BIDDING IN BRIDGE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 238, 24 May 1928, Page 2

BIDDING IN BRIDGE.

(By “ Dummy.”) Beginners should remember that a first bid gives a partner reliable information. Dalton says : “ If the dealer makes a call at all ft must be an independent call on the strength of his own hand, and that call should be one on which he is prepared to play the hand with a reasonable expectation of winning the odd trick at least against an ordinary placing of the cards. He must not make a suit call without high cards in the suit.” When you make a bid of one trick in a suit you tell your partner that you expect to win the odd trick on that call, and that you have two sure tricks in your hand, one of which at least is in the declared suit. The dealer is not obliged to make a call unless he wishes to do so, for, although with a good hand and a chance of winning the game he should strike for it boldly and at once, he should never declare a suit simply for the sake of saying something. There is one pitfall which begin-

ners may well beware of, and that is calling from the king-knave of a suit, which has been responsible for more lost hands than any other declaration. It is curious how often the player on the left holds the ace and queen. This call, however, is allowable when not an original bid, as subsequent bids are sometimes made simply with the object of forcing the opponents up or to tell a partner what suit to lead. Such a bid is not to be relied on to the same extent as an original call and should be regarded with greater caution by the bidder’s partner. The position is different in an original no-trump bid. When what is known as the “ dealer’s no-trump ” is called it often means merely that he has three suits protected, and the fact that it is becoming practically universal for a partner holding five spades or hearts to call two of either of these suits over a no-trump gives the dealer more confidence in making his first bid. Nothing but absolute weakness, however, is a sufficient reason for calling two diamonds or two clubs. In either case Miss Irwin advises, “ When called out, stay out.”