HINTS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 816, 9 November 1929, Page 28

HINTS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

“Third Player, Play High" (Written /or THU SUN by "Caliban."—Copyriylil in New Zealand.) iIIERK is no more certain sign of mediocrity at Bridge than subservience to a few imperfectly understood maxims, such as players of a well--1 known t-pe exhibit. They make the mistake of regarding such maxims as infallible, and of acting upon them slavishly, instead of relying, as they would be better advised to do, upon their, own skill and judgment. As a result, they are continually throwing away games which could easily be saved—to "the natural annoyance of their partners, while they themselves learn nothing in the process. It cannot be too often repeated that these maxims, which are responsible, in my opinion, for a great deaFof avoidable bad play, are merely generalisations, and that exceptional cases are always presenting themselves to which they do not apply. “Cover an honour with an honour”; “Never finesse against your partner”; “Third player, play high, ’ these, in their way, are excellent working rules. But it must be borne in mind that they are nothing more. It is important that one should know' them; it is important also that one should know when to ignore them. These remarks are prompted by two examples, which I have recently witnessed, of verv expensive blunders, for which in each case the same defence was set up: that “third player was expected to play high.” Well, so he is—if there is no good reason to the contrary! But how pathetic it is to see a generalisation of this kind regarded, not as one’s servant, but with the deference that the South Sea Islander accords to his favourite fetish. Let me set out the two hands in question as an Awful Warning to the reader; —■ Spades K x Hearts x x Diamonds A x x x Clubs A 10 x x x Spades x . ~ S l> ades Q* * * Hearts AKx x x A ' Heaits JlO x 1 Diamonds KJ x z j diamonds xx x Clubs J x x x 1 flubs x * Spades A J 10 x x x Hearts Q x Diamonds Q 10 x • Clubs K Q £xample I.—The Score was love all in the rubber game. Z dealt, and ailed One Spade; A. Two Hearts; Y, Two Spades; 3, Three Hearts (!); Z, Three Spades; A, Four Hearts; Y, Four Spades. All passed. B ! s call of Three Heaits was, of course, indefensible, but he followed it up with an error in play more costly than it would have proved to go down in Four Hearts doubled. A led out his King and Ace of Hearts and then, at Trick 3, his singleton Spade. 3 played the small Spade from Dummy, and it was then that B’s lapse occurred. He presented his adversaries with game and rubber by putting up the Queen. Inspection of the hands will show that, unless he does this, Y T Z can only make nine tricks; for B must make the Queen of Spades if be holds it up, and A must make either a. Club or a Diamond. (The hand, by the way, is an interesting one, and will repay detailed analysis.) B’s defence, as I have mentioned, was that “he thought it was his business, as third player, to put up his highest Spade. ” His failure to think out the position for himself cost his side 336 points. Spades J 6 4 Hearts Q 6 3 Diamonds 7 Clubs K Q J 9 8 5 Spade.. 5 2 . “ S P ades $ S y Hearis 10 9 S 4 Hearts K 7 2 A B Diamonds K J .10 5 2 Diamonds 5 4 3 Club? A 4 l " : Clubs 10 7 4 Spades A K 9 3 Hearts A .7 5 Diamonds A Q 9 6 * Clubs 6 4