V 1281 F75 opy 1 msmam RICE TWENTY FIVE CENTS TH E I OIcK 6c Fitzgerald NEW YORK THE GIST OF BRIDGE CONTAINING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME ITS LAWS AND ALL THE RULES FOR DECLARING DOUBLING, LEADING, UNBLOCK- ING, FINESSING, AND THE ELEVEN RULE BY R. F. FOSTER Copyright, 1904, by Dick & Fitzgerald ♦ NEW YORK DICK & FITZGERALD LIBRARY of C0N8'^t:>S Two Copies rfecwv«u DEC 16 ii^lH Copyri^iu tiKi.y CUSS CL XAC Nui j? COHY a. alfci'l'niiliTW II II .-i-Mi iiMiri - ■ a CONTENTS PAGE The Laws of Bridge 5 How TO Begin ^5 Objects of the Game 28 The Makes . . 34 Passed Makes 43 Doubling ^^ The Adversaries' Play 5^ Leading 5^ Leading against Trumps 5^ Leading against No-trumpers . • . • 5^ Third Hand Play 57 Third Hand, Trumps Called . . . .57 Third Hand, No Trumps 59 Return Leads "° The Eleven Rule ^^ Second Hand Play ^5 Fourth Hand Play ^^ Discarding ^ Dealer and Dummy Playing No-trumpers ^^ Playing Trump Hands 7o Finessing . . • • • • * * ^^ Re-entry Cards 7^ Illustrative Hands ....•• 73 Dummy Bridge ^ Interesting Problem THE AMERICAN LAWS OF BRIDGE THE RUBBER I. The rubber is the best of three games. If the first two games be won by the same partners, the third game is not played. SCORING 2. A game consists of thirty points obtained by tricks alone, exclusive of any points counted for honors, chicane or slam. 3. Every deal is played out, and any points in excess of thirty points necessary for the game are counted. 4. Each trick above six counts two points when spades are trumps, four ■ points when clubs are trumps, six points when diamonds are trumps, eight points when hearts are trimips, and twelve points when there are no trumps. 5. Honors are ace, king, queen, knave and ten of the trump suit; or the aces when no trump is declared. 6 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 6, Honors are credited to the original holders and are valued as follows: Declaration. Each Trick above Six. U Hone r/o ^ 4 O 4 " ^ 1 O 5 W 5 Is (All in one hand) (4 in one hand) . . (All in one hand) Chicane ♦ + ♦ 8 2 4 6 4 8 12 16 8 16 24 32 16 32 48 64 10 20 30 40 IS 36 54 72 20 40 60 80 4 8 12 16 No Trumps 12 30 40 100 Rubber 100, Grand Slam 40, Little Slam 20. 7. Slam is thirteen tricks scored independently of the revoke or lead out of turn penalty, and adds forty points to the honor count. 8. Little slam is twelve tricks similarly scored, and adds twenty points to the honor count. 9. Chicane (one hand void of trumps), is equal in value to simple honors, i.e., if partner of player, having chicane scores honors he adds the value of three honors to his score, while, if the adversaries score honors, it deducts an equal value from theirs.* 10. The value of honors, slam, little slam or chicane, is in nowise affected by doubling or re- doubling. * Double Chicane (both hands devoid of trumps) is equal in value to four honors, and the value thereof must be deducted from the total honor score of the adversaries. THE GIST OF BRIDGE ^ 11. At the conclusion of a rubber the scores for tricks and honors (including chicane and slam), obtained by each side are added, and one hundred points are added to the score of the winners of the rubber. The difference between the completed scores is the number of points won or lost by the winners of the rubber. 12. If an erroneous score affecting honors, chi- cane or slam be proven, such mistake may be cor- rected at any time before the score of the rubber has been made up and agreed upon. 13. If an erroneous score affecting tricks be proven, such mistake must be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game in which it has occurred, and such game shall not be considered as concluded until the following deal has been completed and the trump declared, unless it be that the game is the last one of the rubber — then the score is subject to inquiry until an agreement between the sides (as to the value of the rubber) shall have been reached. CUTTING 14. The ace is the lowest card. 15. In all cases every player must cut from the same pack. 16. Should a player expose more than one card, he must cut again. FORMING TABLES 17. The prior right of playing is with those first in the room. If there are more than four candi- 8 THE GIST OF BRIDGE dates for seats at a table, the privilege of playing is decided by cutting. The four who cut the lowest cards play first. i8. After the table is formed, the players cut to decide on partners; the two lowest playing against the two highest. The lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, and who, having once made his selection, must abide by it. 19. Should the two players who cut lowest, secure cards of equal value, they shall re-cut to determine which of the two shall deal, and the lower on the recut deals. 20. Should three players cut cards of equal value, they cut again; if the fourth card be the highest, the two lowest of the new cut are partners and the lower of the two the dealer ; if, however, the fourth card be the lowest, the two highest on the re-cut are partners and the original lowest the dealer. 21. Six players constitute a full table, and no player shall have a right to cut into a game which is complete. 22. When there are more than six candidates, the right to succeed any player who may retire is acquired by announcing the desire to do so, and such announcement shall constitute a prior right to the first vacancy. CUTTING OUT 23. If at the end of a rubber admission be claimed by one or two candidates, the player or players hav- THE GIST OF BRIDGE 9 ing played a greater number of consecutive rubbers shall withdraw ; but when all have played the same number, they must cut to decide upon the outgoers ; the highest are out. RIGHTS OF ENTRY 24. A candidate desiring to enter a table must de- clare such wish before any player at the table cuts a card, either for the purpose of commencing a fresh rubber or of cutting out. 25. In the formation of new tables, those candi- dates who have neither belonged to nor played at any other table have the prior right of entry. Those who have already played decide their right of ad- mission by cutting. 26. A player who cuts into one table while be- longing to another, shall forfeit his prior right of re-entry into the latter, unless by doing so he enables three candidates to form a fresh table. In this event he may signify his intention of returning to his original table, and his place at the new one can be filled. 27. Should any player quit the table during the progress of a rubber, he may, with the consent of the other three players, appoint a substitute during his absence; but such appointment shall become void with the conclusion of the rubber, and sh?.li not in any way affect the substitute's rights. 28. If anyone break up a table, the remaining players have a prior right to play at other tables. lO THE GIST OF BRIDGE SHUFFLING 29. The pack must neither be shuffled below the table nor so the face of any card be seen. 30. The dealer's partner must collect the cards for the ensuing deal and he has the first right to shuffle the cards. Each player has the right to shuffle subsequently. The dealer has the right to shuffle last, but should a card or cards be seen during his shuffling, or while giving the pack to be cut, he must re-shuffle. 31. Each player, after shuffling, must place the cards properly collected and face downward to the left of the player next to deal. THE DEAL 32. Each player deals in his turn; the order of dealing goes to the left. 33. The player on the dealer's right cuts the pack, and in dividing it he must not leave fewer than four cards in either packet; if in cutting or in replacing one of the two packets a card be exposed, or if there be any confusion of the cards or a doubt as to the exact place in which the pack was divided, there must be a fresh cut. 34. When the player whose duty it is to cut has once separated the pack he can neither re-shuffle nor re-cut the cards. 35. Should the dealer shuffle the cards, after the pack is cut, the pack must be cut again. THE GIST OF BRIDGE li 36. The fifty- two cards shall be dealt face down- ward. The deal is not completed until the last card has been deaU face downward. 37. There is No Misdeal. A NEW DEAL 38. There must be a new deal— a If the cards be not dealt into four packets, one at a time, and in regular rotation, be- ginning at the dealer's left. b If, during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the pack be proven incorrect or im- perfect. c If any card be faced in the pack. d If any player have dealt to him a greater number of cards than thirteen. e If the dealer deal two cards at once and then deal a third before correcting the error. ./ If the dealer omit to have the pack cut and the adversaries call attention to the fact prior to the conclusion of the deal and before looking at their cards. g Should the last card not come in its regular order to the dealer. 39. There may be a new deal — a If the dealer or his partner expose a card. The eldest hand may claim a new deal. b If either adversary expose a card. The dealer may claim a new deal. c If, before fifty-one cards are dealt, the dealer should look at any card. His adversaries 12 THE GIST OF BRIDGE have the right to see it, and the eldest hand may exact a new deal. d If, in deahng, one of the last cards be exposed by the dealer or his partner, and the deal is completed before there is reasonable time for the eldest hand to decide as to a new deal. But in all other cases such penalties must be claimed prior to the con- clusion of the deal. 40. The claim for a new deal by reason of a card exposed during the deal may not be made by a player who has looked at any of his cards. If a new deal does not take place, 'the card exposed during the deal cannot be called. 41. Should three players have their right num- ber of cards, the fourth, not being dummy, have less than thirteen and not discover such deficiency until he has played any of his cards, the deal stands good; should he have played, he is answerable for any revoke he may have made as if the missing card or cards had been in his hand. He may search the other pack for it or them. 42. If, during the play of a deal a pack be proven incorrect or imperfect, such proof renders only the current deal void, and does not affect any prior score. The dealer must deal again (Law 38 6). 43. Anyone deahng out of turn or with the ad- versaries' cards must be corrected before the play of the first card, otherwise the deal stands good. 44. A player can neither cut, shuffle nor deal for his partner without the permission of his oppo- nents. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 13 DECLARING TRUMPS 45. The trump is declared. No card is turned. a The dealer may .either make the trump or pass the declaration to his partner. b If the declaration be passed to partner, he must declare the trump. 46. Should the dealer's partner make the trump without receiving permission from the dealer, the eldest hand may demand, I St. That the trump shall stand, or 2d. That there shall be a new deal,_ provided, that no declaration as to doubling has been made. 47. Should the dealer's partner pass the declara- tion to the dealer it shall be the right of the eldest hand to claim a new deal or to compel the offend- ing player to declare the trump; provided, that no declaration as to doubling has been made. 48. If either of the dealer's adversaries make a declaration, the dealer may, after looking at his hand, either claim a new deal or proceed as if no declaration had been made. 49. A declaration once made cannot be altered. DOUBLING, RE-DOUBLING, ETC. 50. The effect of doubling, re-doubling, and so on, is that the value of each trick above six is doubled, quadrupled, and so on. 14 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 51. After the trump declaration has been made by the dealer or his partner, their adversaries have the right to double. The eldest hand has the first right. If he does not v^ish to double, he may ask his partner, ''May I lead?'^ His partner must answer, '' Yes^' or ''I double.'^ 52. If either of their adversaries elect to double, the dealer and his partner have the right to re- double. The player v^^ho has declared the trump shall have the first right. He may say, ''I re- double'^ or ''Satisfied." Should he say the latter, his partner may re-double. 53. If the dealer or his partner elect to re-double, their adversaries shall have the right to again double. The original doubler has the first right. 54. If the right-hand adversary of the dealer double before his partner has asked "May I lead ?'' the declarer of the trump shall have the right to say whether or not the double shall stand. If he decide that the double shall stand, the process of re-doubhng may continue as described in paragraphs 52, 53, 55. 55. The process of re-doubling may be continued indefinitely. The first right to continue the re- doubling on behalf of a partnership belongs to that player who has last re-doubled. Should he, however, express himself satisfied, the right to con- tinue the re-doubling passes to his partner. Should any player re-double out of turn, the adversary who last doubled shall decide w^hether or not such double shall stand. If it is decided that the re- double shall stand, the process of re-doubling may continue as described in this and foregoing laws THE GIST OF BRIDGE 1 5 (52 and 53). If any double or re-double out of turn be not accepted there shall be no further doubling in that hand. Any consultation between partners as to doubling or re-doubling will entitle the maker of the trump or the eldest hand, without consulta- tion, to a new deal. 56. If the eldest hand lead before the doubling be completed, his partner may re-double only with the consent of the adversary who last doubled; but such lead shall not affect the right of either adversary to double. 57. Wlien the question, ^'May I lead?" has been answered in the afl&rmative or when the player who has the last right to continue the doubhng, expresses himself satisfied, the play shall begin. 58. Should the eldest hand lead without asking permission of his partner, the maker of the trump may call a suit or the card originally led. 59. Should the right-hand adversary of the dealer ask permission to lead, the maker of the trump may call a suit from the eldest hand. This does not affect the right of any player to double or re-double. In these last two cases no penalty can be exacted after the dummy hand or any part of it is on the table, since he (dummy) has accepted the situation. 60. A declaration, as to doubling or re-doubling, once made cannot be altered. DUMMY 61. As soon as the eldest hand has led, the deal- er's partner shall place his cards face upward on l6 THE GIST OF BRIDGE the table, and the duty of playing the cards from that hand shall devolve upon the dealer, unassisted by his partner. 62. After exposing his cards, the dealer's part- ner has no part whatever in the game, except that he has the right to ask the dealer if he has none of the suit to which he may have renounced. He may also ask his partner, who may have been called upon to play his highest or lowest card, if he has conformed to the penalty. 63. If he should call attention to any other inci- dent of the play, in consequence of which any pen- alty might be exacted, the fact of his so doing pre- cludes the dealer exacting such penalty. Should he intimate to the dealer by word or gesture that he is about to lead from the wrong hand, it estab- lishes the offence, and the penalty under Law 77 may be enforced. He has the right, however, at any time during the play, to correct the claim of either adversary to a penalty to which the latter is not entitled. He may also call his partner's attention to the fact that the trick has not been completed. 64. If the dealer's partner, by touching a card or otherwise, suggest the play of a card from dummy, either of the adversaries may, but without consultation, call on the dealer to play or not to play the card suggested. 65. Dummy is not liable to the penalty for a re- voke ; and if he should revoke and the error be not discovered until the trick is turned and quitted, the trick stands good. THE GIST OF BRIDGE l^ 66. When the dealer draws a card from his own hand, such card is not considered as played until actually quitted, but should he name or touch a card from the dummy hand, such card is considered as played, unless the dealer in touching the card or cards says, ^^I arrange," or words to that effect. CARDS EXPOSED BEFORE PLAY . 67. If, after the deal has been completed, and before the trump declaration has been made, either the dealer or his partner expose a card from his hand, the eldest hand may, without consulting with his partner, claim a new deal. 68. If, after the deal has been completed, and before a card is led, any player shall expose a card, his partner shall forfeit any right to double or re- double which he otherwise would have been en- titled to exercise; and in case of a card being so exposed by the leader's partner, the dealer may either call the card or require the leader not to lead the suit of the exposed card. CARDS EXPOSED DURING PLAY 69. All cards exposed by the dealer's adversaries are liable to be called, and such cards must be left face upward on the table. 70. The following are exposed cards: I St. Two or more cards played at once. 2d. Any card dropped with its face upward, or in any way exposed on or above the i8 THE GIST OF BRIDGE table, even though snatched up so quickly that no one can name it. 3d. Every card so held by a player that his partner can see any portion of its face. 71. A card dropped on the floor or elsewhere below the table is not an exposed card. 72. If two or more cards be played at once by either of the dealer's adversaries, the dealer shall have the right to call which one he pleases to the current trick, and the other card or cards shall re- main face upward on the table and may be de- manded at any time. 73. If, without waiting for his partner to play, either of the dealer's adversaries should play on the table the best card or lead one which is a win- ning card, as against the dealer and dummy, or should continue (without waiting for his partner to play) to lead several such cards, the dealer may demand that the partner of the player in fault, win, if he can, the first, or any other of these tricks, and the other cards thus improperly played are exposed cards. 74. If either or both of the dealer's adversaries throw his or their cards on the table face upward, such cards are exposed and are liable to be called; but if either adversary retain his hand he cannot be forced to abandon it. If, however, the dealer should say, ''I have the rest," or any other word indicating that the remaining tricks are his, the adversaries of the dealer are not liable to have any of their cards called should they expose them, THE GIST OF BRIDGE 19 believing the dealer's claim to be true, should it subsequently prove false. 75. If a player who has rendered himself liable to have the highest or lowest of a suit called (Laws 91, 92 and 100), fail to play as directed, or if, when called on to lead one suit, lead another, having in his hand one or more cards of the suit demanded (Law 76), or if called upon to win or lose a trick, fail to do so when he can (Laws 73, 82 and 100) he is liable to the penalty for revoke, unless such play be corrected before the trick is turned and quitted. LEADS OUT OF TURN 76. If either of the dealer's adversaries lead out of turn, the dealer may call the card erroneously led, or may call a suit when it is next the turn of either adversary to lead. 77. One trick taken from the offending player and added to those of the adversaries shall be the penalty if the dealer led out of turn, either from his own hand or dummy. This penalty may be exacted for as many leads out of turn as occur during the play of the deal, except at the play of the thirteenth trick. 78. If any player lead out of turn and the other three follow him, the trick is complete and the error cannot be rectified ; but if only the second, or second and third play to the false lead, their cards may be taken back; there is no penalty against anyone ex- cept the original offender, who, if he be one of the dealer's adversaries, may be penalized as provided 20 THE GIST OF BRIDGE in Law 76, or, if he be the dealer, as provided in Law 77. 79. In no case can a player be compelled to play a card which would oblige him to revoke. 80. The call of an exposed card may be repeated at every trick until such card has been played. 81. If a player called on to lead a suit have none of it, the penalty is paid. CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR 82. Should the fourth hand (not being dummy or dealer) play before the second has played to the trick, the latter may be called upon to play his high- est or lowest card of the suit played, or to win or lose the trick. 83. If anyone, not being dummy, omit playing to a former trick and such error be not corrected until he has played to the next, the adversaries may claim a new deal ; should they decide that the deal stands good, the surplus card at the end of the hand is considered to have been played to the imperfect trick, but does not constitute a revoke therein. 84. If anyone (except dummy) play two cards to the same trick and the mistake be not corrected until the hand is played out, he is answerable for any consequent revokes he may have made. If during the play of the hand the error be detected, the tricks may be counted face downward, in order to ascertain whether there be among them a card too many; should this be the case, the trick which THE GIST OF BRIDGE 2i contains a surplus card may be examined and the card restored to its original holder, who (not being dummy) shall be liable for any revoke he may meanwhile have made. THE REVOKE 85. Should a player (other than dummy) hold- ing one or more cards of the suit led, play a card of a different suit, he revokes. The penalty for a revoke takes precedence of all other counts. 86. Three tricks taken from the revoking player and added to those of the adversaries shall be the penalty for a revoke. 87. The penalty is appHcable only to the score of the game in which it occurs. ^ 88. Under no cii;cumstances can the revoking side score game, in that hand. Whatever their previous score may have been, the side revoking cannot attain a higher score toward game than twenty-eight. 89. A revoke is estabhshed if the trick in which it occurs be turned and quitted, i.e., the hand re- moved from the trick after it has been gathered and placed face downward on the table; or if either the revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, have led or played to the following trick. 90. A player may ask his partner if he has no card of the suit which he has renounced; should the question be asked before the trick is turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting does 22 THE GIST OF BRIDGE not establish a revoke, and the error may be cor- rected unless the question be answered in the negative or unless the revoking player or his part- ner, has led or played to the following trick. 91. If a player correct his mistake in time to save a revoke, any player or players who have fol- lowed him may withdraw their cards and sub- stitute others, and the cards so withdrawn are not exposed cards. If the player in fault be one of the dealer's adversaries, the card played in error is an exposed card, and the dealer can call it whenever he pleases; or he may require the offender to play his highest or lowest card of the suit to the trick in which he has renounced. 92. If the player in fault be the dealer, the eldest hand may require him to play the highest or lowest card of the suit in which he hasjenounced, provided both adversaries of the dealer have played to the current trick; but this penalty cannot be exacted against the dealer when he is fourth in hand, nor can it be enforced at all from dummy. 93. At the end of a hand the claimants of a re- voke may search all the tricks. If the cards have been mixed the claim may be urged and proved if possible; but no proof is necessary, and the re- voke is established if, after it has been claimed, the accused player or his partner mix the cards before they have been sufficiently examined by the adversaries. 