Class Q-V'/-^gi Book._ .S^^ Qom^kW^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. f 4»»»»If you also hold an outside ace. E Q X X X X E 'KQ X X X E ^ GOOD BRIDGE 29 In these last five cases, holding an outside ace, you lead high rather than fourth-best, as you are not dependent upon your partner's return- ing your suit, but can clear it yourself and enter on your side ace to make it. FROM SUITS CONTAIN. ING LEAD NOTES Q J 9 J 10 9 J 10 8 10 9 8 Q J J 10 \ While these suits do not contain 3 ( honours, the combinations are too t valuable to start low. Experience ) teaches that it is better to lead high. With more than 5 in suit, lead fourth- best. Complete List of High Opening Leads at No- Trump For the convenience of reference, a complete list of the no-trump leads is here given, show- ing the different combinations from which each high card can be properly led. In the following set of leads each card as a rule announces the card below it and denies the one above. It is true that the king may show either ace or queen, but the queen positively shows the jack and denies the king; the jack shows the ten and denies the queen. Objection is sometimes made to the present jack lead, on the ground that it is too promiscuous, that it is used for too many combinations. But it must be 30 GOOD BRIDGE remembered that your partner will return your lead unless he has something much better to do, and that the adversary is left quite in the dark as to just where are situated the high cards of that suit. LEAD WHEN HOLDING A A E Q X or more AK xxxxx or more A K J X X or more A Q J X X X X A Q J X X or more, when holding another ace K AKxxxx ) -_,, , ,,. ^ „ y When holding another ace A K X X X ) ** AK Jx K Q J suits K Q 10 suits Q A Q J suits, unless holding another ace Q J 10 suits Q J 9 suits J A J 10 suits K J 10 suits J 10 9 suits J 10 8 suits 10 10 9 8 X X 10 9 8 X GOOD BRIDGE 31 The Lead of the Fourth-best Not having any of the above combinations it is customary to lead the fourth-best card of your long suit, with the idea of informing your partner that you have exactly three cards higher, possibly some lower. Short Suit Opening at No-Trump Almost any five-card suit is worth opening no matter how poor it is. Its length is its pro- tection. Any four-card suit with three or two honours in it is a fair lead. But if your best suit is of four cards only, and also if it contains only one honour or no honour, it is best not to open it. If it has no honour in it, when your partner gains the lead, he wastes his effort in returning it, as you will probably never win a trick in it. If it contains a jack or a queen, you, by opening such a suit, imperil a trick you might otherwise make. So too with a king, it is much better to wait. And nearly the worst of all is a four-card suit headed by an ace ; if your partner wins and returns it, you are sim- ply establishing one trick or more for the dealer, which he otherwise might not be able to make. If you wait until forced to play the 32 GOOD BRIDGE ace you will know better what to lead for your partner's benefit. Your combined efiforts should be to find the best suit you have between you and establish it. You have none ; try to find his. If you cannot open your four-card suit, you should select a short suit, preferably red, and of the two red suits preferably hearts. A singleton is a good lead, on the ground that your shortest suit may well be your partner's longest. Any two-card suit headed by jack or lower is good. Queen and one low is bad, as the queen is likely to win on a finesse. Three-card suits are not good unless headed by strengthening cards that will not harm your partner's hand. Q J x, J lo x, lo 9 x, or even 9 X X are fairly good, but lower than the 9 such suits are not of much avail. J x x should be avoided, as it may win a trick; it is nearly the same as Q x. With a hand containing one four-card suit and three of three cards each, it may be impossible to open any of the three-card suits, on account of protecting honours, or they may be too poor to help your partner. In such a case you are forced to lead the four-card suit. But if it con- tains no honour, you would better lead the top GOOD BRIDGE 33 of it. Such a lead will probably be high enough to warn your partner of the futility of return- ing it. The Lead of the Lowest Card rather than the Fourth-best The writer is convinced that it is a much stronger play with a good partner to lead the lowest card of a good suit and not the fourth- best. There is no doubt but that the fourth- best lead gives more valuable information to the dealer than to the partner. The dealer, with all his resources in view, can utilise to great advantage the important knowledge a fourth-best card conveys, and can often de- termine his second hand play with accuracy. On the other hand, the fourth-best really does your partner but little good. Dummy de- termines your partner's play third in hand. If there is no high card in dummy, your partner will play his highest card or one in sequence to it upon your lead ; similarly if there is a high card in dummy sufficiently protected to become a trick, he must finesse against it if possible. The only conceivable disadvantage occurs when your partner is in doubt whether to re- turn your suit or to open one of his own, which may be better. But by reserving the lead of 34 GOOD BRIDGE the lowest card to show a suit of value, such as one containing two honours, or one honour as high as the queen, a good partner can almost always read the situation and choose correctly. When you are forced to open a suit not con- taining two honours or a card as high as the queen, you can lead not your lowest card, but your next to the lowest ; this rarely will be mis- read. Objection may be made that your part- ner cannot always distinguish whether the card you lead is your lowest or not, but you will find that he will be able to do so surprisingly often. This play was advocated by the writer to be used in the game of Whist many years ago ; it has been used constantly and successfully by winning teams ever since. Its use in Bridge is equally valuable and its advantage becomes ever more apparent in its use. It is, therefore, recommended to good players with the cer- tainty that they will find it of benefit. When using this lead it is only fair to an- nounce the fact to your adversaries to avoid the accusation of private conventions. Opening Leads in Declared Trump Hands In declared trump hands it is no longer a ques- tion, as in old-fashioned Whist or as in no- trumpers, of leading your long suit in the hope GOOD BRIDGE 35 that you can establish it, exhaust the trumps and bring it in. The strength in trumps is de- clared against you, and you and your partner are embarked on what is probably a losing ven- ture. Your efforts must be devoted first to- wards saving the game and secondly towards getting the odd if possible. Only when you hold trump strength (four or more) can you dare to attack ; all other openings are more or less defensive. Therefore your opening leads divide themselves into two classes : Opening Leads when not Holding Trump Strength The old idea used to be that you should lead an ace at almost any cost in order to see dummy, but the game of Bridge has pro- gressed and ace leads have become less and less desirable. It has been found better to use other openings which do not result in estab- lishing a suit for the adversary, the disastrous effect an ace lead sometimes has, while the view of the dummy, so dearly obtained, is often of little value and void of suggestion. In a declared trump hand holding trump weakness (three or fewer) your only advan- tageous leads are suits headed by two cards in sequence, short suits, and, last and rarely, an 36 GOOD BRIDGE ace. The length of the suit you open is usually immaterial, as the possibility of establishing it for future use is remote. The life of a suit is usually only two rounds ; after that, some one is likely to fail. When every one follows to the third round the fact is so unusual that it evokes comment. Therefore your efforts must be di- rected towards securing one of those first two tricks, if not both. Every time you open a suit which contains a tenace or a single high card you are opening your hand at a disadvantage that may cost you a trick. The Seven Good Leads in Declared Trump \ Hands when Weak in Trumps There are seven good leads in declared trump . hands when you are weak in trumps. These are listed below. In leading any sequence al- ways lead the top of it, except with A K, when 1 you should lead K to show A. ( 1. A K alone or with others. 2. K Q alone or with others (except with K Q X, which it is better to avoid). 3. A singleton (except K). 4. Q J alone or with others. 5. J 10 alone or with others. 6. A two-card suit (except A Q, A J, K J, or Kx). GOOD BRIDGE 37 7. An ace in a suit of four or more (never from A X x) . Notes on the Above Seven Leads These openings should be chosen in the order in which they occur. Run down the list until you find the first one that your hand contains. Don't lead the fifth-best opening if you hold the second. They have been carefully weighed, tested and listed according to value. An an- alysis of them follows : 1. A K alone or with others. With A K alone lead A, then K. Otherwise lead K to show A. This lead is absolutely the best, as the first trick saves a grand slam, and the second a small one. In hearts, for example, the total value of these two tricks is 56 points, 16 for the tricks and 40 for the slam. 2. K Q alone or with others. With K Q J, or K Q 10, or K Q and several others this lead is the second-best, but with K O X it is wise to wait for the chance of mak- ing two tricks. This is a rare occasion where the length of your suit, or rather the lack of it, counts. 38 GOOD BRIDGE 3. A singleton. Don't lead a singleton when holding either of the above combinations. As against the K Q lead, in each case you are trying for the second trick in the suit. But with the singleton, if the adversaries exhaust your trumps, you will not be able to take it; with the K Q lead you prob- ably will. 4. Q J alone or with others. Here the queen is a good lead. You always have the chance of catching the king in dummy, while if your partner has either king or ace, or both, your opening will be most ad- vantageous. If he has nothing, you are at least left with the second-best card of the suit, and have done no harm. 5. J 10 alone or with others. This lead is also apt to be helpful to your part- ner, and may enable him to catch a high card in dummy. If your partner has nothing, your lead does no harm ; the adversary is only mak- ing tricks he is sure to make in any event. 6. A two-card suit. Except A Q, A J, K J, K X. Any other two- card suit is apt to prove a good lead, especially one that may help your partner, like Q x, J x, or 10 X. GOOD BRIDGE 39 7. Ace in a suit of four or more. Not, however, when holding also Q or J. Never open low from a suit of four or more containing an ace. From A x x, or A x, a low lead is often not bad and frequently works very well. But with more than three there is always a chance that your ace may be trumped on the second round. Ace from A x x is about as bad a lead as can be made. The suit is too long to trump, too short to establish. It usually re- sults in establishing a suit for the adversary and making his play extremely simple. Harmless Leads and Bad Leads If you cannot open your hand with any one of the above seven leads you will probably have to open it at a disadvantage. Still there are cer-- tain suits which are rather harmless to open, such as those headed by a 10, 9 or by a 9, 8, in both cases the higher card being led regardless of length. Three-card suits headed by a 10 or 9 are by no means good, but can be employed when all the other suits are more dangerous. The highest card should be led and followed by the next highest. When you play the lowest card of your weak suit, it should be your last card in that suit. 40 GOOD BRIDGE Fourth-best from a king is a bad lead and should be avoided. If the adversary v^ins the first trick w^ith any card except the ace, your king is postponed until the third round and probably w^ill be trumped. If you v^ait until some one else leads that suit you will make your king on the first or the second trick, ex- cept in the one case w^here the ace lies beyond you and your partner has no card so high as the jack. But fourth-best from a queen is not a bad opening. If your partner has A, K, or J, you accomplish something at once, and if he has nothing to help you with, your chances of making your queen are very slender, even if you wait. Tenace suits, suits with a break in them like A Q, A J or K J, should be avoided, as it is so much more advantageous for them to be led to you. A Trump Lead A weak trump lead is often a good opening when your position is as follows : 1. It must be a passed make, so that you are leading through strength. 