THE GAME OF BRIDGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 86, 8 October 1938, Page 19

THE GAME OF BRIDGE

Weekly Chat on Contract

Specially Written tor "The Post" by "Approac.. Bid"

Failure on the part of a defender,to realise the significance of his partner's "high-low" signal during the play of the following hand was responsible for the declarer making a contract which otherwise must have been defeated. •"•j 8.3. 4.Q.7.6: Jf, A^9.5.5,4.2. * 10.9.3.2. —K^tET-l * K-JB-4----m A.Q.2. tj " ■ S '-#-10.9.7.4. + 10.4.3.2. g X ♦ A- 9- 8Jf, G. 3. { South. ( Jf, 10.7. A.6.5. m K.J.6.5. f0.5. * K.Q.J. * South, dealer, North-South, vulnerable. South opened the bidding with one no-trump, North raised to two, and South rebid with three ho-trumps. This rebid by South with only 4 honourtricks Is justifiable under the Culbertson system, which allows the opening bidder to "bid three no-trumps even with only slightly more'than 4 hon-our-tricks, provided they are distributed in four suits; with 4_* honour-tricks, or 4 fat honour-tricks, they may be distributed in only three suits." Souths hand contains 4 honour-tricks, distributed over the four suits with a,well-pad-ded hand. West led the spade two, North put up dummy's Queen (the only chance of making it being that West's lead was from the King) and Souths Ace won the trick. On an examination of the two hands, South saw that the only hope of making his contract was. to lead his opponents to think that he required to make an entry of the Queen of diamonds in dummy in order to play out'the club suit. If he could persuade the player who held* the Ace. of diamonds to hold up for two rounds, his contract was safe with one spade, two diamond, and six club tricks. He therefore led the King and , Queen of clubs (West, be it rioted, playing the six and then the three) and switched to the diamond suit, leading his King. East ducked the trick, and When South followed with the. Jack, ducked again. . South, having thus secured the two neecssary tricks, led the Jack of clubs and overtook with dummy's Ace, making a contract which otherwise was impossible. . ■■•.,..

East had failed to.' recognise -West's "high-low" signal on the first two club leads, otherwise he would have known that South still, held the Jack, and Souths ruse in that case would have failed. As it was, he made game and rubber. ...

The "high-low" signal ; differs in meaning at no-trump and at trump contracts. At no-trumps -the "highlow" shows:-—

(1) An important honour, or (2) Four cards-or more in the suit, or . :

(3) No more-of the suit (in special cases). ;.

In the. last situation, as ihthe above hand, this signal is very: valuable in'

AN UNNOTICED SIGNAL

defence against no-trumps. ,The opportunity for using it occurs when there |is a long suit in the dummy hand with no outside entry. It is. imperative at j such times that the .player who. holds the stopper to this suit,' such as", the Ace, should be able to determine exact-j-ly. how long to hold up the' Ace. The | use of the "high-low" convention by |his partner,removes any doubt. AtnoI trump play.it operates as follows:— I If partner holds three cards in the | suit he must play the lowest; if only [two, he.must begin the-echo by playjing the higher first; if four, he must I echo by playing a card higher than his lowest. The "high-low" signal at trump contracts, when used in a plain suit, shows: — (1) Important honour, strength, or (2) No more of the suit, or (3) Simply a desire' that partner should hot shift to another suit. There is still another position ia which the "high-low" signal is used. When a defending player plays high and then low to any two leads of the trump suit, he signals to his partner one of two things: either a possible ruff, or trump length ; and hence 3 desire to force the declarer's trumps* In any case, he holds another trump. The following is an important corollary to the "high-low" signal in the trump suit. It applies to cases in which a player ruffs one or more tricks:— "When holding only? two trumps, ruff the first time with your lower trump; when holding three or more trumps, ruff the first time with a trump which is not your lowest." The knowledge that his partner held two trumps, and no more, was of the greatest value to' East in the following hand from Culbertson's ' "Red Book." The contract was four spades by South, doubled by East. 4 A.5.3. .'.-' m 7.5. 4. X.10.9.8. Jf, J. 10.4.2. 4 7-2- I—Sortb. -V 4 6.5.4. m A.Q.J.10.4.2. . 3 :"•' 8. ..* 9-8-s----42. £ « ♦ A-7-«-^ Jf, 8.7.5.3. [ Soutn. 1 Jf, A.K.Q 4 k7q.j.i0.9. •. -X . . $ X.6. " .■'■'* 4 Q.J.5.3. •? .._■ ■*.■.:.'■■;_ West led the two* of diamonds,* and East won with the "Ace. A .diamond return was ruff ed by West with the two of trumps. West-led a club, and East, on winning the trick with the Queen, returned " another diamond, which West ruffed with the seven. ; A second ; club was led, but when East took the-trick he knew definitely that it: was useless to play another diamond, as West had clearly shown that he originally held only two trUmps. E«_st therefore led a heart through the.declarer up *to West's r Ace-Queen, and South was- set four tricks. Had East returned another diamond hot knowing whether or not his, partner, held another trump,. South., could ■haye. estab* lished dummy's Jack of clubs, and di*> - carded on it a losing heart.,: