The fine points of auction bridge

Front matter

The Fine Points tion Brid

Revised Edition

By Florence Irwin

Preface To Revised Edition

What was once the " New Count " in Auction, is now the only count. The advantages of the present scoring-system are too numerous and too apparent to admit of any possible return to the old suit- values.

This being the case, it has seemed proper to issue a revised edition of The Fine Points of Auction Bridge. On its first appearance it discussed both the old count and the new; in its new form it deals with the latter only.

Even so, it does not cover the same ground as does my second book, The Development of Auction Bridge under the New Count. Each book is a complement of the other; the second would not make sense unless you knew all that the first tells you; on the other hand, it carries you much farther along the road on which you have already started, — the Road to Perfection.

I think I might liken The Fine Points of Auction Bridge to the sign-post that points you to some museum and the ticket that admits

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you within its door; while The Development of Auction Bridge is like the catalogue that describes in detail all the treasures that lie spread before your eyes.

P.I

Preface

Although it may seem, to the casual reader, that there are already enough Bridge books and Auction books on the market, the real Auction devotee knows that no two books are ever alike, and that the last word on the subject is never said.

Moreover, the game has undergone such wonderful developments in the past year that it was necessary that some record of them should be made.

After the publication of certain portions of this little volume in serial form, the demand for them in book form was so great that I feel justified in adding one more to the list of Auction books, without further apology.

I have made it my chief aim to put before my readers all the various schools of bid and play, with their strong points and their flaws. It is not enough to know only one point of view — ■ even though you may consider it the best. Any book will tell you what the author himself thinks on the subject. I have tried to present vi Preface

the opinions and theories of the various contending authorities.

And, last but not least, I have the good fortune to be just in time to explain the New Count. This latest development of the game has sprung into immediate and universal popularity, and is sweeping the country like wildfire. It has given to Auction its one lacking touch — a perfect balance between red suits and black, — and has made it as nearly perfect a bidding-game as it is possible to conceive.

F. L