2. Your trumps must be valueless, such as J x, or lo X, or any singleton except a king. 3. All your other suits must contain the pos- GOOD BRIDGE 41 sibilities of tricks, and must be such that you want them led to you. With an A K suit, or a good K Q suit, or a short suit a trump lead is not sound. This lead should tell your partner that you can be counted upon for something in all the other suits. With this information he is not bound to return your trump lead, but probably should lead up to dummy's weakest suit. Opening Leads when Holding Trump Strength In declared trump hands when you hold trump strength (any four or more) you are no longer on the defensive, you can attack. There is a fair chance that you may beat the adversary at his own game. All short leads should be avoided and you should open your longest suit. If the maker should happen to have only five trumps, the most likely case, you may be able to establish your suit and perhaps force him first. In that case you meet on equal grounds, you have as many trumps as he has, his marked superiority has vanished, and you may win out on the hand. After he has. been forced once, even if your trumps are all small, it takes all his remaining trumps to exhaust yours, and the rest of the hand becomes a no-trumper,with 42 GOOD BRIDGE the advantage to whosoever has the best suits. Therefore, in such hands, begin with your longest suit, avoid establishing suits for the dealer, and don't lead off aces, but let the hand develop always on the lines of trying to force the adversary without being forced yourself. Leading after Partner has Doubled In opening your hand after your partner has doubled hearts, diamonds, or clubs, your best play usually is your highest trump if it is a passed make, and you are therefore leading through strength. But with an A K suit it is better to lead the king first and look at the dummy ; or with a singleton and a few weak trumps it is better to open the singleton, as your partner must conclude that either you have no trumps or that you are bent upon some plan which he should proceed to develop, if necessary, by letting you use your trumps first. If the make is an original one, with the strength lying beyond your partner, do not lead trumps, but open your hand naturally. When spades are doubled, again open an A K suit or a singleton, no matter how many trumps you may have ; when you have neither of these two leads, you should lead trumps if GOOD BRIDGE 43 you have one, or four or more, but not other- wise. If you have only one trump, it is likely your partner is strong in trumps, and your lead will help him ; if you have four or more, his strength probably lies in the side suits, and you are strong enough to try to exhaust trumps for his benefit. If you can depend upon your partner to lead in this common-sense way, you will be able to read his hand easily. If he leads trumps he has either a singleton trump or four or more ; if he does not lead them, he is either trying for a ruff, or has two or three trumps. CHAPTER IV SECOND HAND PLAY When the lead has been made and dummy- is laid down on the table, you as dealer are often called upon to decide upon a second hand play, on which may rest the success or failure of the hand. There are several cases possible : You and dummy may have so many of the adversary's suit that you can play for it your- sfeli'. " Or you may be able to win two tricks in it, in which case it is usually wise to win the first at once, as you still retain command of the suit (see Holding Up, page 78). Or you may have one sure trick and a possible second. Or you may have one sure trick which be- comes a question of holding up to block the suit. Or, finally, you may have only one doubtful trick, which, if made, will save the day. Therefore it is essential to understand certain underlying principles of second hand play, and to realise that cards like a king, a queen, or a jack in the dummy should sometimes be GOOD BRIDGE 45 chanced, and yet often should not be played, in that they are needed to protect some cards in vour own hand. The usual case is when you hold one high card singly guarded in dummy, and your rule is as follows: Rule for Second Hand Play, from Dummy, in No-Trump With a high card singly guarded in duininy, play high usually, but not if you hold in your own hand J x x, 10 x x x, or any two honours one of which is the 10. List of Second Hand Plays, from Dummy, in No-Trump The various cases are as follows : an unim- portant card is led, one not involving the Rule of Eleven. In all the following diagrams you are supposed to be sitting at the table, with your hand directly in front of you, with dummy opposite, and the lead coming from your left. There are usually three cards placed in your hand for illustration ; the rule holds as well if there are more. The letter x equals any card not an honour. 46 GOOD BRIDGE Kx A X X A question of entry or the position of the next lead. If other things are equal, play king, as you can retain the command longer with the ace. Ex Q XX Play king. If it wins, avoid taking any chance to let your right-hand adversary win a trick. In other words, finesse if possible to lose to the left, so that your queen will be led up to and not through. Ex Jxz Play low. Your king is needed to protect your jack. In this way you are sure of one trick, no matter how the cards lie. But if GOOD BRIDGE 47 you play high and lose to the ace, your jack may be led through and you will lose the whole suit. 4 10 X Play low for the same reason as in case 3. Your king is needed to protect the ten. 5 A X X Play queen. You have a sure trick in the ace. More likely than not the leader has the king. If so, you must make the queen now or never. Qx Exx The same as case 2, as king and queen are of equal value when you hold them both. 48 GOOD BRIDGE m J X X Play low, as queen is needed to protect jack. If third hand has ace or king, to play your queen is a useless effort; if not, you will win with the jack. Similar to case 3. Qx 8 10 X X X The same as case 4. Your queen is needed to prevent the original leader from finessing against your ten on the return of the suit. Jx A XX Play jack. The leader may have opened a K Q suit. GOOD BRIDGE 49 10 Play jack ; it is your only chance to make two tricks. If it wins, finesse to lose to your left. Jz Q xz Play low. Exactly like case 7, although an ap- parent exception to the rule. Jz 10 X X X Like case 8. Your jack is needed to protect your ten. We now come to cases illustrating the second part of the rule where a high card singly guarded lies in dummy and you have two ihonours in vour own hand. 50 GOOD BRIDGE Kx 13 AQx Unless you need the king for an entry later, play it to clear the suit. 14 A Jz Play low and you must make three tricks. The one real exception to the rule, but one so evi- dent that no comment is necessary. Kx 16 A lOx Play low, as you may win with the ten. How- ever, should the hand demand an immediate lead from dummy, the king would be a per- missible play. GOOD BRIDGE 51 Kx 16 Q Jx Play king to clear the suit. 17 Q lOx Play low, as you will then be sure of two tricks. Ex 18 JlOx If you wish the lead to come from the dummy, play king. You are sure of one trick no matter how you play. Qx 19 AEx Play queen. The same as case 13. 