a hand on which I find many players glad to shirk their responsi-

9" 10 2

Y

A

B

4^72

Z bilities and to open with a spade **just to see what the others will do'':

4bKQ10

It does n't look possible on paper, but time and again I have seen hands similar to this opened with ''a spade." The second player goes by, on principle (I will explain to you later why one should never declare against "one spade," unless one can go game in the hand). Then, what is Y to do? If his partner's hand is a genuine spade, how can Y pull off a no-trumper, alone? On the other hand, he has no good suit-bid; he can do nothing but pass. And B will pass joyfully. An amateur, in B's place, would

THe Opening-Bid 13

declare *'a royar*; a good player would realize that royals are worth 9 a trick, and defeating the adversary is worth 50 a trick. How could B make 50 or 100 on that hand by playing royals? And why shoiild he not make 50 or 100 by defeating spades?

If Z opens that hand with '* a spade " he cannot fail to lose 50 points, unless he leads his clubs instead of finessing his diamonds — a thing that he would hardly do with a closed hand. By leading the club, he makes the odd — 2 points ! If he opens the bidding with ''a no-trump/' he cannot fail to take game, or to set the adversary in his bid !

A might cover the ** no-trump'' with ''two diamonds,'* upon which Y would immediately answer with "two no-trumps." If B tries ''three royals," relying on his side suit and his singleton in his partner's suit, Z can bid three no-trumps, or he can do better still by doubling the royals and defeating them. As soon as he knows that his partner stops diamonds, and that the good spades lie with B rather than with A, Z is in a position to double a three-bid in anything. Just look at the difference! Instead of losing 100, Z takes 100, or he takes more, or he goes game in the hand. And all through sound bidding! I think any one will

14 THe Opening'-Did

grant that this is not an unusual hand, or a remarkably strong hand, and it could certainly be entirely wasted with an unsound opening-bid.

If Z plays the hand at no-trumps, A will lead his fourth-best diamond ; the rule of eleven will show Z that B cannot take it, and that his own nine-spot is good ; wishing to get into Dummy to finesse the hearts, he will start to make Dummy's clubs re-entry cards; to that end he will lead his king and then his jack — which B will have to take. If B then leads a spade (up to weakness), he shows that he has no diamonds, and allows Z to read the entire diamond suit. Playing the hand open, Z would know that his ten of spades would take B's eight ; but with closed hands, and on a forced interior lead, he would certainly play his queen. Even then, the game is his, with no trouble whatever.

Of course, there is a school of bidding which always opens with '^a spade" on every good hand — the partner being obliged to keep the bidding open. But that isn't our school; and I notice, moreover, that its adherents are wandering more and more away from it. They now open a no-trump hand by bidding ''a no-trump" just as any one else does.

Let this hand be a warning to you not to bid *'a spade" unless you have to — especially if your adversaries are good enough players to refrain from declaring against you.

If you held that same hand and opened it with a no-trump, and your partner had not a trick in his hand, he would either bid two in a very long, weak suit, to warn you, or you would play it at no-trumps and lose no more than at spades. So you can be no worse off, and may be far better off, with the no-trump opening than with the spade.

Chapter II On Opening-bids Of More Than One

Under the old count, certain players adopted a system of what were known as ''shut-out" bids. In order to keep the adversaries from bidding, the dealer would open with a bid of two or three in his suit — provided the suit was good enough to warrant it.

This was done to keep the adversaries from naming their suits to each other and thus establishing a possible no-trumper, which neither one, alone, could essay. Even under the old count, I never cared for this method, never practiced it, and never taught it. And under the new count it is certainly unsound.

No-trump, now, is not the wonderful thing it once was. It is worth less, and the other suits are worth more, than formerly. There are four suits that may be easily and successfully bid against no-trump. Therefore, no-trump has

I6

Opening-Bids of More tKan One 17

lost its dazzle when bid by one's own side, and its terrors when bid by the adversary.

Moreover, we want the other side to name their suits. We want to hear where the suits lie; we have learned to count the '* points" in a suit and to read the closed hands accordingly. It is of infinite value to know what our adversaries hold and to be able to lead through strength, instead of up to it. Then why make *'shut-ouf bids and voluntarily block these sources of information?

Take this hand, for instance:

*AQ

10 8 7 62

CJ76

Y

A

B

♦ k

Z

Z should open this with ^*one heart,'' in which case A would bid ''two clubs,'' which he

1 8 Opening-Bids of More tKan One

can just make. So, if Y undertakes to double on his major ten-ace in clubs and spades, and on his partner's hearts, he will meet with defeat. But suppose Y does what is much wiser; suppose he uses his spades and clubs as raisers, and bids "two hearts" (hoping to force A to "three clubs'' and to defeat him) ! Then the hand will be played at two hearts by Z, and, thanks to the club information, he can make a grand slam. Knowing the clubs to be in A 's hand, Z can take the finesse with his ace-queen — which he would never do otherwise, with a singleton club in his own hand. This finesse will give him a chance to discard his losing diamond on his partner's master club.

If Z had opened that hand with a bid of "two hearts," A would certainly have passed. He could not say "three clubs" lacking the ace-queen of his own suit, and holding a very uncertain combination of diamonds, three losing hearts, and one losing spade. Nobody would have bid against Z, and he would have played the hand at two hearts, in absolute ignorance of the position of the clubs. He would never have attempted the club finesse — holding a singleton himself — and without that finesse he could not get rid of his losing diamond. He would make one less trick (eight points) and a small slam

Opening-Bids of More tKan One 19

instead of a grand slam; a total difference of twenty-eight points, which would be the cost of his shut-out bid.