94. A revoke must be claimed before the cards have been cut for the following deal. 95. Should the players on both sides subject THE GIST OF BRIDGE 23 themselves to the revoke penalty neither can win the game by that hand. 96. The revoke penalty may be claimed for as many revokes as occur during a hand; but the accumulated penalty shall in no event exceed thir- teen tricks. (See Law 7.) i i GENERAL RULES 97. There should not be any consultation be- tween partners as to the enforcement of penalties. If they do so consult, the penalty is paid. 98. Once a trick is complete, turned and quitted it must not be looked at (except under Law 84), until the end of the hand. 99. Anyplayer during the play of a trick or after the four cards are played and before they are touched for the purpose of gathering them together, may demand that the cards be placed before their respective players. 100. If either of the dealer's adversaries, prior to his partner's playing, should call attention to .the trick, either by saying it is his, or, without being requested so to do, by naming his card or drawing It toward him, the dealer may require that oppo- Qent's partner to play his highest or lowest card of the suit led, or to win or lose the trick. loi. Should either of the dealer's adversaries, during the play of a hand, make any unauthorized reference to any incident of the play, or should he :all his partner's attention to the fact that he is about xo play or lead out of turn, the dealer may call a ;suit from the adversary whose turn it is next to lead. 24 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 1 02. In all cases where a penalty has been in- curred, the offender is bound to give reasonable time for the decision of his adversaries; but if a wrong penalty be demanded none can be enforced. 103. Should the partner of the player solely en- titled to exact a penalty, suggest or demand the enforcement of it, such action shall be deemed a consultation and no penalty can be enforced. NEW CARDS 104. Unless a pack be imperfect, no player shall have the right to call for one new pack. If fresh cards are demanded, two packs must be furnished and paid for by the player who has demanded them. If they are furnished during a rubber, the adversa- ries shall have their choice of new cards. If it is the beginning of a hew rubber, the dealer, whether he or one of his adversaries be the party calling for the new cards, shall have the choice. New cards must be called for before the pack be cut for a new deal. 105. A card or cards torn or marked must be re- placed by agreement or new cards furnished. BYSTANDERS 106. While a bystander, by agreement among the players, may decide any question, yet he must on no account say anything unless appealed to; and if he make any remark which calls attention to an oversight affecting the score, or to the exaction of a penalty, he is liable to be called on by the players to pay the stakes on that rubber. THE GIST OF BRIDGE HOW TO BEGIN All that is necessary to begin. to play bridge is a pack of fifty-two cards, four players, and a slip of paper on which to keep the score. Sometimes each player at the table keeps the score, but the more general way is for one person to keep it, the others seeing that it is correctly put down. In order to decide who shall be partners, each of the four candidates for play draws a card from a pack which is spread face downward on the table. The two drawing the lowest cards are partners against the two drawing the highest cards and the lowest card of all has the first deal, and the choice of where he will sit. If two packs are played with, he also has the choice of them. In cutting, the ace is the lowest card. If, in cutting for partners, two players cut cards of equal value, and these are the two lowest, they cut again to see who shall have the first deal. If they are the two highest, it does not matter, but if the ties are the two intermediate cards, they must cut again to decide which of them shall play with the original low. Even if one of the second cut should be lower than any of the first cut, that does not give the second cut the privilege of the first deal, but only makes him the partner of the dealer. 25 25 THE GIST OF BRIDGE When there are more than four candidates to play at one table, or when new players wish to enter a table after a rubber is finished, those who shall play must be decided by cutting, according to the method described in the Laws of the game, under the heading, ''Forming Tables." The dealer and 'his partner sit opposite each other and the cards, having been properly shuffled, are presented to the player on the dealer's right to be cut. The player who cuts is called the pone, and the positions of the four players at the table are usually indicated by the letters A-B and Y-Z, the dealer being always Z. Dummy Leader Pone Dealer The leader is sometimes called the Eldest Hand and the pone is often spoken of as the Third Hand ; but the terms, leader, second hand, third hand, and fourth hand may refer to any trick. For in- stance, the dealer might lead, and then A would be second hand, etc. Those who play against the dealer and dummy are generally called the ''adversaries.'' The cards cut, the dealer distributes them one at a time to each player in succession, beginning THE GIST OF BRIDGE' 27 on his left, and continuing until the whole pack has been given out. No trump is turned up at the end. What to do in case of any irregularities in the deal will be found explained in the Laws. After all the cards have been correctly dealt out, the dealer picks up his thirteen and examines them. He then has the privilege of naming any suit for a trump or of declaring to play without a trump. If his cards are not strong enough to justify him in making any selection, he must ask his partner to do so, by saying, ''I leave it,'' or '^You make it. Partner, "or some such expression, which will notify all the players that the make is ^^ passed." The dealer's partner then examines his cards and he must declare something or other, but without any consultation with or advice from, the dealer. After the dealer or his partner has once legiti- mately made a declaration, the adversaries cannot change it, but they may increase the value of the trick points by doubling, as will be explained presently. The trump declared, the eldest hand leads any card he pleases, and then the dealer's partner, the dummy, lays all his thirteen cards face upward on the table, properly sortedinto suits, the trumps, if any, on his right hand. From that point on, the dealer plays both his own cards and the dummy's, dummy not being allowed to take any part in the play or to offer any suggestions or make any re- marks except to ask his partner if he has none of a suit to which he renounces. This question dummy should be very careful to ask upon every 28 THE GIST OF BRIDGE occasion, as the penalty for a revoke is very severe. Dummy may also correct the claim of the adversa- ries to a penalty to which they are not entitled and he may call attention to the fact that a trick is not complete. The dealer must be very careful in playing the two hands not to lead from the wrong one, or the adversaries will take a trick from him as penalty. If dummy tells him he is about to lead from the wrong hand, that establishes the offence. All the smaller irregularities of the game will be found provided for in the Laws, which should always be referred to in case of disputes. OBJECTS OF THE GAME The object of the game is to make points and these are accumulated by winning tricks and scor- ing for the honors held. There being thirteen tricks to be played for in each hand, one side or the other must always win a majority. The first six of these tricks taken by one side do not count. They are called ''the book." But every trick over six taken by the same partners counts toward game, a game being 30 points. TABLE OF TRICK VALUES If A are trumps, each trick counts 2 If 4» are trumps, each trick counts 4 If ♦ are trumps, each trick counts 6 If y are trumps, each trick counts 8 If there are No Trumps, each trick counts 12 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 29 If hearts were trumps, and one side took eight tricks altogether, they would have two over the book, for which they would score twice 8, or 16 points. This would be called ''two by cards.'' Nine tricks would be ''three by cards," etc. When one side reaches or passes 30 points, it is a game and the side first winning two out of three games wins the rubber. If the same part- ners win the first two games, the third is not played. It does not matter how many more than 30 points one side may make upon any hand or deal, it is all put down, but it counts only as one game. Suppose A-B had already scored 16 toward game and were to make five by cards at no-trump on the next hand, it would put their total score to 76, but it would count only as one game of the rubber. In addition to the score for tricks, which are the only points that win games, there are certain scores for "honors." The honors are the A K Q J 10 of a trump suit, or the four aces when there are no trumps. The table of honor values is given on the following page. The difficulties of remember- ing it will be simplified by observing that three honors out of five held by one side, which are called "simple honors," are always worth two tricks. 4 honors between partners are worth 4 tricks. 5 honors between partners are worth 5 tricks. 4 honors in one hand are worth 8 tricks, or twice as much as 4 divided between partners. 4 honors in one hand, sth in the partner's, are worth 9 tricks. so THE GIST OF BRIDGE 5 honors in one hand are worth lo tricks, or twice as much as 5 divided between partners. Suppose hearts were trumps, a trick being worth 8, 4 honors in one hand would be worth 8 times 8, or 64. TABLE OF HONOR VALUES If the trump suit is ^ + ♦ V 3 honors count 4 8 12 16 4 honors count 8 16 24 32 5 honors count 10 20 30 40 4 in one hand count 16 32 48 64 4 in one hand, sth in partner's. . 18 36 54 72 5 in one hand 20 40 60 80 When there are no trumps: 3 aces between partners count 30 4 aces between partners count 40 4 aces in one hand count 100 Chicane counts the same as 3 honors. Little Slam counts 20 Grand Slam counts 40 These honor points score nothing toward the game, but they add to the ultimate value of the rubber. It often happens that one side will make the trick points and the other will score the honors. In order to keep the honor scores separate from the trick points, honor scores are placed '^ above the line," as shown in the specimen score sheet which follows. Trick scores are written down- ward, below the line, and honor scores are written upward, above the line. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 31 In addition to the honors themselves, there are certain scores which go into the honor column, above the line. If one side wins all thirteen tricks, it adds 40 points in the honor col- umn for '^ grand slam." Win- ning 12 out of the 13 counts 20 points for 'kittle slam." If any player at the table has no trump at all dealt to him, he scores the value of simple honors in the honor column for ^^ chi- cane." He must not announce the fact that he is chicane until the fact becomes evident from his failure to follow suit to the trump lead. At the end of the rubber, the winners of the two games add 100 points to their honor score as a bonus. Both scores are then added up and the lower is deducted from the higher, the difference being the value of the rubber in points. It some- times happens that the winners of the rubber lose a few points, on account of their adversaries' big honor score. In the example score clip given in the margin we are WE THEY 100 20 32 48 12 16 30 24 60 36 32 144 266 144 122 32 THE GIST OF BRIDGE supposed to be the players that kept the score, and the figures put down were the results of the following play: On the first hand we dealt and made three tricks and simple honors in hearts, 24 below the hne and 16 above. Then they dealt and made five by cards and 30 aces at no-trumps; 60 below, 30 above, winning the first game and drawing a line under the trick score to show that the game is ended. Then v^e dealt and made a Httle slam in diamonds, with four honors in one hand; 36 below, 48 and 20 above, the little slam being scored separately from the honors. On this deal, one adversarv had no trump at all, so they scored chicane in diamonds, 12 points above the line. A line was then drawn under the trick score, showing that the second game was ended. On the third game of the rubber, they dealt and made four tricks and four honors between partners in hearts, 32 ''each way," that is, above and below the line. This ended the rubber and as THEY had won 2 out of 3 games, they added 100 points in the honor column. The scores being added up, it will be found that WE have 144 points and they have 266, the differ- ence being 122, which is the value of the rubber. It is usual to throw off any units below 5 and to add to 5 or above, so as to make it even tens. This rubber would be called 120 points. When stakes are played for, they are either so much a point, or so much for ten points or a hun- THE GIST OF BRIDGE 33 dred points. Each player pays his right hand adversary the full value of the rubber. Playing penny points, or a dollar a hundred, we would lose $1.20 each on this rubber. It will be seen that there is a double object in playing bridge; to win tricks enough to get the games that win the rubbers, and, to make the rub- ber as valuable as possible by adding to the scores in the honor column. This honor score must never be lost sight of, and is often valuable enough to justify the risk of losing something in trick points to secure it. THE MAKES After the cards are dealt, the first thing to do is to decide upon a trump suit or to play without a trump. The dealer's side always makes the dec- laration, the adversaries having nothing to say until the trump is declared. After examining his cards, the first thing for the dealer to do is to compare the possibilities of his hand with the necessities of the score, and as a general rule, he should never make a declaration that cannot possibly win the game. He has the choice of five makes, four different trump suits, or no trump at all. It is possible to win the game from zero with three of these only ; no-trumps or one of the red suits. Therefore when he is nothing up it is considered bad policy for the dealer to declare a black suit, because it is impossible for him to win the game, even if he and his partner should take every trick. But if he is sufficiently advanced in the score to make it extremely probable that he can win the game with a black suit, he should not hesitate to make it clubs or spades. If he is 26 up, for in- stance, the odd trick in clubs or two by cards in spades will put him out and win the game just as well as the odd trick in no-trumps or a red suit. While nothing is more important than the make, there is always more or less chance or risk about 34 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 35 it, because the dealer never knows what he will find when the dummy is laid down, or what will be held against him. It is impossible to lay down any rules that will enable a player to pick out the best make every time and one must be satisfied if he can select the make which will bring the best results in the majority of cases. It is not a ques- tion of how the make turns out on a particular deal, but whether or not it would turn out well if it were persisted in for thirty or forty times. The un- certainties of the make is one of the charms of the game. Very few persons make good declarations until they have had quite a little practice at the bridge table. Observation and experience will correct their judgment and confirm the general principles laid down by the authorities for declara- tions, which are here given. A good general rule for the beginner, after sort- ing his cards and looking at the score, is to see whether or not he has five cards of either of the red suits. If he has not, it is very seldom a good hand upon which to declare a trump, unless the score is such that he can run out the game with a black trump. Suppose that he finds he has five hearts. There is a very simple rule for determining whether or not he should declare hearts. Count up the num- ber of trumps and then add the number of honors in the trump suit and then add to this again the number of aces and kings in plain suits. If the total is eight or more, it is usually a good make. For example: 36 THE GIST OF BRIDGE ^QJ653 ♦QSS 0AK2 ^94 In this hand there are 5 hearts, 2 honors in hearts, and 2 aces and kings in plain suits. The total is 9, so it is a very good heart declaration. Take this hand : ^109542 AJIOS 0Q7 ♦ 8 4 3 There are 5 hearts, i honor, o aces and kings; total 6. Therefore it would be a very bad heart make. Take this one: <;?J87543 ♦KSS 097 ♦QJ There are 6 trumps, i honor, i king in plain suits, making a total of 8. It is a fair heart make, not particularly strong and would be much im- proved if the heart honor were higher, or the club king were an ace. Such a hand, counting 8 ex- actly with the lowest admissible honors in hearts, may be called just on the hne. In declaring a red suit, it is always an advantage to hold honors, because it lessens the probability of the adversaries scoring honors against you. In some hands the honor score is valuable enough to justify the declaration even without five trumps or any winning cards in plain suits. For example: ^AKJ10*J85 0864 4043 This is undoubtedly a heart make, because the honor score alone is worth 64 points, which is nearly twice the average value of a hand for trick and honor points together. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 37 When the five-card red suit is diamonds, it is not quite as good a declaration as hearts, even if it counts eight or more, unless the dealer has some- thing scored on the game, or has won the first game and does not want to take any chances of losing his advantage. To win the game from zero in diamonds takes eleven tricks, which is a very diffi- cult thing to do, and as a rule a diamond is not a good declaration unless there is something valuable in the honor score. For instance: 9? 9 6 2 AASS 0QJ852 ♦108 While this hand will count up to 8, and is a safe make on general principles, it is impossible to win the game with it unless dummy lays down a very strong hand to support it. If he holds such a hand, he must have a better declaration than diamonds, if you pass the make to him. With these cards: ^J4 AKTS OAKQIO #9754 The honor score in diamonds, 48, is enough to justify the make, even if the dealer has nothing scored. If the dealer cannot declare anything better than diamonds, he must not forget that if he passes the make to his partner there are two better makes and two worse which are possible and it is an even chance that dummy has a better call than diamonds. For this reason many good players are averse to declaring diamonds unless they hold six trumps SS THE GIST OF BRIDGE and some tricks in plain suits, or four honors m one hand. When there is no suit of five red cards the dealer has the choice of calHng no-trumps or passing the make to his partner. The best no-trumpers are what are called ^'bro- ken hands"; that is, hands in which the strength in high cards is distributed among several suits. In no-trumpers, aces are the most valuable cards, not only because of their trick-winning possibilities but on account of the honor score. Four aces should always declare no trumps, regardless of the strength in the other suits. Even with such a hand as this: ^AQJ104 *A64 0A87 ♦AQ It is much better to call no-trumps than hearts, not only because loo aces are better than 64 honors in hearts, but because it takes one less trick to win the game at no trump. Three aces should always declare no-trumps unless the heart suit is very strong. For instance: ^AJ862 ♦A97 0A53 #102 While this hand will count up to 9 as a heart declaration, it is a better no-trumper because of the honor score for 30 aces and the greater ease of winning the game with three tricks. Two aces is not a good no-trumper unless there is ''protection'' in a third suit. Protection means high cards enough to be certain of preventing the THE GIST OF BRIDGE 39 adversaries from running the suit down against you. For example: (:?A54 *A8632 0KQ97 #4. The third suit, diamonds, is absolutely protected and this is a very good no-trumper, much better than a diamond. It is true that there is no pro- tection in spades, but something must always be risked. If a player waits until he is protected in all four suits before he will call no-trumps, he will miss many a chance for a good score. ^ No-trumpers in which the protection is in the red suits are always better than those in which it is in the black suits. For instance: cr? 6 4 AASTS 0KJ2 ♦A974 While this hand is a no-trumper, it is not as good as the foregoing, because of the weakness in hearts and the sHght protection in diamonds. To declare no-trumps with only one ace, two other suits should be very strong. Such a hand would be: ^864 *KQJ86 0A5 ♦KQIO If the suits are not strong, but only protected, the protection should be in all three suits to justify calling no-trumps w^ith only one ace. For instance: ^ Ae *K975 0KJ42 ♦QJIO Such a hand as this has great possibilities, but 40 THE GIST OF BRIDGE has also great weaknesses. The best excuse for declaring no-trumps on such cards is, that they are too strong to pass. To declare no trumps without an ace is very risky, not only on account of the honor score being probably against you, but on account of the diffi- culty of getting a hand into working order in which you do not hold the command of any suit. To justify such a make there should be at least two good honors in every suit, three of them kings. The dealer may sometimes declare no-trumps when he has only two suits if they are both very good ones, or if there is anything desperate in the state of the score to urge him to such a make. Suppose the adversaries 20 or 24 up to his nothing, the dealer might call no-trumps on these cards: ^432 AAK2 0432 ♦AKQ2 There are five tricks in this hand, and if dummy can protect the red suit that is opened against it, or has any good five-card suit, it is probable that this will work out much better as a no-trumper than anything else. If the dealer passes with such a hand, and finds the dummy strong enough to declare a red suit, that suit ought to be even more useful to support an original no-trumper called by the dealer. With these cards: ^A3 *65 0972 ♦AKQS76 No-trump is a good call if the score is against the dealer, because if he ever gets in he can win six THE GIST OF BRIDGE 41 tricks in spades, and dummy must have an abso- lutely worthless hand if he cannot protect either clubs or diamonds. No-trumpers which are declared on two suits are usually called ''sporty no-trumpers/' because there is an unusual risk in them and they come to grief about as often as they go through. They are good makes when the dealer has lost the first game or the score is against him on the rubber game. They are not so good when the dealer is a game in or ahead on the score. When the dealer is protected in three suits, he asks his partner to help him in one only, and that one may never be led; but when he declares on two suits only, he asks dummy to protect the other two, and it is an even chance that the adversaries will hit the spot that is weak in both hands. It is a serious disadvantage to let the adversaries go out on your deal and start the next game on their own deal, and unless there is some need for a bold dash to win the game, sporty no-trumpers should be avoided. It is very seldom right for the dealer to declare a black suit when he has nothing scored, four or five honors in clubs and no protection in any of the other suits being about the only excuse. For instance : ^64 AAKQ1075 083 #982 If the make is passed with such cards, dummy will very hkely call a red suit on average strength, perhaps with only two honors, and the odd trick will be the most that can be made, the adversaries 42 THE GIST OF BRIDGE scoring honors. Calling clubs originally, the hand should make at least two by cards, which is equal to the odd trick in hearts, and 32 in honors. When the dealer is sufficiently advanced in the score to have a fair chance to win the game, black suits are often the safest declarations. If dummy turns out to have been strong enough to make a better call, his strength should simply make the winning of the game all the more certain. Sup- pose the dealer is 20 up and holds these cards: ^K75 AAQJ972 064 ♦84 He is much more likely to make three by cards and the game with clubs trumps than he is to find dummy with a better call, because it will take two tricks in either of the red suits to win the game. Spades are never a good call for the dealer unless the score is 24 or better in his favor. With these cards: ^3 4^ *K8 0975 ♦AKQJ42 The honor score in spades is not worth anything and it is impossible to make more than 14 points on the hand, even if dummy is strong enough to help out a grand slam. Almost anything dummy may declare will be better than spades. If he calls a red suit, the spades should be strong sup- porting cards, and if he has a no-trumper, the game should be a certainty. Some persons, even good players, beheve it pays to call an original spade when they have nothing. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 43 The theory is, that if the make is passed, dummy will very Hkely call a weak red suit or no-trumper, and the dealer having nothing to support it, the hand will go to pieces. With a very rash player for a partner, or a very poor maker, this excuse might hold; but the chance of spoiling a paying declaration in the dummy hand by calKng an original spade is greater than of inviting a losing declaration by passing it. The only point in favor of an original spade is, that when the dealer passes the make, he must have something in his hand, or he would not have passed it. In some clubs it is the custom when spades are declared and not doubled by the adversaries, not to play the hand, if the score of neither side has reached 20. The honors are shown and scored to whichever side holds them, and the declaring side scores the odd trick, 2 points. If either side is 20 or more, however, or if the make is doubled, the hand must be played. This is called ^^the spade convention," and one should always ask if it is played. PASSED MAKES When the dealer passes the make, the first thing for dummy to do is to look at the score. If the score is normal, the dealer probably has a hand below the average and has passed on general prin- ciples, but if the score is decidedly against the dealer, such as 24 to o, the object of passing is perhaps to see if the dummy cannot stretch a point 44 THE GIST OF BRIDGE and call a no-trumper or a strong heart make, so as to pull the game out of the fire. Dummy should always declare no trump with four aces, and almost invariably with three, the excep- tion being when he has a better heart call or a large honor score in diamonds, such as five in one hand. With these cards, for instance: ^AKJ652 *A4 0973 ♦A82 Hearts is a safer call than no-trumps, and if the dealer has any honor in hearts, nothing will be lost on the honor score. Beginners lose a great many points by calling no-trumps on hands which are safer heart makes. No trumpers with only tw^o aces are good declara- tions for dummy provided both the red suits are protected. When the dealer passes the make, he is more likely to be v/eak in the red suits than in anything else and to call no-trumps without pro- tection in the red suits, especially hearts, is usually a losing game. With these cards, for instance: ^76 ♦AK975 0K53 ♦ASS The strength in the black suits is not what the dealer wants, because if he has anything it is in those suits and if dummy declares no-trumps on the black suits, it is even more risky than the dealer's calling no-trumps on two suits. But with these cards: ^AQ4 AAS 0KJ4 ♦97542 A no-trumper is a very fair risk, because dummy protects both the red suits and if the dealer has THE GIST OF BRIDGE 45 anything in the black suits the two hands should fit each other very well. '^With both red suits stopped, trust your partner for the blacks," is a common maxim for the dummy's makes, especially when the score is against him. It will turn out occasionally that the dealer has passed with all-round weakness or that he has a lot of small red cards, not good enough to de- clare on, but the dummy must take that chance. It is not to be expected that the dummy's declar- ations will fit the dealer's hand every time, any more than the dealer's declaration will always fit dummy's. One ace is seldom a good no-trump call for dummy unless he has both the red suits stopped, but with such cards as these: ^AJIO *KQ4 0KQ2 ♦8652 No-trump is a much better call than anything else. It would be folly to waste such a hand on a spade, unless the odd trick would win the game. It is usually bad policy for dummy to risk a no- trumper on two suits unless the long suit is dia- monds. The dealer may take the chance, because his hand is concealed and his weakness is never exposed, but the dummy betrays his weak spots the moment a card is led. If the long suit is hearts, it is always a better and safer heart make. For instance : c:?AKQ642 ASS 0542 ♦AQ While it is true that there are seven tricks in this hand if dummy ever gets in, the dealer must win 46 THE GIST OF BRIDGE two to go game at no-trump. If he can win two tricks, it should be a safer and easier game hand with hearts for trumps. But if the long suit is diamonds: 9? A 3 *95 0AKQ642 #874 It is much more probable that the game can be won at no-trump than at diamonds. To go game in diamonds the dealer must be able to win four tricks, whereas two tricks in his hand will win the game at no-trump. If the strength is in the black suits: ^64 AAS 0853 ♦AKQ952 It is rather a dangerous no-trumper unless the score is against the dealer's side, but if the ace of clubs were the ace of hearts, it would be a fair risk. It is the weakness in the red suits which makes it a bad no-trumper for dummy to call unless he feels that he must have a no-trumper or nothing at the score. When it comes to calling trump suits, dummy- must be careful to have at least two honors, or else to have six or more trumps in his hand. Even with five cards of a red suit, dummy should not call it unless he has at least two honors, or very good outside cards, almost a no-trumper. For example: ^J8642 *K7 0Q42 ♦853 Hearts would be a very weak call for dummy. The hand cannot be counted to more than seven. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 47 It is calling hearts on hands like this that drives the dealer to an original spade. Dummy may call a red suit with only four trumps, if he has the honors and some outside strength. ^KQ86 *K43 0975 ♦A52 This is too good a hand to waste on a spade but not quite good enough to call no-trumps. The two tricks in plain suits make it a fair heart make, even with only four. When dummy has no cards to justify a good call, his object must be to lose as little as possible on the deal. With these cards, for instance: ^J864 ^97 0Q65 ♦AJ32 It would be folly to risk a no-trumper, and the only resource is a spade. Sometimes it is a close choice between spades and clubs, but it is usually better to select the longer suit, provided the shorter one has high cards in it. For instance: ^753 A96432 01O2 ♦AQJ This is a better club call than a spade, because trumps can win tricks, no matter how small they are. If it is made a spade, the club suit is good for nothing. With equal numbers: ^82 *AK75 0963 #8732 It is a better spade make than club, because the high cards in clubs are good for tricks as plain suits. k 4S THE GIST OF BRIDGE DOUBLING Once the declaration has been legitimately made by the dealer or his partner, the adversaries cannot change it, but they can double the value of the tricks by ''going over." If the dealer calls hearts, and the eldest hand thinks that he and not the dealer will get the odd trick, he can say "I go over" or "I double," making each trick worth 1 6 points instead of 8. This gives the dealer's side the privilege of redoubling, making hearts worth 32. If the dealer does not wish to redouble, he must say he is ''content" and then the dummy can redouble. If he will not, the eldest hand leads a card. The various irregularities that may arise in doubling and redoubhng are dealt with in the Laws. Doubhng does not affect any of the scores in the honor column. All that can be doubled is the value of the trick points that count toward game. If the eldest hand does not wish to double,^ he must give his partner a chance to do so by asking, ''Shall I play?" If the pone wishes to double he says so, otherwise he says "If you please." If the pone doubles, the dealer's side can redouble, of course. There is no legal Hmit to doubhng, but in most Clubs there is an unwritten law that it shall stop at 100 points for each trick. The declaration and doubling, if any, settled, the eldest hand leads a card, and the dummy THE GIST OF BRIDGE 49 then lays his thirteen cards face upwards on the table. It is very seldom good poHcy for the eldest hand to double a no-trumper on general strength be- cause if the dealer once gets in he may run down a long suit and the leader will then have to discard a number of winning cards that he counted on for tricks. For instance: 9?KQJ104 AKJT 085 ♦AKS Suppose that with these cards the eldest hand should double a no-trump call and lead a heart. If he found the dealer with the cards shown on page 46, what would he discard on the six leads of diamonds? The best hands upon which to double no-trump- ers are those in which the leader has a solid suit to start with, such as six or seven, headed by A K Q, or hands in which a suit can be cleared in one lead and there are plenty of useless cards to discard if the dealer gets in. Such a hand as this: 9? A 4 A&e 053 ♦KQJ10762 One lead of spades establishes the suit, and the leader can then discard five times without reducing the value of his hand a particle. To double a red trump declaration there should be at least five tricks in the leader's hand and a probable sixth. Even then it is not a safe double unless the hand contains four trumps, two of them honors. so THE GIST OF BRIDGE To double clubs, there should be at least five tricks in the hand, two of them in trumps. To double a spade there should be at least four tricks in the hand, and one of them should be in trumps. Greater chances may be taken in doubling if the score is such that the odd trick wins the game for the dealer's side without doubling its value, but will not win it for the leader's side unless he doubles. Suppose the score is 26 to 22 in favor of the dealer when dummy calls clubs. If the leader thinks he has a fair chance to win the odd trick, he should double, because the odd wins the game for the dealer without doubling, but it must be made worth 8 to win the game for the leader's side. In doubling, it must not be forgotten that the dealer can redouble and in certain states of the score this risk cannot be taken. For example: The dealer is 22 up to the leader's 26 when dummy calls spades. If the leader doubles on the chance of going game with the odd trick, the dealer will certainly redouble, so as to have an even chance of winning if he gets the trick. At such a score, the leader should let the make stand, as the deal- er's side must get four by cards to win the game, whereas if there is no doubhng, the leader has the next deal. The pone doubles on much the same strength as the leader, except that in no-trumpers it is the general custom for the eldest hand to lead a heart if the pone doubles. When this convention pre- THE GIST OF BRIDGE 51 vails, the pone should never double a no-trumper unless he is willing that the eldest hand should lead his best heart. In some places, when the pone doubles, the eldest hand leads his shortest or weakest suit, on the chance that it is the pone's strong suit, and the one he most likely doubled on. Players should ask which custom