Chapter 2
It must not be understood, however, that the ability to give accurate information comprises the entire skill of the bidder. It is most important that he possess the judgment which enables him to force the adversary into dangerous waters without getting beyond his own depth.
It is no excuse for a player who has led his partner on to their mutual destruction to murmur, "I could have made my bid." An early bid being allowed to become the final declaration is exceptional. Whether or not it could be made is, therefore, immaterial, but the result it may produce is vital.
In club circles the story is told of the player of experience, who, after he had been deceived by his partner's declaration, said: "Partner, if you were reading the paper to a stranger, you would not vary a word of even an unimportant item. Why, then, should you, in describing your thirteen cards, deliberately misinform a trusting partner?"
Another exploded idea is that an advantage can be obtained by so-called "misleading" or "trap" bidding. There are some players who imagine that, by calling one Spade with an excellent hand, they can induce the adversaries to believe that the bidder possesses a trickless combination, and as a result, some ridiculous declaration will follow, which will give an opportunity for a profitable double. Experience has shown that in practice this idea does not produce satisfactory results. Adversaries will not bid to a point where they are apt to be doubled, except in the face of competition. When the Dealer has called one Spade, his partner, unless he hold very strong cards, will not materially elevate the declaration. If both partners have strength, it is not probable that the adversaries can do much bidding, so that it is only in the unusual case, and against the inexperienced and unskilled, that such a scheme is apt to prove successful. On the other hand, it transfers the advantage of being the first to show strength and abuses the confidence of the partner. It is a tool which should be employed only by the Declarer of ripe experience, and he will limit its use to the unusual hand.
The bidder should remember that part of the finesse of the game, when partners vary considerably in their respective skill, is to so arrange the declaration that the stronger player is at the helm most of the time. A weak player with a strong partner should not jump with undue haste into a No-trump, Royal, or Heart declaration; but rather, wait for the partner, and then back up his call. The weak player should also hesitate before taking away his partner's bid, although of course, there are many situations which thoroughly justify it, regardless of the greatest difference in the skill of the players.
The objection to the game of Auction which makes it the subject of the most severe criticism is the possibility that improper information may be conveyed to the partner by the manner of making the bid.
After starting to bid, by using the word "one" or "two" there should never be any hesitation, as that tells the partner that there is more than one call under consideration. The same comment applies to hesitation when it is evident to the partner that it must be caused by a doubt whether or not to double, and the opportunity so to do still remains with him. An extended delay in passing or bidding one Spade also conveys an obvious suggestion. It goes without saying that no honorable partner would avail himself of such information. Being the unwilling recipient of it, however, places him in an awkward position, as he must cross-examine himself as to whether any questionable bid or double he contemplates is in any way encouraged by it. If he have even a scintilla of doubt, he must pass.
A few principles of bidding applicable to all conditions may be stated at the beginning of the consideration of the subject.
Adopt informatory and conservative methods.
A good player may bid higher than a poor one.
When your partner fails to assist your bid, do not count on him for more strength than a Dealer who has bid one Spade.
Any overbid of an adversary shows strength; an overbid of a partner who has declared No-trump may show weakness.
Overbidding a partner who has declared Royals or Hearts shows weakness in his suit.
Being without a suit, or holding a singleton, is an element of strength for a Trump declaration; of weakness for a No-trumper.
When, if you do not bid, the adversary will be left in with a declaration with which he cannot make game, do not take him out unless you expect to score game with your declaration.
Do not, by reckless bidding, make the loss of one rubber equal the usual value of two.
With a love score, it requires three tricks in No-trumps, four in Royals or Hearts, and five in Diamonds or Clubs, to make game. It is an exceptional hand in which the Declarer does not lose more than two tricks. Diamonds and Clubs are, therefore, rarely played in preference to one of the three declarations of higher value, which are spoken of as "game-going" declarations.
There is very little declaring to the score in Auction, as the majority of deals in which the contract is fulfilled score game, so that most of the time the score is love. In a certain percentage of cases, however, there is a score, and it affects the bidding to the following extent:--
If it be 2 or more, Diamonds should be treated as Royals or Hearts would be at love; if it be 6 or more, Clubs should be similarly treated.
If it be 3 or more, Royals, with a holding of five or more, should be bid in preference to No-trump, even with all the suits stopped, and if it be 6 or more, Hearts should be similarly treated.
When the score reaches a higher figure, such as 16, for example, holding five Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades, suit bids should be given the preference over No-trumpers.
The reason is plain. The winning of the game is the object of the bidder; when that is in sight with a suit declaration, No-trump should not be risked unless in the higher declaration the fulfilment of the contract be equally sure.