Twenty-eight points is not much, but it is something! And in many hands the information as to suit-position is even more valuable. Remember this: you want to know where the suits lie; it will make nearly as much difference as playing open hands or playing closed ones. And if you want to know this, don't block your information by making shut-out bids.

As to the practice of bidding two to show a long weak suit — it is a miserable one. That system has been thoroughly tested and proved unsound. To open with ''two hearts" on six to a queen is to announce your poverty to the entire table and to undertake a contract that you cannot keep, unless fate is remarkably kind and gives your partner an unusually good hand. If the good cards lie against you, and the adversaries are skillful enough to pass, you will not be long in repenting your bid of two.

To sum up, then, don't open with a bid of two to show strength, and don't open with a bid of two to show weakness. In other words, never open with a bid of two.

There is a bid that is finding warm support amongst certain excellent players. While I

20 Opening-Bids of More tHan One

do not care for it, personally, it may appeal to you, and, at any rate, it is necessary to understand it.

It is the old opening call of '*two spades,*' but with a different meaning. If you hold the ace-king of spades and one small card, and one other trick in the hand, you bid ''two spades" to show you can take the first two rounds of that suit if your partner wants to try no-trumps or royals. To bid ''one spade'' might discourage him, and the hand is just a shade too light to warrant "a royal. "

While I see the advantages of this bid, I do not advocate it. To begin with, the occasions when the situation arises are so rare as scarcely to need a special provision. One more little spade would give you a possible royal bid; one less would cut your "two spades" down to "one spade." It is such a slight chance, that I think I should risk the hand on the higher bid (royals), or consign it to the lower one, with very few regrets.

Then, I dislike the necessity that the bid imposes on your partner. I do not see why any one's bid, save the dealer's, should be a "forced" one. Now, if you open with "two spades, " Law 48 will not shelter you. And you are marked with spades that are not good

Opening-Bids of More tHan One 21

enough to warrant a royal-bid. Therefore, the second player will certainly pass and leave you in the hole, and your partner will have to rescue you, or leave you with a bid that you probably cannot pull off, and which will be nearly worthless if you do. Suppose your partner has no bid ! It is true that '' one '' in any suit will overcall your ''two spades,'* but you may force him to a thoroughly unsound bid.

That seems to me the drawback to the bid; the chance of needing it is very slight; and its inconvenience, when used, may be very great.

I have never heard this bid in actual use, even by its advocates. This does not mean that they do not practice what they preach; it means, rather, that there is scarcely one hand out of a thousand where it is necessary, or where the situation may not be covered by some other perfectly sound bid.

Chapter III Subsequent Bids

Remember always that the dealer, alone, is forced to bid. He must bid, but no one else need ; and no one else should, unless he has a real reason for so doing.

The bid of the second player is largely determined by the dealer's bid. If the dealer has bid one in no-trump, royals, hearts, diamonds, or clubs, the second player should look first to see how that bid suits his own hand. ^^ If the bid suits you, say nothing'' is a very excellent rule. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that a bid of one is very hard to defeat. No matter how good your hand, rarely count much on defeating a bid of one; realize, however, that your good hand will probably keep the dealer from making more than his one.

Another excellent rule is this: '^unless the bid would put you game, be content to yield it to the adversary, unless his bid would put him game!''

Sxibseqxient Bids 23

This rule, too, must be taken with modifications. Very often the adversary's bid will not put him game, but if you let him play the hand he will take enough over his bid to go game. For instance, he may bid ''one heart,'' which will not put him game; but he may take four hearts, and there is his game in the hand.

If you have sufficient material to overbid the dealer, it is well to do it ; for the mere indication of your suit will often enable your partner to raise it (if necessary), and you will score on the hand, instead of permitting the other side to score on it. Also, it is well not to let the other side get the bid at one-odd; force them to two, if possible, and give them a harder contract. But remember that a forcing bid does nH always force! You may be left with it. Your partner may even raise it, when it comes round to him if the third player has bid. For instance, suppose the dealer opens with ''one heart"; you want to force him and you say "two diamonds " ; the third player says "two hearts"; now, if your partner has two tricks in his hand (a trick and a "raiser"), he may easily say "three diamonds," which will give you more than you can carry^ if your bid has been a light one. So you must always remember, when you make a forcing-bid, that there is a chance of your bid being raised.

24 S-ubsequent Bids

Now, if the dealer has bid ''a spade," your duty (as second player) is changed. You must positively pass, unless you can take game in the hand! Never bid against a one-spade opening-bid, under any other circumstances. If the dealer's partner bids, you can bid your hand against his, on a second round. If the dealer's partner passes, you have two poor hands against you and the chance of making loo points without any effort whatever I What matter if they are above the line? I wish that cross-line could be erased from the minds of players if not from the score-card. One hundred points are one hundred points, no matter where they are! Don't scorn them, and don't throw away the chance to score them. One such penalty will increase your rubber- value to 350; two of them will nearly double it! Take my word for it, expert players will give you very few chances to score 500 and 600 in penalties; so don't waste your time waiting for those chances that never come, but seize the spade-penalty with proper gratitude. If you make five-odd on a no-trump hand, with thirty aces, you are triumphant; yet that totals 80 points — 20 less than the spade-penalty. Ninety royal-honors fill you with joy, yet you turn away from 100 spade-honors, and bid a weak hand