prevails. In estimating the possibilities of the hand, both adversaries must remember that more tricks are probable, especially in trumps, when the make is on the right than when it is on the left. To play after the strong hand is always better than to play before it. THE ADVERSARIES' PLAY LEADING The principles that govern the selection of the opening lead depend on whether the declaration is a trump or a no-trumper. The best openings against trump calls are those that get a look at dummy's cards without losing the lead. Such combinations as A K Q; A K; A Q J are the most desirable. Any two or three honors in sequence are good openings, such as K Q J; Q J lo; K Q; Q J. Two honors which are not in sequence, such as A Q; K J; Q lo, are not good suits to open and should be avoided un- less they are long suits, five cards or more. LEADING AGAINST TRUMPS In leading against a trump call, the object is to make the winning cards before the dealer gets rid of his losing ones, and to find out what suit the pone can trump, before the dealer gets in and takes his trumps away from him. The leader must also show his partner w^iat strength he has in plain suits, giving him the most accurate information possible. It is foolish to object that this information is also given to the dealer, because the dealer knows exactly what is 52 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 53 against him the moment dummy's cards are laid on the table. The rules for leading against a trump call are few and simple. Never lead trumps unless you have tenace in all the other suits, or unless your partner has doubled. A tenace is A Q or K J. The advantage of holding it depends on its being led up to and not led away from. Take such a hand as this, hearts called by dealer: 9?863 AAQS 0K92 ♦KJ74 The best opening is the trump, as you hold over the dealer in all the plain suits with your tenaces and guarded king of diamonds. Always lead from two or more honors in sequence. If one of these honors is the king, always lead it first, no matter what the other high cards are. From such combinations as the following, for in- stance: A KQ J KQ J 5 A KQ 4 K Q107 A K 6 2 KQ 8 3 No matter how many cards in the suit, the best lead from any of these is the king. The partner will know that you hold the card next the king, either ace or queen or both. If the card led wins the first trick, follow it wdth the lowest card that will win the next trick, if you still hold more than one winning card. From A K Q J, having led the K, follow wdth the J. By 54 THE GIST OF BRIDGE your K winning, your partner knows you have the ace. Tell him the cards he does not know; that your J is as good as the A. From A K Q, follow K with Q, which denies the J. From A K, follow with A, which denies the Q. From K Q J, follow K with J, never with a small card. Be particularly careful about this lead. From K Q lo, or K Q, as you have no winning card to go on with and have not the second and third-best, go on with your original fourth-best, counting from the top. This will deny both A and J. By following this system, your partner can tell exactly what combination of cards you lead from. If you have no king lead and open a suit contain- ing the ace, always lead the ace first. From A Q J, lead ace and then Q. From A Q, or A J, or ace without any other high card, always lead ace first and then fourth-best. From Q J lo, or Q J 9, or Q J, always lead the Q, which denies any higher card in the hand. From K J 10, lead the 10. This is the only 10 lead. The J is always led as the top of nothing, or from short suits headed by J 10 or J only. From any suit in which you have not two honors in sequence and have not the ace, you must begin with the fourth-best, counting from the top. From Q 8 7 4 2, for instance, lead the 4. The reasons for selecting this particular card and not the lowest of the suit will be explained presently. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 55 In opening against a called trump, the selection of a suit may be influenced by the position of the make. If the dealer declares, the general prin- ciples of leading should be followed, beginning with the longest suit if you have no winning cards. But if the dealer has passed the make, it is usual to assume that he is stronger in the black suits than in the red, and it is therefore safer to lead a red suit up to him than a black one. With these cards to lead from, dummy declaring diamonds: 9? Q 6 4 2 *A5 0KS2 ♦KIOTS The heart is a better opening than the spade, because it is always better to lead up to weakness. But if a black suit contains high cards, it may be opened in preference to a weak red suit. Suppose the leader holds these cards, dummy calling dia- monds : ^KQ75 *94 0862 ♦AKQS The spade king is a better opening than the heart king, because it holds the lead until dummy's cards are laid down. Some players will never lead a small card of a black suit up to a hand that has passed th€ make, unless the black card is a singleton. Some players are very fond of trying to get in their little trumps by opening a short suit. With weak trumps and no good winning cards to lead, this may be all very well, but one should never play to get a ruff when one holds four trumps. It is better to open the long suit, which may force the strong trump hand. S6 THE GIST OF BRIDGE LEADING AGAINST NO-TRUMPERS In leading against no-trumpers, there is no hurry to save your good cards; they cannot be trumped. The best opening leads, both for attack and de- fense, are the longest suits. When two suits are equal in length, it is usually better to open the weaker first, keeping the stronger to get into the lead with, unless the stronger suit is headed by at least three winning cards. ^K9 *8 0J1O732 ♦AK854 If the ace and king of spades are led first and the queen does not fall, the rest of the hand is dead. By starting the diamonds they may be established, the high spades bringing them into play. A suit is established when you can take all the rest of the tricks in it, no matter who leads it. At no-trumps, never lead an honor unless there are three of them in the suit. With only two honors at the head of the suit, such as A K; K Q; A Q; K J ; always begin with the fourth-best. But with three honors, always lead one of them. WithAKQ; AKJ; KQJ; KQio; QJio,lead the Q from the last, the K from all the others. Holding A Q J, lead the ace first only when you have a winning card in another suit. Otherwise begin with the Q, so as to get the K out of the way at once. From all suits headed by one or two honors only. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 57 always lead the fourth-best, counting from the top. The fourth-best would be the 4 in each of these: AK742 KQ843 AJ942 K8742 Q10843 J10642 The reasons for selecting this card will be ap- parent when we come to the Eleven Rule. THIRD HAND PLAY The third hand varies his play according to the declaration, trumps or no-trumps. Of course, he will win all the tricks he can, but if his partner is winning tricks in one suit he must show what he can do in other suits, or what he can trump. THIRD HAND, TRUMPS CALLED In playing on the leader's suits, third hand must do one of two things; win the trick if he can, or, if he makes no attempt to win it, show his partner how many he has of the suit led and whether or not he can trump the third round. Take the simplest case first, when the eldest hand leads winning cards. If the third hand holds three or more of the suit, he plays his lowest, no matter what the cards are; but if he holds two only, neither of them an honor, he plays the higher of the two first. This is called the ^^down-and-out echo." An example will show how it works. The leader is A: ss THE GIST OF BRIDGE On the K led, B plays the 9 and next time the 2. Even if the dealer false-cards the J and Q on the first two rounds, the dealer knows that B has no more and can trump. 4. 4. 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4* 4. 4- 4. ^ 4-4-4^4^ 4" 4*4* 4" z A B Y + + * * + + 4* 4* 4* 4* 4- 4* 4- 4- 4- 4- 4*.4» 4. •^4. The down-and-out echo should never be played if one of the two cards held by the third hand is an honor. With jack and another, for instance, the leader will know if the small card is played the first time and the jack falls on the second round that his partner must have the queen or no more. The echo is unnecessary. If the leader's card is won by the dummy, so that third hand cannot win it, third hand plays in THE GIST OF BRIDGE 59 the same way, using the down-and-out echo with two only. When the leader begins with small cards and the third hand tries to win the trick, he must al- ways play the best card he holds, or one in sequence with it. He should never finesse. Finessing is trying to win a trick with a card which is not the best you hold. With A Q, for instance, partner leading small, to play the Q would be to finesse, if the K was not in dummy. If dealer has the K, the Q is thrown away. If the leader has it, the play does not matter, so always play the ace and make sure of the trick. If dummy lays down the intermediate card, there is no finesse. Suppose dummy lays down the Q and others, and third hand holds K J, the J is not a finesse but a certainty, if dummy does not put on the queen. With two or more high cards in sequence, third hand must always play the lowest. With A K; or K Q J, to play the ace from the first or the king from the second would only deceive the partner. THIRD HAND, NO-TRUMPS When a small card is led, third hand does his best to win the trick, always playing the lowest of a winning sequence, never finessing, and always trying to estimate what his partner holds. When the third hand makes no attempt to win the trick, either because his partner or dummy plays cards higher than any third hand holds, all 6o THE GIST OF BRIDGE that is left to do is to unblock. That is, to get out of the way of the partner's long suit. The rule for doing this is very simple. Always play the second-best card on the first round, keeping the lowest card for the last round of all. If third hand holds only two, the second- best will be his lowest, of course; but if he holds three or four the lowest must be kept until the last. With 983 the 8 is played first, then the 9. With 9832 the 8 is played first, then the 3, which is now the second-best, always keeping the 2. The same principle is carried out no matter how high the cards held by third hand. If the leader begins with the king and third hand holds Q 10 2, the 10 should be played to the king. The leader must have A J. Even if dummy wins the trick second hand, the third hand must still unblock. Suppose the lead is a small card and dummy plays ace, third hand holding K Q 3, the Q must be given up on the first trick. This is called the ^'plain-suit echo'' and its ad- vantage lies in the fact that the dealer can always tell just how the high cards in his long suit are distributed. This echo is one of the most impor- tant things for the beginner to learn. RETURN LEADS When the third hand returns his partner's suit he should do so with the higher of two cards and the lowest of three, unless he holds the best card, THE GIST OF BRIDGE 6l in which case he should lead it. If he holds two cards which are the second and third-best, such as the Q J after the K has been played, he should lead one of those two cards, so as to prevent any but the best card of the suit from winning a trick. When the pone holds any card which is better than any of the suit in the dummy, he should usually lead it. For example: Eldest hand leads a small club, and third hand wins the first trick with the K, holding K lo 42, dummy still having the 9 and 5 on the table. The proper return lead would be the 10, not the 2, because the 10 beats dummy's 9, and if the dealer does not cover the 10 the eldest hand will let it win and the dealer will be led through again. If the 2 is returned the eldest hand will have to play an honor to shut out dummy's 9 and will have to lead away from his suit, perhaps to his great disadvantage. When the third hand does not return his part- ner's suit, he can either lead a strong suit of his own, or he can lead up to the weak suit in the dummy. If dummy is not very weak in anything, it is better to lead up to aces than to guarded kings. Whether or not to return a suit, or what suit to play, is a matter of judgment that can come only with experience. The pone can lead trumps much more freely than the eldest hand, provided the dealer has de- clared, because the third hand is going through the dealer's strength. A trump lead is often nec- essary to prevent dummy from making a losing trump. 62 THE GIST OF BRIDGE As a rule, when the dealer has been in the lead and has not played trumps, it is good policy to lead a trump through whichever is the stronger hand in trumps, because there must be some object in not leading trumps, and this can be defeated only by forcing the dealer's side to play trumps. THE ELEVEN RULE I was the inventor of this rule, which was origi- nally used in whist and found to be so useful that no one could consider himself a player who was not familiar with it. In bridge, the eleven rule has been found to be invaluable, and is now explained in every text book and taught by every expert at the game. Arrange any suit of four or more cards how you please and deduct the number of spots on the fourth-best from eleven and you will always find that the remainder will equal the number of cards, higher than this fourth-best, which the leader does NOT hold. This being so, it is obvious that by deducting from II the spots on any card led, the third hand can always tell how many cards, higher than the one led, are out against his partner's suit. All that remains for him to do is to look if any of those higher cards are in his own hand or in the dummy and to infer that if there are any others, they must be in the dealer's hand. If the third hand and the dummy have as many higher cards as the difference between the card led and eleven, THE GIST OF BRIDGE 63 the dealer cannot have any. An example will make this clear. A leads, let us say the 7 of any suit. © * Deducting the 7 from 11 leaves 4 higher cards than the seven, led. Dummy has 2 higher, the third hand has 2. These added together make 4, so that the dealer cannot have any higher than the 7. Therefore, if dummy does not cover the 7 with the 8, third hand can play the 3 with absolute cer- tainty that the 7 will hold the trick. If dummy covers with the 8, third hand wins with the 10. If dummy plays the J, third hand wins with the ace. In any case, no matter what dummy plays, A and B are absolutely certain to win every trick in the suit, whereas if dummy plays small and third 64 THE GIST OF BRIDGE hand plays ace on the first round, dummy's jack stops the suit and wins a trick. This rule is absolutely infallible. Any person can demonstrate that for himself by laying out the cards. That it is of the greatest importance and usefulness in enabling the third hand to count his partner's suit is universally admitted. One application of the eleven rule is to show the third hand whether it is better worth while to pursue his partner's suit or to play his own. Sup- pose that the rule shows the dealer to have three high cards still against the leader's suit, while the third hand has a suit which can be cleared in one lead, it is obviously better to abandon the suit first opened. The eleven rule is also useful in enabling the third hand to detect false cards played by the dealer. Suppose A leads the 6 of any suit. B THE GIST OF BRIDGE 6$ Third hand plays the lo and the dealer wins with the ace. The 6 says there are 5 cards out against the leader, higher than the one he leads. Only 4 of these are shown. The dealer cannot have either Q or J or he would not waste the ace. The leader cannot have K Q J, or he would have led the king, so the dealer must hold the king, and no other high card. SECOND HAND PLAY Second hand play on the dealer's leads is very simple for the eldest hand, because all he has to do is to look at dummy's cards and beat them if he can. He should always protect himself by playing one of two honors in sequence, so as to prevent the dummy from winning the trick too cheaply. Suppose dummy holds A J and others and the eldest hand holds K Q, he should put in the Q second hand. The pone must protect himself by good second hand play when dummy leads through him. He should always cover an honor with an honor and play one of two honors in sequence unless dummy leads a higher card than either of them. Holding the card above and the one below the one led, second hand should always cover, such as holding Q 10 when a jack is led. This is called a fourchette. The dealer need not cover second hand if he has 66 THE GIST OF BRIDGE equally good cards in the fourth hand, unless he wants the lead in a particular hand. It is usually bad play to put a single honor sec- ond hand on a small card led, unless you want the lead, or the card is the best of the suit. Holding the king only once guarded in a no-trumper is an exception. It may be the only chance to make it if there is nothing in the fourth hand. FOURTH HAND PLAY The adversaries have very little to do as fourth hand on any trick, except to win it if they can, but the dealer will often hold off a suit for one or two rounds. The most usual cases for this play are: when he wants to exhaust the third hand in the leader's suit at no-trumps; and when he wants to make a tenace in a suit which is not a tenace at the start. By letting a suit run, when he can win only one trick in it in any case, the dealer may exhaust one adversary, and then he has only one to play against, but if he takes the first trick, no matter which ad- versary gets into the lead after that, they run off the suit first opened. When the original leader opens a suit at no- trumps with the king, from K Q lo and others, and the dealer holds A J and another, if he lets the king win the first trick, his A J become a tenace, good for two tricks. But if he wins the first trick, THE GIST OF BRIDGE 67 his jack may be led through and caught. This method of holding up on the leader's suit is called the ''Bath Coup.'' It can be played in the same way when the ace is in one hand and the jack in the other. DISCARDING When a player cannot follow suit, he may either trump, if there are any trumps, or he may discard anything he pleases. The dealer does not want any advice about dis- cards, because he sees both hands and knows ex- actly what suits he must keep and what he can afford to throw away. The best rule for the adversaries is to discard always from the best protected suit, trumps or no-trumps. It is much more important to protect the weak suits than to keep all the cards in the strong suit, because it is your weak suit and not your strong one that the dealer will attack when he is done with the one on which you have to discard. The adversaries should be particularly careful to keep one or two guards to a queen or a jack; even three to a ten may be useful. In discarding on your partner's winning cards, you tell him what suit you would like him to lead when he shifts and it takes only one discard to show him. If you discard weakness, he must guess between two suits, and when he guesses wrongly the result may be disastrous, 68 THE GIST OF BRIDGE DEALER AND DUMMY The dealer has to plan in advance for the play of the whole hand, the moment the dummy's cards are laid down. He must compare the sure tricks with the state of the score, and count up how many more he wants to win the game; then he must scheme for the best way to get them. With a declared trump, he has the choice of two methods, to get out the trumps at once or to play for a suit first. At no-trumps, he has usually the choice of one or two suits at least and his selection of the suit to begin on must depend on their re- spective possibiHties and the number of tricks nec- essary to win the game at the score. PLAYING NO-TRUMPERS Unless the dealer is afraid of some particular suit, which he sees is entirely against him but is not the one opened, he should always start out by playing for the suit of which he has the greatest number of cards, counting his own hand and the dummy's together. The reason for this is, that the more he has of any given suit, the more easy it is to exhaust the cards held in it by the ad- versaries. When the dealer is afraid of a suit, it is better to make his winning cards in other suits first, so as to be sure of saving the game. For instance : Sup- THE GIST OF BRIDGE 69 pose the 6 of clubs is led at no-trump and the dummy lays down these cards: Dummy: 9?Q86543 *95 08 ♦A932 Dealer: 9?KJ2 ♦AQ4 064 ♦KQJS^ Winning the first round of clubs with his tenace, the usual hne of play would be to estabhsh the heart suit while the dealer still held the command of the adversaries' club suit. But it is evident that no matter which adversary holds the ace of hearts, he will at once open the diamonds, making at least five tricks in that suit, perhaps six or seven. The dealer cannot take this risk, and must make his five tricks in spades before touching the hearts, so as to save the game. If there is no particular danger of this kind, the dealer should always start his longest suit, but he must be careful to play it in such a manner as to get the most out of it. He should always lead from the weak hand to the strong; that is, from the hand which has the lower cards to the one that has the higher, and he must be careful when one hand is much longer in the suit than the other to get rid of the high cards in the short hand. When the lead can be placed in either hand in one suit, he should plan it so that it shall be in the hand which can open a fresh suit to the best advantage. If there are equal high cards in each hand, but none of them the best of the suit, such as K in one hand, Q J in the other, it is never necessary to lead 70 THE GIST OF BRIDGE a high card to force out the ace. Lead a small one, and perhaps the ace will be played second hand, making K Q J all good for tricks. If it is not, it will be time enough to play a high card third hand. When the dealer holds a suit in which it is evi- dent that he must inevitably lose one trick, per- haps two, he should lose them on the first round, not on the third. Holding A K and four small cards in one hand, only two small in the other, for instance, the adversaries must make one trick. By giving them the first one, both hands still have that suit to lead, if either gets in again; but if the A K are led right out, the hand with the tail end of the suit must get in itself. PLAYING TRUMP HANDS When the dealer's side has declared a trump, it is usually best to get the adversaries' trumps away from them at the first opportunity. The exceptions to this rule are: when the dealer sees a chance to make one of the small trumps in the hand which is short of trumps; and when he wants to get the lead into the other hand before playing trumps. When there are no winning cards in plain suits to protect, the dealer may not care to get the trumps out, but will play for a cross ruff instead, trying to make his trumps separately, instead of knock- ing them together. When the dealer has losing cards in a plain suit THE GIST OF BRIDGE 71 which he sees he can discard on the winning cards of another plain suit, it is usually best to do so before leading trumps, unless he holds all the winning trumps. FINESSING The adversaries of the dealer never finesse, for reasons already explained, but the dealer does a great deal of finessing; in fact it is the only way in which he can make tricks which are not on the face of the cards. When the dealer plans to take a finesse, he must always have the lead in the right hand, leading to an A Q or A Q J, instead of leading from it. It is often necessary to play the cards in such a manner that if the first finesse holds, the same hand shall lead again so as to take a second finesse. This may be done by leading another suit to get the other hand in, or it may be done in the same suit. For instance: In one hand In the other; ^M.1 w i 4- ^ 4. "^4. 4. 4- 4.'4. 4- 4* 4. 4. 4. 4. By leading the ten from the weak hand and play- ing the 9 on it, not the 7, if the king is on the left 72 THE GIST OF BRIDGE it must be caught, even if it is three times guarded, because by going on with the 8 and playing the 7 on it the lead is kept in the weak hand until the third round. With nine cards of a suit between the two hands a finesse is seldom right, as the higher card will often drop. The dealer always finesses against the hand he is afraid of, not against his partner. If the dealer knows there are three winning cards of a suit on his left, there being no more on his right, he will take any finesse that might let the player on his right into the lead, but would be very foolish to take a finesse that would let in the player on his left. RE-ENTRY CARDS In playing for a long suit, the dealer must be care- ful to look ahead far enough to see how he is going to get into the lead and make it after it is estab- lished. When he can win the first trick in either hand, he should always look to see which hand is more likely to want the winning card later in the game, and play accordingly. ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS The following hands will give the reader a very fair idea of how the principles laid down in the foregoing pages are carried out in practice. The best way to study them is to sort out the actual cards, thirteen for each hand, first, and then to play them as you think they would naturally be played, afterward playing them as here shown. The notes will explain the reason for the plays that arise. For those who wish further practice in the tac- tics of the game and feel able to go further into the fine points of its strategy, there is no better practice than a pack of the self-playing bridge cards, in which there are 128 hands, all different. These cards will play with you exactly as if experts were present and held them, each move being explained as the game proceeds. In these illustrative hands, Z is always the dealer and A always leads for the first trick. The un- derlined card wins the trick, and the card under it is the one led for the next trick. A glance will show what cards the player holds, as there is only one red and one black suit on each side of the pip marks; hearts and clubs on the left of the figures, diamonds and spades on the right. 73 74 THE GIST OF BRIDGE NOTES TO HAND NO. 1 This is a much safer heart call than no-trump for Dummy. Some persons would begin with the singleton lead from A's hand, but winning cards that hold the lead until dummy's hand is laid down are much better. Tricks i and 2. A leads the K and follows with the J, and B plays down and out to show that he holds only two of the suit. This tells A that the dealer holds another, and A goes on to get a dis- card of B's best protected suit, so as to know what to lead next. Trick 4. Having nine trumps between the two hands the dealer does not want any finesse, so he puts the diamond ace right up, and, after drawing all the adverse trumps, plays to estabhsh the dia- monds. He afterward puts the ace of spades right up, as he can discard his losing spade on the diamonds. If dummy does not put on the ace of diamonds second hand, he loses the game, instead of win- ning it. \ THE GIST OF BRIDGE 75 HAND NO. 1 Score, A-B 24 ; Y-Z 8. Dummy declares Hearts. TRICK A Y B ■ Z 1 4 K ♦ 4 A 7 « 9 2 A J A 5 4k 3 ♦ 10 3 ♦ Q « 6 2 4 8 4 7 A 4 5 5 ^7 Z> K ^ 9 ^ 3 6 ^10 <^ A ^ Q 9? 5 7 3 # 9 KO 8 8 4 ♦ 2 # 5 41 A ^ 9 7 ♦ 3 6 QO 10 8 # Q* 100 J 11 K* ^ 2 6 ^ 9 # 12 A 2 ^ J lO* ^ 6 13 ♦ A ^ 4 J ♦ ^ 8 Y and Z win 3 by cards and simple honors. 76 THE GIST OF BRIDGE NOTES TO HAND NO. 2 This is a very good heart call for dummy. Trick I. A leads K and follows with Q, deny- ing the J. B does not play down and out, there- fore he must have another spade. This warns A not to lead any more spades, or the dealer will make a little trump and lead trumps through A^s king. Trick 3. A leads through dummy's strong suit, which is better than leading a black suit up to a passing hand. Trick 6. The only chance to get B in again is to try the club. Trick 8. The best play is the trump, as B may have three trumps, in which case dummy must lose a spade trick. Trick 9. The dealer must make his losing trump on the spade before catching B's trump. If B's play had not told A that the dealer had no more spades, A might have gone on and the dealer would have won 2 by cards easily, winning the game instead of losing it. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 77 HAND NO. 2 Score, A-B 24; Y-Z 16. Dummy declares Hearts. TRICK A Y B Z 1 K# 4 # 2 41 3 A 2 Q# 8# 5 41^ J ♦ 3 8 4 KO 9 4 2 5 A J 5 ^ 4 100 3 6 6 A 3 * Q * A A 5 7 Q? K QO 7 ^10 8 ^ 5 ^ J ^ 8 ^ 2 9 6 ^ 9 ^ 10 ♦ ^ 3 10 « 4 Q? 6 ♦ 2 4k 8 11 4k J ^ A ^ 9 4k 9 12 7 ♦ ^ Q ♦ 6 ♦ 10 13 A 4|k ^ 7 ♦ 7 ♦ K A and B make the odd trick; Y and Z score simple honors. tofC. 78 THE GIST OF BRIDGE NOTES TO HAND NO. 3 As soon as dummy's cards are laid down, the dealer sees that to win the game he must make five tricks in trumps and catch the king of clubs. He cannot possibly catch all the trumps by leading them, as one adversary must have four. As he may lose a trump trick, he must either get one in spades or two in diamonds. By playing the Bath Coup on the first round, he secures the extra trick in that suit. Trick 2. Not having both Q and J, the fourth- best is the right continuation for A. Of course he credits B with the ace. Trick 6. Having dropped all the trumps but the best one, Z now tries the club finesse, playing the lo on the jack, so as to keep the lead in his own hand, in case the king is three times guarded. Trick 8. Z must make his diamond before going on or B will trump the club and put him in with a diamond. The dealer knows B has only one more diamond, and must be all spades, so that B will have to lead up to Y's spade king eventually. Trick lo. B must make his ace now or never, as Y can give Z a discard on the best club. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 79 HAND NO. 3 Score, love-all. The dealer declares Hearts. TRICK A Y B Z 1 KO 4 <0 2 3 2 6 8 5 J 3 ^ 4 ^ 7 ^ 2 ^ K 4 ^ 5 9 ^ 9 ^ Q 5 ^ 8 2 4|b ^lO ^ A 6 * 2 *io ♦ 7 4 J 7 A 4 A 6 4 8 « 9 8 lOO 3 ♦ 7 A 9 4k 5 * Q ^ J ♦ 3 10 8 ^ 4 4^ A 4^ 7 4|b 11 9 4|k io# 5 ♦ J 4k 12 QO K* 6 ♦ ^ 6 13 X K A A Q ♦ Z> 3 Y and Z make 4 by cards and simple honors. So THE GIST OF BRIDGE NOTES TO HAND NO. 4 This would be a very poor diamond call for the dealer, as the dummy must have a no-trumper to help it. Dummy has a very fine no-trumper. A leads the fourth-best of his long suit and B plays his second-best, according to the rule for unblocking. What dummy plays does not matter to B. Trick 2. The dealer has several lines of play. He can get out of his own way by playing A K of hearts and then putting himself in with a small spade, leading a diamond after making Q J of hearts. He cannot drop the spades by leading A K Q from dummy, because one adversary must have four. The moment he has to play a diamond, the ace goes up and the clubs come in, so he is compelled to take the two by cards in sight, by playing the hand as he does. It is impossible for him to win the game. Note that if B does not unblock the clubs on the first trick, he loses the game at the end by being compelled to lead a losing heart. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 8l HAND NO. 4 Score, A-B 12; Y-Z o. Dummy calls No- Trumps. TRICK A Y B z 1 A 7 ♦ A ♦ Q A 5 2 4 ♦ 2 # 3 ^ J ♦ 3 9? 3 ^ K Z> 2 ^ 4 4 5 ♦ A ^ 7 # ^ 7 5 8# K# 9 ^ 40 6 9? 9 Q^ 104 6 7 ^10 6 ^ ^ 5 7 8 2 ^ A ^ 6 ^ J 9 * 2 100 Q S 10 4k 3 3 A 9 11 * 8 5 A K ♦ 6 12 *io J <0 ! *4 i * 9 13 Jk J KO ^ s Z> Q Y and Z win 2 by cards and 30 aces, 82 THE GIST OF BRIDGE NOTES TO HAND NO. 5 The dealer's weakness in hearts does not pre- vent his caUing no-trumps with such a hand as this. He must risk one suit when he has the other three. A leads his fourth-best. At no-trump, high cards are not led unless there are three honors in the suit. Y covers with the fourchette, the card above and the one below the card led. B counts by the eleven rule, deducting the 6, led, from ii, and finds there are only 5 cards higher than the 6 out against A's hand. Dummy has 3 of these 5, and B has the other 2, therefore the dealer has no higher card. This shows B to play the 10 third hand, instead of the ace. But for the eleven rule, B would have played the ace to the first trick, and dummy's jack would have won a trick. A club lead and finesse, putting dummy in again with a spade to take a second finesse, and the dealer would have won 4 by cards easily. B discards his best protected suit and continues discarding it, so as to protect his weak black suits. Trick 5. The dealer must keep a small spade to put dummy in with, in case two leads drop the Q. The good discards made by B prevent the dealer from winning the game. THE GIST OF BRIDGE 83 HAND NO. 5 Score, A-B o; Y-Z 8. Dealer declares No- Trumps. TRICK A Y B Z 1 ^ 6 ^ 7 ^ 10 ^ 3 2 ^ 8 ^ 5 ^ A 3 <0 3 Z> Q Z> 9 ^ 4 5 4 ^ K ^ J 6 5 # 5 Z> 2 8 7 « 6 6 100 9 J A 7 4 ♦ 2 4k 7 4|k A # 8 8 ♦ 3 ^ Q* K* 9 10 ♦ J ♦ QO 6 4k 10 2 9 ♦ KO 4k 7 11 ♦ 3 « 9 ♦ 2 4k J 12 ♦ 10 4k 4 4> 5 A A 13 4 ♦ 8 * K A Q Y and Z win the odd trick and 30 aces. DUMMY BRIDGE There are several ways in which three can play bridge, the simplest and most generally adopted being the following: The lowest cut of the three chooses his seat and cards and deals the first hand, playing alone against the two others. He picks up his cards and declares or passes as he pleases. If he passes, he takes up his dummy's cards, but without showing them to his adversaries, sorts them and makes what is called a mechanical de- claration according to the following rules: If dummy has three or four aces, he must make it no-trump. If dummy has not more than two aces, he cannot declare no-trumps, but must name his longest suit — that is, the one in which he has the most cards. If two suits are of equal length, he must pick out the one with the m.ost pips in it, counting the aces as ii, other honors as lo each, and the smaller cards at their face value. If the pip count is a tie, he must name the suit which has the higher scoring value. For instance: ^9862 ^42 0A84 ♦ASBS Dummy cannot call no-trump, because he has only two aces. He has four hearts and four spades, and the pip value of each suit is the same — 25. 84 THE GIST OF BRIDGE 85 As hearts are more valuable than spades, he must call hearts. Only the eldest hand can go over, and the dealer cannot redouble unless he has declared on his own hand and has not seen dummy^s cards. If the dealer declares, dummy's cards are not touched until the eldest hand leads. If dummy declares^ his cards are not laid down until the el- dest hand leads. On the second deal, the single player leaves his seat and takes the one opposite him, so as to be the eldest hand, with the right to double the adver- saries' declaration. If he doubles, only the actual maker of the trump can redouble him. When the single player is not the dealer, he leads, and the cards on his left are laid down. Then the single player lays down his own dummy's cards, so that there are two dummys on the table. On the third deal, the single player sits still, and the proceedings of the first deal are repeated. For the next deal, the single player changes his seat again, so as to be on the left of the next dealer. In this way the single player keeps his seat for two consecutive deals after the first one. It is usual to play a series of three games, no rubbers, the winning side adding 50 points bonus. For the second game, one of those who were part- ners becomes the single player, and the other part- ner becomes the single player for the third and last game of the series. DEC 16 1904 AN INTERESTING PROBLEM The Dealer, Z, made Hearts trumps. When it comes down to the last six cards, he has the only two trumps left and this is the position of the cards: 4* o o 0% 4.^4. 4.*4. 0^0 o o O ^i' ^1^ T 4^% o 9 s? 0^0 B 4- 4- 4- 1 The dummy, Y, is in the lead and the Dealer's side must get every one of the six remaining tricks to win the rubber. How did they do it, in spite of the very best play of A and B ? 86 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillU PRICE TwtNTp 020. 237.423 2 Dick &l Fitzgerald NEW YORK /