Part 6

It is customary holding the ace and jack with the king or queen in dummy to finesse the jack third in hand. B’s play of ace would, therefore, deny the jack, which is marked with the dealer. Avoid continuing the suit.

K♠ 6♠ 4♠ x-------x | Y | Q♠ 7♠ 5♠ [3♠] | A B | 10♠ | Z | x-------x 8♠

As the dealer does not take the ten, the ace and jack are presumably in B’s hand. B’s play of ten denies the nine, which should be placed with the dealer.

6♠ 4♠ 2♠ x-------x | Y | J♠ 8♠ 7♠ [5♠] | A B | A♠ K♠ | Z | x-------x

B plays ace to the first trick, and returns the king; this indicates no more cards in the suit, and marks the queen in the dealer’s hand.

LEADING UP TO DUMMY

With dummy on your right, you should invariably lead up to the weak suit. This is especially important when you hold no high cards in the suit, for in this case the strength lies between your partner and the dealer. By leading through the dealer’s hand you give your partner the advantage of position; otherwise he may be forced to lead up to the dealer’s strength.

In leading up to weakness, the general rule of leading the highest card of a sequence should be followed. It is often good play, when dummy holds no honour in the suit, to lead a card higher than dummy’s best. This permits your partner, if the lead is not covered, to pass the trick.

If dummy’s weakness is in the trump suit, your best play will often be to lead trumps through the dealer’s strong hand, rather than to lead up to the high cards in dummy. If you hold a guarded king and dummy a guarded queen, do not be tempted to lead up to this honour.

It would be obviously wrong to lead up to a king if you hold the ace. You must wait until this suit is led by the adversary or your partner. Do not lead up to an ace in dummy if you hold the king. You are reasonably sure to make a trick with this card if you wait until the suit is led by the dealer or your partner. If you hold a sequence headed by the queen or jack, little or no objection can be raised to your leading up to an ace or king, and on each occasion the highest card of the sequence should be led.

Should you lead a low card up to dummy’s strong suit, your lead would indicate a singleton and a desire to “ruff.”

THE ECHO

In Whist the play to a lead of a high and then a lower card is a signal for a lead of trumps, and is necessarily an indication of strength in trumps.

In Bridge this convention is used to show control of the third round of the suit led. Some players use this echo or signal to show that they can trump the third round of the suit, while with others it implies control of the third round either with the high card or by a “ruff.”

This signal should not be used except on your partner’s lead of king, as otherwise it would give information to the dealer. To use it on the adversary’s lead would help the dealer to make successful finesses, and to mark the distribution of the suits. Be careful when you use this signal not to echo with an honour. If you hold Q x, J x, 10 x, do not play the honour to the first trick; not only is your partner apt to think you have no more of the suit, but these honours are too valuable to throw away.

FORCING

To force is to make a player trump. This will, of course, reduce his trump strength and weaken his hand. It is as a rule good play to force the adversary’s strong trump hand. It will often prevent his exhausting the trumps, and hinder his bringing in an established suit.

The beginner hesitates to force the strong trump hand. He feels that he is wasting a high card and allowing the adversary to make a small trump, not realising that no card of this suit can make, unless the trumps are exhausted.

If no force be given to the strong hand, it is, ordinarily, an easy matter for the dealer to exhaust trumps and make a suit; unless there is unusual length in trumps, judicious forcing will do more than anything else to break down a strong trump hand.

Do not lead a suit with the intention of forcing the strong hand unless you hold the commanding card or can mark this card with your partner; you may give the dealer an opportunity to win the trick and to discard a worthless card.

You should hesitate to force when by doing so you establish the remaining cards of the suit for your opponent.

You should not attempt to force the strong hand when there is an established suit against you, particularly when it can be inferred that the dealer has all the high cards in the trump suit. At this time, make what you can in the remaining suit before you give up the lead.

It is wrong to force the weak hand. You lose one of your high cards, and the maker’s trumps are still intact. Do not continue a suit when it is shown that the weak hand can “ruff.”

In playing against the make, if you infer that your partner is weak in trumps and also short in a side suit, it is usually advisable to allow him to make small trumps by forcing him. This should always be done when a short suit has been led by your partner. His lead practically asks for the “ruff.”

If, however, your partner has doubled, be more careful about forcing him. By reducing his trump strength you may severely injure his hand.

It is bad play to lead a suit that both the dealer and the dummy can trump. It allows the dealer to trump in one hand and to discard a worthless card in the other.

RETURNING PARTNER’S LEAD

Ordinarily it is not possible to establish a suit against the dealer’s strong trump hand, and this does away with the usual argument in favour of returning your partner’s original lead. On the contrary, it is probably the last thing that should be done. Your play is to make any high cards you may hold, and then to search for a weak suit in the dummy hand. If you lead up to this weakness, the dealer cannot place the strength in the suit, and your partner is in a very good position to win a trick cheaply.