The establishment of an adverse suit is the rock which sinks many a No-trumper. There is little chance of this with a suit declaration. Therefore, especially when it does not require any more tricks to go game, the suit should be selected, if the No-trump present any element of danger.
The state of the score never justifies an original bid which would not be conventional at love. In other words, while being the possessor of a score may make it wise for a bidder to select a suit instead of a No-trump, it never justifies his calling a suit in which he has not both the length and strength requisite for a declaration with a love score.
Bidding by the different hands is so varied in its character that each must be considered as practically a separate subject, and they will, therefore, be taken up _seriatim_. In all cases where the score is not especially mentioned, it should be understood that neither side is supposed to have scored.
II
ORIGINAL DECLARATIONS BY THE DEALER
The Dealer, in making the initial declaration, obtains a valuable strategic position whenever his hand justifies an offensive bid (_i.e._, anything but one Spade); but when he is compelled to assume the defensive, this advantage passes to his opponents. By any declaration which shows strength, he materially aids his partner and places difficulties in the path of his adversaries. A No-trump is naturally his most advantageous opening.
There are many hands in which the strength is so evenly divided that the advantage of playing the Dummy enables the player who "gets to the No-trump first" to make good his declaration, and frequently, in such equally balanced hands, one No-trump is the only bid that can be made. One No-trump eliminates all adverse calls of one, and sometimes when the strength of the opponents is considerable, but divided, results in shutting out a productive declaration. The Dealer, therefore, whenever his hand warrants it, should grasp his good fortune and declare his strength.
He should not, however, rashly assume the offensive. There is no way in which he can more thoroughly deceive his partner, create greater havoc with the bidding of the hand and cast deeper distrust upon his future declarations than by using the keynote bid to announce strength which his hand does not contain.
He must thoroughly understand the conventional declarations, and when in doubt should bid one Spade, as the damage which is apt to result from an overestimation by his partner of his winning cards is much greater than any benefit gained by starting the attack.
THE BID OF ONE NO-TRUMP
The Dealer is justified in basing his declaration upon the assumption that his partner has one-third of the high cards not in his own hand. He may, therefore, _bid one No-trump with any holding better than the average_ whenever he has
(_a_) Four suits stopped.
(_b_) Three suits stopped and his hand contains an Ace.
(_c_) Three King suits, all of which contain in addition either Queen or Knave.
(_d_) A solid five-card Club or Diamond suit and another Ace.
The first question to determine is what, from the standpoint of the Declarer, constitutes a guarded or stopped suit.
That an Ace comes under that head is self-evident.
So also must a King, if accompanied by one small, because the lead comes up to the Declarer, and the King must either be able to win the trick or be made good.
A Queen and one other manifestly will not stop a suit, and a Queen and two others is not apt to do so unless the leader hold both Ace and King. Queen and three others is, however, comparatively safe, and Queen, Knave, and one other is a most satisfactory guard.
Knave, Ten, and two others surely stops a suit, but Knave and three small is about as unreliable as Queen and two small. It, therefore, becomes evident that the Dealer, to count a suit as stopped, must have in it one of the following holdings:--
Ace. King and one other. Queen and three others. Queen, Knave, and one other. Knave and four others. Knave, Ten, and two others.
Some experts, with three suits stopped, bid No-trump with exactly an average hand, but experience has shown that this is advisable only when supported by exceptional skill, and cannot be recommended to most players. The average holding of high cards is one Ace, one King, one Queen, and one Knave. From the average standpoint it is immaterial whether they are all in one suit or divided. Any hand containing a face card or Ace above this average is a No-trumper, whenever it complies with the other above-mentioned requirements. When the average is exceeded by holding two Aces, instead of an Ace and King, a No-trump should be called, but two Kings, instead of a King and Queen, or even a King and Knave, is a very slight margin, and the declaration is doubtful for any but the most expert. A hand with two Queens instead of one Queen and one Knave, while technically above the average, cannot be so considered when viewed from a trick-taking standpoint, and does not warrant a No-trump call.
In bidding No-trump with three guarded suits, it does not matter which is unprotected. For example, the minimum strength of a No-trumper composed of one face card more than the average is an Ace in one suit; King, Knave, in another; and Queen, Knave, in a third. This hand would be a No-trumper, regardless of whether the suit void of strength happened to be Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, or Spades.
The above-described method of determining when the hand sizes up to the No-trump standard is generally known as the "average system," and has been found more simple and much safer than any of the other tests suggested. It avoids the necessity of taking the Ten into consideration, and does not involve the problems in mental arithmetic which become necessary when each honor is valued at a certain figure and a total fixed as requisite for a No-trump bid.