52 GOOD BRIDGE Qx 20 AJx Play queen. If it wins, finesse to the left to coax another lead up to your A J. Qx 21 A 10 X Play low. You are sure of two tricks, no mat- ter what third hand plays. But should you play the queen and it be covered by the king, forcing your ace, your ten might later be led through and captured. Qx 22 K Jx Play queen. Similar to case i6. i GOOD BRIDGE S3 Q 23 E 10 X Play low. Similar to case 17. 24 JlOx Play queen if you wish dummy to lead. No matter what you play, you are sure of one trick. Similar to case 18. 25 AEx Play jack. If it doesn't make now it probably never will make. Jx 26 AQ Play jack and finesse, if it wins, to the left. 54 GOOD BRIDGE 27 AlOz Play low, as the jack is needed to protect your ten, and then you must make two tricks. Jx 28 KQx Play jack. The same as case 22, 29 ElOz Play low, as jack is needed to protect the ten. If you should play the jack and the trick should run jack, queen, king, your ten might be led through later and caught. GOOD BRIDGE 55 Jx 30 QlOz Play jack if you wish the lead in dummy. The same as cases 18 and 24. Four Peculiar Cases of Second Hand Play The following peculiar and important cases of second hand play come under no fixed rule, and therefore are not generally known. They are so constantly misplayed that you should study them with the care necessary for their fullest comprehension, and learn them absolutely. 1. AQx Lead = x Dummy Dealer The number of small cards on either side is un- important. Play low usually. But play ace if you have the game in sight and if there is another suit to which the adversaries might change, in which you have no protection on either side. Play the queen only when trying for a grand slam. 56 GOOD BRIDGE KJx Lead = x X X With more than three in dummy play low; but with exactly three play the jack usually. You may win two tricks that way. But play king if you can make the game, or even the odd, if there is another whole suit against you to which they may change. If the king is taken you still protect the suit. 3. Q XX Lead = x XX With queen and two others in dummy and nothing in your hand, play queen on a low card led. Your one chance is that the leader is open- ing away from an A K suit. He certainly has not three honours or he would lead high. Therefore two honours must lie beyond the queen; and third hand can finesse and capture her. GOOD BRIDGE 57 J X X Lead = x K X X With three exactly in each hand, play the jack. It is your best chance for two tricks, and the only time you can lose is when leader has led from A 10, and queen lies to your right. If the jack wins, finesse always to lose to the left to avoid having your king led through. Playing Second Hand from Dummy in a Declared Trump Hand As so few players open away from an ace in a declared trump hand it is nearly certain that any opening except the ace marks that card in third hand, and you should play accordingly. It is usually wise to play one of two cards in sequence unless you have a card of equal value in your own hand. With the ace of the suit opened and no chance of winning another trick in that suit, it is wise to play the ace at once, fearing a short lead. There may occur cases where you wish to place the lead at your right, and therefore do not play the ace; but you must bear in mind 58 GOOD BRIDGE that there are many worse plays than ace at once when it is your only trick in that suit. When an honour like a queen or a jack is led, you must remember, if you are tempted to cover, that the only benefit in covering lies in making something good later, in promoting some card in your hand or dummy's. If you have no high card which can be promoted there is no benefit in covering. Dealer's Second Hand Play in No-Trump Nearly the same 4 D 6 4 3 O 7 6 S E6 GOOD BRIDGE 93 Score o. Original heart declared. Here you must lose one diamond, two clubs and no spades, as after two rounds you can trump the rest. Therefore if the trumps are divided, you will lose only three tricks and must win the game. H D C S H D C S 4 3 2 9 2 A7 6 5 9 7 6 AK876 5 K4 4 2 AE4 Score o. Original heart. Here you must lose one diamond, one club and one spade. To go game you must find the ace of diamonds on your right and the trumps must all fall in two rounds. Therefore when forced to play the ace of clubs, lead the diamonds up to your king, as that is your only chance. 94 GOOD BRIDGE H 10 4 D 8 6 5 3 O J 7 6 4 S AQIO H KQ J973 D AK C 5 3 S 6 5 3 Score o. Original heart. Here you must lose one trump trick, nothing in diamonds, two tricks in clubs, and in order to go game no tricks in spades. Therefore you must finesse not only the queen but the 10, your one chance being that both king and jack are on your left. By estimating your suits in such a way you will find that many a hand is very simple ; that either no great efifort is needed, or that your at- tention must be centred on one thing alone, the result of which will decide the game. Even when you have no apparent way of winning and the game seems impossible to attain, there remains one chance ; fortunately the possibility of the adversary's making^! error is ever pres- ent, and many hands inherently too weak for GOOD BRIDGE 95 the game ride to victory on the adversary's bad play. Also many a successful play of which its maker was unduly proud came about through ignorance or stupidity of the other side, through an ill-timed attack or a miserable defence. Rules for the Play of Declared Trump Hands In every hand wherein you and dummy have the majority of the trumps it is usually wise to lead and exhaust those of the adversaries. But the profits accruing from this play depend upon your having other high cards to make later, or some long suit which you can bring in after the adversaries' power to interrupt it has been destroyed. Therefore you do not lead trumps in the three following cases : 1. When the weak trump hand can trump some long suit which the strong trump hand has, either at once or in a short time. 2. When you have not the ace of trumps and the adversaries must therefore win a trump trick, there being at the same time some weak suit to which they would be likely to change, which, however, you can discard on high cards in the other hand if you play those first. 96 GOOD BRIDGE 3. When the weak trump hand has some long suit to establish and ne^ds to enter on one round or on several rounds of trumps to clear and make it. Examples of the Play in Declared Trump Hands H 7 6 5 3 Dummy Dealer H C AEQ 8 A 8 6 5 4 4 Hearts are trumps. Here the weak trump hand can trump the long club suit, so that trumps should not be led until dummy has made his three. H O AEQ 4 H C J 10 9 6 4 2 AE98 3 GOOD BRIDGE 97 Hearts are trumps. Here again dummy, al- though apparently strong, is really the weak hand and must use his trumps on the three los- ing diamonds. H EQ J742 D 7 5 4 C 3 S A6 4 H 10 5 3 D 6 3 2 C AE Q s E 8 5 2 Hearts are trumps. Here you have not the ace of trumps and are weak in diamonds. If you lead trumps the adversaries will change to the diamond suit, and by making one trick in trumps and three in diamonds will prevent your going game. But if you lead clubs at once before the trumps and discard two of dummy's diamonds, you must win the game. 98 GOOD BRIDGE H 9 5 D 8 6 4 3 C AKQ J S A 3 2 H KQIO 7 D 9 7 5 2 O 4 S K 6 4 3 Hearts are trumps. Here you confront the loss of two tricks probably in trumps and three or four more in diamonds. But if you lead clubs at once and throw off the diamonds you may lose only the two trump tricks and one in diamonds and go game. Some players fear to lead the plain suit first, having had the idea of leading trumps at once so ground into their minds, but this scheme of play cannot fail. Even if an adversary trump one of your clubs you lose nothing, as you discard a surely losing diamond; it is simply an exchange of tricks with every chance for gain in your favour. Entering on the Last Round of Trumps • Often you can win one round of trumps in the hand that has the long suit. If you see that that long suit is cleared first, and then win the GOOD BRIDGE 99 last round of trumps in that hand, you have used your trump for an entry. For example: H S H S Q6 4 AQ J6 3 A K 10 7 2 K By winning the first two rounds of trumps in your hand, then playing the king of spades, and then finishing the trumps in the dummy you have entered and can probably make the suit. You certainly have avoided the risk of overtak- ing the king of spades. H C H O 5 4 2 AKQ J3 2 AKQ7 63 This is a somewhat different case. If the trumps are divided two and two they will all '^OF^ loo GOOD BRIDGE fall, and your 5 will be left in the dummy as an entry for the club suit. The catch in such a position is this : the dealer often is forced at the start and carelessly trumps with his 3 of hearts before he has fully considered his plan of action. When the 3 has been played the hand is ruined. It is a good habit to acquire, that of saving your smallest trump in your strong trump hand ; many an emergency ap- pears when such a provision saves the day. The most complicated case occurs when the hand, the dummy for example, which is weak in trumps still has some few high ones with which he can always take tricks, as you hold the other high ones in your hand, and also has a long suit which needs to be established by being led and ruffed in your hand. In this case, if you take out the trumps first you lose the entries necessary for the continuation and es- tablishing of dummy's suit. Therefore if it looks feasible to establish such a suit in dummy you must ruff it in your hand, enter in dummy's hand on a trump lead, lead his suit and ruff it again, enter on another trump lead, and so continue your play that as his suit finally clears you will enter in his hand on the last necessary round of trumps, and bring in his good cards. For example : GOOD BRIDGE lOI H C AEQ AE66 32 H C J 10 7 6 4 2 7 4 Here take two rounds of trumps; then lead A K clubs, ruff a third club with lo of trumps, and enter on the last round of trumps to make the remaining clubs which are probably cleared. H C Q J9 Q J 10 8 6 4 H O AE1076 A Play ace of clubs first. Then enter on 9 of hearts and lead a club, trumping it with the king of hearts. If the king of clubs has not fallen, lead across to jack of hearts and trump another club with the ace of hearts. If the clubs are now cleared, as they probably will be, you can enter on the queen of hearts and make the suit. I02 GOOD BRIDGE H C J 10 6 A 8 7 5 432 H O AEQ 5 3 E Play king of clubs first and then take the first round of trumps, winning in dummy with the lo. Lead a low club next and trump it with the queen of hearts. It is not necessary to lead the ace of clubs before the low club, as you must trump one round and would better trump this one. If seven clubs have now fallen the other one must drop on the ace, and so you can now finish the trumps, winning one round on your own hand with the king and taking the last round with dummy's jack, which is now the entry for the remaining clubs. Of course you may find the cards so unevenly distributed that the suit will not clear or you cannot exhaust the trumps. But in such cases probably no other plan will succeed any better, and the possibility of using this scheme must always be in mind. It must be so familiar that GOOD BRIDGE 103 you can see at once the kind of hand adapted to its use and wherein it may succeed. This method of play daunts some players of fair ability, because it necessitates rufifing in the strong trump hand, something they have learned to avoid. But it is one of the few cases wherein you can afiford such apparent ex- travagance, as the ultimate gain repays you. Double Ruff The only value in a double ruff lies in making the trumps in the weak trump hand. You trump with the strong trump hand only to re- gain the lead, so as again to force the weak hand. If you could enter again in your strong trump hand on an A K suit it would certainly be bet- ter than weakening it with a force. Therefore, if you bear in mind that your gain consists in the trumps you make out of the weak hand, you must realise that the instant you have made all those the motive for your play is gone. The careless player exhilarated by the success of his devastating cross-ruff continues it once too often ; from habit he forces his strong hand after the weak hand's trumps are all made and thereby often loses a chance to establish some card or make some finesse. 104 GOOD BRIDGE H 6 4 2 D 8 6 5 3 C 4 S A7 6 5 3 H A K Q 10 7 5 D AQ O A 9 6 3 S 2 Hearts are trumps. You must trump clubs in the dummy and spades in your hand, but after trumping a club with dummy's last trump, don't force your strong hand with another spade, but lead up to the diamond finesse ; otherwise you will have to lead diamonds from the wrong side. In all cross-ruflfs you must look out for this also. You may be trumping with such high trumps that the adversaries cannot overtrump you, yet they may be getting discards and pre- paring to trump some other suit. Therefore, when playing your cross-ruff you must watch to see if you have not an ace or an ace and a king, which you should make first before they have a chance to discard that suit and later trump your winning cards, thus regaining all the advantage you are apparently reaping. GOOD BRIDGE 105 Leading for the Last Trump It seldom pays to exhaust the last trump when it is higher than any you have. Some- times, however, it occurs that you have some established suit on one side, and just one card on the other to lead over to enter with. In this case if you do not draw the adversary's last trump, and the established suit is ruffed when you begin to play it, you can never enter to make the rest of it. In such a case with two or more trumps yourself, or being able to win whatever is led, you must draw the last trump. For example: H 7 6 5 D 8 6 C 7 4 2 S AKQJC I H AKQIO 4 D A 9 3 2 C KQ 5 S 2 Hearts declared trumps. Ace of clubs is led, and then a low one which you win. After three rounds of trumps the jack still remains against you. As you can enter on every suit you must draw the jack and will then make five odd. io6 GOOD BRIDGE Doubling up the Trumps Sometimes it happens that you are left with two trumps, but not the highest, and the ad- versaries also have two, but you cannot tell whether they are in one hand or divided. It is a most dangerous play to lead again and chance finding them divided, hoping they will both fall. If they do fall you will save only one trick, but if you find them in one hand and they have some established suit, you will lose heavily. Instead of leading trumps you must lead your established suit, or some winning card to force them and deliberately let them make both trumps. By forcing them first you will be left with the long trump and can surely make your other good cards. If you have three trumps left you usually can take the chance of doubling up the two that lie against you. CHAPTER VIII SIDE PLAY Side Play in No-Trump Hands Almost all players seem to think that the greater part of the game of Bridge lies in the play of the dummy hand. During the other three deals they lose their interest, sit in a state of apathy, and even impatiently await their own deal. But this is a false estimate of the game. The play of the side hands against the dealer is fully as important as the dummy play, often far more so. The responsibilities are enormous. There is no other part of the game where the superiority of a truly great player is so marked. You must be on the alert every instant to de- feat a tentative advance on the dealer's part, to oppose an impregnable defence, or even to attack boldly and brilliantly yourself whenever a weak spot is disclosed ; watching dummy, cal- culating your partner's hand, deducing the dealer's scheme from his play and his discards, taking advantage of every point in the shifting scene of the game, and above all counting, counting, counting with the score ever in your mind. io8 GOOD BRIDGE Your side play does not consist in your part- ner's opening some suit which you win and re- turn, feeling that your immediate duty has been discharged. You cannot commit yourself to one plan of action, and nailing your colors to the mast sail forth to victory or defeat. You must be alive to the necessity of changing your entire play at a moment's notice. What was the best thing to do an instant ago may have become the worst ; the suit you have determined never to open may in a minute be the only one you can open. There are no positive values; everything is relative, secondary and de- pendent. Considerations Governing the Leader's Play After Seeing Dummy Your opening lead, which has been explained, is more or less a plunge in the dark. But the moment dummy is displayed and you have seen the result of the first trick, your responsibilities begin. If you are the original leader, every time you gain the lead after your initial open- ing you must decide upon your next play only after carefully considering four things : 1. Whether you should continue the suit you first opened. 2. Whether through a lead or through dis- GOOD BRIDGE 109 cards you have had any information from your partner upon which you should act. 3. Whether dummy displays some weak point to which it may pay to shift. 4. Or whether the dealer has started some scheme which it is necessary to thwart at any expense, abandoning all else. Analysis of the Above Four Considerations 1. Whether you should continue the suit you first opened. Here you must be guided by the strength or the weakness that dummy discloses in that suit; also by the card your partner played and the information that it conveyed; and, in case the dealer won the trick, by the value of the card he played with, the chance of its being a false card. If your suit lies heavily against you in dummy, if your partner's card implied little or no aid, or if the dealer won the trick cheaply, you should change suits. 2. Whether through a lead or through dis- cards you have had any information from your partner upon which you should act. If your own suit is not established, and your partner has failed to return it, but has led an- other, it must be either for the reason that he has no more of yours or because he prefers his no GOOD BRIDGE own. In either case unless your hand is very- strong, it is better to return his lead. Or again your suit is not established and he has asked for some certain suit, by a reverse discard in it, or by discarding from the other suits. Again you would better lead for his suit. 3. Whether dummy displays some weak point to which it may pay to shift. When you do not care to continue your own suit, when your partner has shown nothing, you are forced to turn to dummy for hint or suggestion. In such cases it is not a bad play to change to that suit in which dummy and you together have the fewest cards. This is more likely to be your partner's suit than any other. 