After making your high cards, should there be no weak suit in dummy to lead up to, return your partner’s lead.

SECOND-HAND PLAY

When opposed to the dealer the question of correct second-hand play is relative to your position at the table. That is whether you play before the dummy or before the dealer. In other words, whether the dummy is at your left or whether the dealer is at your left.

If you will try to infer why the dealer is leading that suit, it will assist you to decide on the correct second-hand play. It is, of course, reasonable to suppose that he has some strength in the suit. What this strength may be you must judge from the cards that you hold and those that you see on the table.

WHEN YOU PLAY BEFORE THE DUMMY

It is evident that when dummy is weak the second-hand play is greatly simplified. You either play higher than dummy’s best, or pass the trick to your partner. Should dummy hold strength or a high card in the suit, it is usually better to play higher than any card dummy holds. For instance, if you hold K x x, with the queen and others on the table, your second-hand play would be the king; otherwise the queen in dummy may win the trick. In this position, however, there are times when a low card should be played. For instance, dummy holds K with others, and you hold A J x; the second-hand play is low; for should the adversary take the trick with the king and return the same suit you win two tricks instead of one. If you hold ace and one or two small cards with king and jack in dummy, the second-hand play should be a low card. Should the dealer finesse the jack, your partner may win the trick.

Should dummy hold over you in a position to overtake any card you may play, unless you hold two honours in sequence, always play your lowest card. For instance, when you hold K J x, and dummy holds A Q x, it is useless to play any card but the lowest. Dummy is sure to win two tricks in the suit.

If you hold K Q x with A J x in dummy, your two honours are in sequence and the lower honour should be played.

Should you hold A Q x with K J x in dummy, the ace is the best second-hand play. If a low card be played, the dealer, by finessing the jack, can place the ace and the queen in your hand, and of course he will not continue the suit; while if the ace is played, the queen, not being so clearly marked, may win the third round.

Usually cover an honour with an honour even though you know that your high card will be lost. Do so whenever you hold a fourchette; whenever you hold the ten of the same suit, which you may eventually make good; or whenever, by covering, you can reasonably hope to make a card good in partner’s hand. It is not, however, advisable to cover a queen led holding K x x x unless one of the small cards be a nine or better; the adversary will find it difficult to catch a king that is three times protected. On the other hand, a king that is once or even twice guarded can be easily captured, and for that reason, and with the object of promoting a card in your partner’s hand, it is usually good play to cover the lead of a jack or queen.

Do not give the dealer an indication of the cards that you hold by hesitating in your play. Decide on and play a card quickly. If there is a doubt as to your play, play your lowest, remembering that the dealer must guess the position of missing honours.

WHEN YOU PLAY BEFORE THE DEALER

When the dummy is weak and you play before the dealer, it is with the assurance that the missing strength in the suit is over you. This strength may be held by the dealer or by your partner. As he is leading the suit, the chances are that the balance of strength is with the dealer; therefore, unless you know that you can win the trick, do not play a high card.

With ace and others in a suit, if you do not play the ace second in hand, the dealer may win the trick and discard his worthless cards in that suit. The second-hand play of an ace is particularly necessary later in the hand, and when the trumps are against you.

When you play before the dealer follow the same general rules as to covering an honour, and as to playing the lower of two honours in sequence. If dummy holds an ace and others of a suit, and you hold K J x play the king second hand. With small cards of a suit in dummy and ace queen and others in your own hand, the ace should be played second in hand.

INFERENCES

There is no subject in Whist or Bridge so interesting as that of inferences. Each card that is played carries with it some information that will often render valuable aid to the play of the hand.

To be able to read the cards correctly, and to draw the proper inferences, requires not only experience, but a certain amount of inherent card genius. The beginner marvels at the amount of information obtained by the expert, wondering how it can possibly be secured. To the average person who sits down to watch a game of Bridge there is nothing more demoralising than to see how readily the good player finds out the location of most of the high cards, and, in many cases, even the distribution of the various suits.

Strange as it may seem, writers on Bridge and Whist have, as a rule, devoted little space to this almost inexhaustible subject. A good-sized book could be written entirely on inferences; and let no one be discouraged at his lack of skill in this direction, for, even among the good players, errors are very common. The best Bridge players, however, are undoubtedly those who can draw inferences quickly and correctly.

THE VALUE OF INFORMATION

When playing against the dealer, give your partner all possible information. Any deception or play of false cards, any irregular lead that is not conventional, will often react to the benefit of the dealer.

Information may be given by leading correctly, by taking a trick as cheaply as possible, by discarding properly, by correct second-hand play, and by returning or not returning your partner’s lead.

At times the information that you give your partner may benefit the dealer by enabling him to mark the distribution of a suit, but more often is it of greater value to your partner. The dealer knows from the start the exact cards that are held against him; while your partner needs all the information you can give to combine with you in defending the dealer’s attack.

There are players who claim that you should not lead the fourth best card against a trump declaration, asserting that the information it gives may benefit the dealer, and that, should a card lower than the one led be played, your partner may think it a short lead. These players make the distinction of leading their lowest card against a declared trump, and the fourth best only against a “no-trump” declaration. This may appeal to those who neither count cards nor apply the useful Eleven Rule, but it does not satisfy the clever player, who wishes to count his partner’s suit, and to determine the exact combination of cards it contains.

If you deprive your partner of the information to which he is entitled, you rob Bridge of much of its intellectual pleasure. How can he know when the weak hand can “ruff” your suit? How can he tell whether a lead will force the strong hand or give it a discard? How can he count your hand or the dealer’s? How can he make correct end plays without knowing the position of the cards?

Without this help to partnership play you are in no position to combat the dealer. It is not difficult to win tricks from adversaries who neither give, nor make use of information.

HOW TO DRAW INFERENCES

Bridge is in this respect a much easier game than Whist. In Bridge the declaration and the exposed dummy hand, both absent in Whist, lend enormous assistance in locating the cards.

The beginner invariably becomes interested in his own cards, or those of the dummy, and plays without paying any particular attention to the card that is led or to the one that wins the first trick; in other words he knows nothing about the location of the cards in that particular suit, and his disregard of the fall of the cards continues throughout the entire hand.

A notice which nothing escapes, the ability to count cards, and absolute confidence in your partner’s play, is the _sine qua non_ of correct inferences.

Notice particularly the card that your partner leads; if it be a high card, understand what it indicates; and, if it be a low card, ascertain whether it is led from a long or a short suit.

Watch the cards as they fall, the adversaries’ as well as your partner’s, with unceasing attention, and make a mental interpretation of each play, with due allowance for the dealer’s false cards.

Don’t jump at a conclusion which masses the remaining cards of a suit, but count each suit accurately, with a certainty of the particular cards that must be held by the dealer and your partner.

Much of the intellectual enjoyment of Bridge is derived from playing your hand in conjunction with your partner’s. Credit your partner with playing for the common interest of the hands and place absolute confidence in the information he gives you. A trust in your partner’s Bridge ability will overcome many an obstacle in the way of drawing inferences.

INFERENCES REGARDING THE MAKE

In many hands the declaration and the cards in dummy will show you the dealer’s probable strength; and will also suggest the number of trumps held by your partner.

For instance, should you hold three trumps with three in the dummy, you cannot expect your partner to hold more than two trumps, allowing for at least five in the dealer’s hand.

Should you hold four trumps, with three on the table, your partner cannot have more than one; he may have none.

Although at times you can place high cards in the trump suit, it is difficult to locate honours in a “no-trump” hand. However, keeping the general rules for the make in view, you can form some idea of the adversary’s strength.

When the dealer has passed the make you can often infer from his subsequent play the absence of certain cards. For instance, should the dealer, having passed the make, play two aces, he probably does not hold much strength in the other two suits.

GENERAL INFERENCES

When your partner makes what appears to be an unusual play, do not condemn it, but ask yourself why the play was made. For instance, Why does your partner not lead through the strength in dummy? It may be that he has an honour in that suit, and is waiting for the adversary to lead.

Why does your partner lead up to dummy’s strong suit, instead of to the weak one? He is probably leading a singleton, or he may be very long in that suit and hopes that you will trump.

Why does the dealer not lead trumps? He may be trying to establish a “ruff” in the weak hand; he may be trying to arrange the lead so that his trumps can be led advantageously from the weak hand; or it may be because the balance of trump strength is against him.

Why does your partner abandon his long suit against a “no-trump” make? It is because his card of re-entry has been taken out, because the suit is hopelessly against him, or because he is waiting for you to lead through the dealer’s hand.

Why does your partner refuse to return your lead in a “no-trump” hand? It is either because he has no more of your suit, or because he considers that his suit is stronger.

Why does your partner immediately return your lead against a declared trump, instead of showing his own suit, or leading up to dummy’s weakness? He is evidently anxious to trump the third round of your suit.

With a “no-trump” hand, why does the dealer part with the ace of his adversaries’ suit on the first round? It is because he has that suit protected, because he can see enough tricks to win the game, or because he is afraid that some other suit may be made against him.

After you have led up to the weak suit in dummy, and your partner has taken the trick cheaply, why is it that he does not return that suit? He is evidently waiting for you to lead through the dealer’s hand.

If, against a “no-trump” declaration, you are in doubt as to the location of the winning card in your own suit, notice the card that your partner plays in returning your lead, and remember that he will return his highest card. This will enable you to tell what higher cards are in dealer’s hand.

If you lead a high card, against a “no-trump” make, notice the card that your partner plays to the trick. If he has four or more of that suit, he will not play his lowest.

If the dealer takes out the commanding trump, he is either trying to make you lead up to high cards in his hand, or some long suit is established against you. If it is for the latter reason, be cautious about forcing him. Make what you can in the remaining suit. It may be dangerous to lose the lead.

If the dealer continues to lead trumps after the trumps in the other hands are exhausted, you should be careful not to give information that will be of use to the dealer in locating successful finesses.

THE NON-DEALER’S PLAY OF A “NO-TRUMP” HAND

Usually lead from your longest suit, against a “no-trump” declaration, trusting that it will prove to be the weak spot in the maker’s hand, or that you may be able to take out any high cards held against you and eventually establish the suit. To make an established suit, it may be necessary to have a card of re-entry. Therefore, be careful not to lead aces and kings in order to see dummy. These cards should be reserved as re-entry cards, and will no doubt be found most useful later in the hand.

As leader infer from the fall of the cards, relying on your partner’s correct third-hand play, the position of the remaining cards of your long suit. Correct inferences will assist you to decide whether to continue or to abandon the suit. If you find the cards so placed that an advantageous lead of the suit must come from your partner, plan carefully how best to put him in the lead.

If you know that the adversary has two high cards of your long suit, especially when your card of re-entry has been taken out, abandon your suit, and endeavour to help your partner by leading the suit which you infer must be his. This may be your only chance to save the game.

If the dummy has a long suit, and no card of re-entry, do not be in a hurry to part with the commanding card of that suit. Wait until the suit is exhausted in the dealer’s hand, so that he cannot lead it to dummy. If, however, dummy has a sure card of re-entry there is little reason for holding up your high card. It is better play to take the first trick and hope that your partner holds a card that will stop the suit.

When a high card of dummy’s long suit is marked in your partner’s hand, it is well to take out dummy’s re-entry card before the suit is established.

Notice carefully your partner’s discards in order to determine his strong suit, as well as to be able to infer what high cards he is endeavouring to protect. This will help you to discard correctly. Avoid playing a selfish game, and do not feel indignant if your partner, instead of returning your lead, attempts to play for his own suit. His hand may fully justify the change of lead. By changing the lead he shows not only a good suit, but also a card of re-entry.

THE ORIGINAL LEAD

The long suit is the best opening lead against a “no-trump” declaration. While the declaration is, in itself, an indication of general strength, in the majority of makes by the dealer one suit is left to the dummy to protect, and your long suit may be the weak spot in the dealer’s hand.

The leads against a “no-trump” declaration differ from those that are in use against a trump declaration, for the reason that high cards cannot be ruffed. With great length or considerable strength in your long suit a high card should be led, but unless you can reasonably expect to catch all of the remaining cards, your partner should be given an opportunity to win the first trick in the suit.

If you hold no card of re-entry, except perhaps a high card in your own long suit, you should be careful not to take out of your partner’s hand the only card that he may have to return your lead, for if you have no card of re-entry, and your partner has none of your suit to return, your suit, even though established, is useless.

As unblocking is a very important feature of the play against a “no-trump” declaration, it is necessary that you show your partner from what combination of cards you are leading. The failure to unblock is largely due to a lack of confidence in partner’s lead.

Those who are not familiar with the correct leads at “no-trump” would do well to remember that the lead of a high card indicates three honours or seven cards in the suit.

Frequently in opening a hand you will have two suits of equal length to choose from. It is then advisable to keep the suit headed by the higher card, for re-entry. For instance, holding two suits, one headed by an ace and the other by the jack or queen, open the weaker of the two, saving the ace as re-entry. This principle is sound; in practice it may sometimes be found that your partner is strong in the suit you do not open. Nevertheless, this lead from the weaker of two suits, if consistently followed, will gain in the long run. If you hold a red and a black suit, of equal length, especially if the “no-trump” declaration has been made by the dummy, give the preference to the red suit, inferring that the dealer is weak in red cards.

When you are opening from a long weak suit, and especially when you hold no re-entry card, endeavour to inform your partner that your long suit is weak. Don’t encourage your partner to return your lead unless there is a fair chance to establish and make your suit. From each of the following combinations it is best to lead the highest card:

10 9 7 6 9 8 6 4 8 7 5 3