UNITS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 910, 1 March 1930, Page 28

UNITS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

The Play Of The Hand Against A Suit Declaratio am (Written for THE SUX bg "Caliban."-- Copyright In Kcw Zealand.) I DISCUSSED last week the offensive elements i. the leader’s scheme of attack, which, it will be remembered, are as follows: (1) quick tricks in the leader’s hand; (2) quick tricks in his partner’s hand; (3) length in the leader’s suit; (4) implied strength in his partner s hand in a suit held by Dummy; (5) singletons or Ace doubletons. I will now consider its possible defensive elements. I should classify these as follows: . - (1) Strength in the Trump suit. — This, obviously, is_ of tlic utmost value when playing against a suit declaration. A strong holding in Trumps, while ranking in itself as a defensive element, will often enable a much more formidable attack to be launched than would otherwiso be possible. Tor with four or more. Trumps one can reasonably attempt to estabish a long suit even if one does not command it, where with fewer Trumps it would be inadvisable to embark on so unpromising a line in preference, say, to making one’s quick tricks. . . . (2) High protected cards of dubious value m attack but likely to take tricks if led up to. —These are the elements in the leader’s hand which usually cause most perplexity—guarded Kings and Queens, King-Knave suits, and various other tenaces. The most difficult hands are those with only alternatives of this type from which to select one ’s lead. Perhaps most perplexing of all is the problem of the Ace, Queen tenace. Some players will on no account op a suit headed by Ace, Queen (unless, of course, they also hold the Knave); others, pooh-poohing this ultra-c,autious attitude, maintain that the lead is more often than not a promising one. The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. I do not myself open an Ace, Queen suit where I have an alternative lead which is not feeble in itself; but I would rather lead from an Ace, Queen, and take the chance of losing a possible trick, tkau throw away altogether the advantage of the initiative, which may be worth considerably more. (3) Doubletons. —I do not regard the doubleton (commonly, and not unfairly, characterised by the epithet “pernicious”) as an attacking element in the hand; there is nearly always some more satisfactory lead available. On the other hand, the doubleton has considerable defensive possibilities. To lead it will usually give away precisely what one is anxious not to advertise—that one is looking for an opportunity of making one’s small Trumps—and will induce, in consequence, the lead of Trumps by the declarer. But if one lies low with one’s doubleton, the declarer may stumble upon it unawares, and a valuable trick may be lost to him before he has realised his danger. (4) A quick trick or tricks in the Trump suit whrch can be used to defeat a threatened cross-ruff by the declarer. —This is a possibility which one should always be on the look-out for when one’s adversaries have called two or three suits and have contracted to make game. In such circumstances, what one is very frequently up against is a threatened cross-ruff, and it often happens that the only method of defeating it is to open the Trump suit oneself. In this connection the attenton of beginners may be drawn to a general principle —it hardly amounts to a rule —which is often overlooked: If the declarer declines to open the Trump suit, there is probably some good and sufficient reason. In such circumstances, one should ask oneself what that reasou is. One will probably find that he is threatening a cross-ruff, or some similar manoeuvre, and that, therefore, it will pay one to open the Trump suit oneself. It remains to add one or two general remarks. No clear-cut rules for the playing of every hand can be given, though iu my next (avid last) article dealing with this subject I will analyse the x j ° ss it>ilities of one or two typical ones. But I hope that what I have said will have served to suggest that there is more in even a mediocre-looking hand than is always dreamt of in the beginner’s philosophy. I would emphasise, also, that the right line of play depends, not only on the presence of various tactical elements in the hand, but on the combination of them. For example, as I have hinted above, a better than average holding in Trump? may convert a long suit, not commanded by the leader, into a valuable attacking instrument. Again, the use of the singleton should depend (though with many players it docs not) upon what else is in his hand. If one has strong Trumps, one dogs not want to waste them in casual ruffs, y