4. Whether the dealer has started some scheme which it is necessary to thwart at any expense, abandoning all else. This case, usually well marked, is often over- looked. Either the leader never sees the sit- uation at all and goes stolidly on with his own suit just because he began it, or he appreciates the peril but either is ignorant of how to over- come it, or hesitates to employ a play so rad- ical. The one com.mon, almost universal case is where dummy has some long suit nearly estab- lished, and one solitary entry to make it with. GOOD BRIDGE in If that entry can be taken out before the suit is established, the suit will never make, and the game will be saved. Therefore your own suit must be abandoned and y.ou must lead to take out dummy's entry, and usually your highest card. For example, dummy's suit is nearly established and his entry is an ace which he has once guarded. You hold in his ace suit king and two small. You should lead your king because either dummy must win your king and lose his ace prematurely, or you will win the trick and force his ace just as surely on your next low lead. Sometimes such plays may cost a trick, but they often save huge losses. Considerations Governing the Play of Third Hand The responsibilities of the original leader's partner, commonly called third hand, are nearly the same as the original leader's. In this posi- tion you must also consider four things : 1. Whether you should return your partner's lead. 2. Whether your suit is better and can be es- tablished and brought in more easily. 3. Whether dummy has some weak spot which invites an attack. 112 GOOD BRIDGE 4. Or whether the dealer's scheme should be overthrown and some card of entry extracted. Analysis of the Above Four Considerations 1. Whether you should return your partner's lead. You usually should return your partner's lead unless you have what you consider is a better and more easily established suit, or unless his suit is twice established against him in dummy. If there is only one winning card against him in dummy it usually pays to lead and take it out. 2. Whether your own suit is better and can be established and brought in more easily. This is often a most delicate point to decide. If your partner has opened with a small card and no very positive development has occurred, and if you have a good long suit which you can open with an honour, also having some entry to make it with, you should probably change, especially if dummy is weak in your suit. If dummy holds a jack or a ten in your suit, you must lead a higher card if possible to force the dealer to win or perhaps to catch some high card he may have. For example : GOOD BRIDGE 113 J4 Dummy Dealer A Q 10 6 3 Third hand should lead the queen J6 3 Dummy Dealer A Q 10 5 2 should le 10 4 2 ad the queen Dummy Dealer AJ973 Third hand should lead the jack 3. Whether dummy has some weak spot which invites an attack. When you are third hand, it is usually dis- astrous to change to dummy's weak suit unless you yourself are strong in it, or unless your partner has opened from weakness. If your partner has led his strong suit, and if you and dummy are both weak in another suit, that is probably the dealer's stronghold. It is the ex- act reverse of the dealer's choice (which is sound) of the suit in which he and dummy are weakest and shortest. For example : 114 GOOD BRIDGE Lead H AKQ4 D AQ 7 6 2 C A J 5 4 S None low diamond Dummy H D C S Dealer 8 6 2 J 8 3 KQ7 6 2 J 4 Passed no-trump. Third hand wins with jack of diamonds. For him to change to jack of spades would be madness ; it must be the deal- er's suit. He might just as well lead a diamond back to his partner or even a heart. The dealer may have a superb suit of spades and with none in dummy may never be able to enter and make them. 4. Whether the dealer's scheme should be overthrown and some card of entry extracted. This position is exactly similar to case 4 un- der the leader's side play (page no). Holding up Winning Cards The play of holding up an ace to block the ad- versary's suit is just as incumbent upon the side players as upon the dealer. But it is an equally good play to hold up a twice-guarded king, safely intrenched behind the ace, and GOOD BRIDGE 115 refuse to win the first trick, thus encouraging the dealer to think his finesse is succeeding, and luring him into a fatal ambuscade. Side Play in Declared Trump Hands After the opening lead you and your partner' have the choice of several plays of constant recurrence. These must be studied and learned so that they can be instantly recognised. 1. Leading through dummy's strength. 2. Leading up to dummy's weakness. 3. Forcing the strong trump hand. 4. Not allowing the weak trump hand to ruff. Analysis of the Above Four Common Plays in Declared Trump Hands I. Leading through dummy's strength. This occurs when dummy is on your left. Re- member you are not to lead through dummy's strength because it is strength. Your play to be of value must be such that it will enable your partner to catch high cards which dummy has or to make cards which he could not other- wise make were he to lead the suit himself. Therefore there is no benefit in leading through a suit in dummy like A K Q or K Q J, as such a lead cannot possibly aid your partner. But ii6 GOOD BRIDGE suits that present vulnerable gaps, like tenace suits, or a guarded king or queen, or ace and small ones — to lead through all these may help your partner. The test of a. suit is this : if it is a suit which you wouldn't care to lead if you held it in your own hand it is usually a good suit for you to lead when it lies in dummy. It is rarely a good plan to lead through weak- ness, yet if there remains a weak suit unopened late in the hand it may be the best thing to try. 2. Leading up to dummy's weakness. When dummy lies on your right you should lead up to his w^eakest suit, but not necessarily his shortest, if he is the weak trump hand, as that would result in his ruffing it later, some- thing to be avoided. Any suit containing no card higher than a jack is considered weak. You must lead up to dummy's weakness abso- lutely regardless of what you hold in such a suit. Any suit which you would not dream of opening originally becomes good to lead if it is up to dummy's weakness. A Q suits, K J suits, K X, Q X X, A X X, X X X X, all are good leads when you open them up to a weak hand. The best way to do is to select dummy's weak- ness first and then open that suit ; not look in you-r own hand and set some suit aside and then hunt in dummy for a second suggestion. An A Q suit is of no value unless the king lies GOOD BRIDGE 117 on your right. If the dealer has the king on your left, you can never catch it, and if your partner has it, there is all the more reason for you to lead it. You may lose your king if you open from K x, but if A Q lies on your left you probably will lose it anyway, and so there is no harm done. Ace and low ones in dummy is really weak- ness to lead up to. It is almost like a low suit without the ace. The ace must make and your partner may force it with a small card, and Ir^ter make other tricks in that suit. 3. Forcing the strong trump hand. Some players are averse to leading their high cards when the adversary is going to ruff them, but every good Whist player realises fully the advantage of forcing the strong hand. If the dealer's strong trump hand has only five trumps, and you can force one out at the start, it makes it all the more difficult for him to ex- haust the trumps preparatory to making his long suit or other good cards. Every trump he loses weakens his hand that much the more. Many a proud six-trump hand has crumbled to pieces by being forced once and then, after one trump lead, being forced again, with the result that of the six trumps played the strong hand has contributed three. Care must be taken, however, in forcing a ii8 GOOD BRIDGE hand that is very strong or has all the high trumps. In such a case, after the force, the dealer may exhaust the trumps and make some long suit in the other hand, upon which he will make numerous -advantageous discards from some suit to which you should have changed.- If dummy presents some weak spot, such as K X, to lead through, or, if on the right, some weak suit to lead up to, it may be better to lead such a suit instead of forcing. But with a strong hand, with four or more trumps your- self, or with trump strength indicated by your partner's play the force is nearly imperative. 4. Not allowing the weak trump hand to ruff. It seems to be a popular superstition if dummy has a singleton of a suit, although he is the weak trump hand, that it is incumbent upon either adversary to lead an ace instantly and capture the singleton. This is constantly done with great glee, and is usually accompanied with the remark, 'T picked that off, anyway !" And yet such a play is a pitiful effort ; it precip- itates a calamity which should be shunned, in that it makes it possible for the weak trump hand to ruff that suit. If dummy has a singleton or a two-card suit, and is also weak in trumps, he must be so long in the other suits that it will be fairly impossible for him to dis- GOOD BRIDGE 119 card his short suit; it will always be there when the time arrives to play it. Indeed it is most probable that that is the very suit the dealer himself will lead in an effort to make dummy's weak trumps, and it is not a bad prin- ciple to work on, that what is a good play for one side is probably bad for the other. Instead of leading and taking out dummy's singleton, it would probably be a far better play to lead trumps and cut off at least a part of the im- pending ruff. The only danger in this play would be w^hen the dummy also has some strong suit which the dealer might make and discard upon if trumps were led for him. But when the dealer instead of leading trumps plays deliberately for some short suit in the weak trump hand, then it is almost certain that a trump lead on your part will be of bene- fit. If the weak hand has only two trumps and you can take them out in two rounds with ace and a low one, you will have exhausted his power to ruff and you may thereby gain largely later. CHAPTER IX THE DISCARD The writer has always advocated discarding in a no-trump hand from a poor suit, one you do not wish your partner to lead to you. This discard has now been generally adopted for both trump and no-trump hands. Should you be forced to discard from a strong suit, you can indicate it by discarding first a higher and then a lower card ; but to the general good player the single discard of the high card is sufficient. The discard is still the subject of bitter con- tention and has been threshed out to a weary- ing extent, but the best players of to-day almost unanimously follow the rules for dis- card here given. The hard-and-fast strength discard is a kindergarten device, a crutch for lame ducks, a resource for those whose limita- tion is the memorising of a single fact, and who decline to observe, deduce, or reason. It is attractive in theory but costly in practice. Even in the case of the beginner, to whom it is supposed to be peculiarly valuable, it stunts GOOD BRIDGE 121 his growth, dulls his reasoning powers, and checks his advance in the game. The following system of rules is based on common sense, is simple, natural, practical, and reasonable: Rules for Discard 1. There are two principles of discard: first, protection of your own hand, and then in- formation to your partner. 2. When you have but one discard, make that as luminous as possible, taking into account fully dummy's displayed hand. 3. If dummy has a strong or long suit which your partner would be unlikely to change to, don't discard from that suit, but from another one. This will mark the third suit in your hand. Your play is not to show weakness, but to guide him correctly to his next choice. 4. The discard of a two, three, four or five is usually from a suit you do not wish your part- ner to lead. 5. A reverse discard, first a high card, and then a lower one from the same suit, shows that you have strength in that suit. In play- ing a reverse discard make your first card as high as possible without loss. In fact, the single discard of a card as high as the seven or ^ 122 GOOD BRIDGE eight or nine, where one discard alone is avail- able, is usually understood as the beginning of a reverse and indicates strength. 6. To discard first from one suit and then from another marks the third suit as probably- strong in your hand. 7. To discard twice from the same suit with- out reversing, asks your partner to change to that one of the other two which best suits his hand, or in which he can best help. 8. The discard of an ace shows other cards equally high in that suit. 9. The discard of a king shows other cards equally high in that suit, without the ace. 10. Do not discard all, or the only one, of a suit. Save one if possible to follow suit with, the first time. 11. If possible, save one of your partner's suit to return to him. 12. Save one guard for an ace or a king, two guards for a queen, and three for a jack or a ten. A jack and two small, or a ten and three small, is a dangerous suit to discard from. M\'22 ^-