The theory upon which a player with possibly only three tricks declares to take seven, is that a hand containing three sure tricks, benefited by the advantage derived from having twenty-six cards played in unison, is apt to produce one more; and until the Dummy refuse to help, he may be figured on for average assistance. The Dealer is expecting to take four tricks with his own hand, and if the Dummy take three (one-third of the remaining nine), he will fulfil his contract. Even if the Dummy fail to render the amount of aid the doctrine of chances makes probable, the declaration is not likely to prove disastrous, as one No-trump is rarely doubled.
It is also conventional to declare one No-trump with a five-card or longer Club or Diamond suit,[2] headed by Ace, King, Queen, and one other Ace. This is the only hand containing strength in but two suits with which a No-trump should be called.
[2] With a similar suit in either Spades or Hearts, Royals or Hearts should be the bid.
As a rule a combination of high cards massed into two suits does not produce a No-trumper, although the same cards, divided into three suits, may do so. For example, a hand containing Ace, Queen, Knave, in one suit; King, Queen, Knave, in another, and the two remaining suits unguarded, should not be bid No-trump, although the high cards are stronger than the example given above with strength in three suits.
Admitting all the advantage of the original No-trump, even the boldest bidders do not consider it a sound declaration with two defenseless suits, unless one of the strong suits be established and the other headed by an Ace. The reason for this is easily understood. When the adversaries have a long suit of which they have all the high cards, the chances are that it will be opened; but if not, it will soon be found unless the Declarer can at once run a suit of considerable length. When a suit is established by the adversaries, the Declarer is put in an embarrassing position, and would probably have been better off playing a Trump declaration. It is a reasonable risk to trust the partner to stop one suit, but it is being much too sanguine to expect him to protect two. Should he fail to have either stopped, the Declarer's loss is so heavy that only with a long and apparently established suit and an additional Ace is the risk justified. It is realized that the case cited, namely, Ace, King, Queen, and two others, may not prove to be an established (or solid, as it is often called) suit. If however, the division be at all even, as it is in the vast majority of cases, the suit can be run, and it is cited as the minimum holding which may be treated as established.
With the present value of Clubs and Diamonds, either suit presents an effective original declaration. There is, therefore, much less excuse than formerly for a reckless No-trump bid, based upon five or six Club or Diamond tricks and one other suit stopped. When, however, an Ace of another suit accompanies the unusual Club or Diamond strength, the advantage of being the first to bid No-trump makes the chance worth taking.
The hands above cited as containing the minimum strength to warrant the call are all what are known as "weak No-trumpers." This kind of bidding may not be conservative, but experience has shown it to be effective as long as it is kept within the specified limits. A No-trump must, however, justify the partner in acting upon the assumption that the bidder has at least the stipulated strength, and it merely courts disaster to venture such a declaration with less than the conventional holding.
A few examples may possibly make the above somewhat more clear, as by that means the various "minimum-strength" or "border-line" No-trumpers, and also hands which fall just below the mark, can be accurately shown. It will be understood that an effort is made to give the _weakest_ hands which justify the No-trump declaration, and also the hands which fall short by the smallest possible margin. In other words, the hands which puzzle the Declarer. With greater strength or greater weakness the correct bid is plainly indicated.
The suits are numbered, not designated by their respective names, in order to emphasize that it does not matter where the weakness is located.
HANDS IN WHICH THE NO-TRUMP DECLARATION IS DOUBTFUL
Suit 1 King, Knave, X Does not contain an Ace, but is " 2 King, X, X above the average and has four " 3 Queen, Knave, X suits stopped. It is a No-trump " 4 Knave, Ten, X, X bid.
Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X Has an Ace, three suits stopped, " 2 X, X, X and a Knave over the average. It " 3 King, X, X, X is a No-trump bid. " 4 Queen, Knave, X
Suit 1 Ace, Queen, X Has an Ace and two face cards " 2 King, Queen, Knave more than the average, but, not " 3 X, X, X, X having three suits stopped, is " 4 Knave, X, X _not_ a No-trump bid.
Suit 1 King, Queen, X Has three suits stopped, but is " 2 King, Knave, X, X without an Ace, and is one King " 3 Queen, Knave, X short of three King suits all with " 4 X, X, X another face card. It is _not_ a No-trump bid.
Suit 1 King, Knave, X Has three King-Queen, or " 2 King, Queen, X King-Knave suits. It is a No-trump " 3 King, Knave, X bid. " 4 X, X, X, X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X Has three suits stopped and is " 2 Ace, X, X, X above the average. It is a No-trump " 3 Queen, Knave, X bid. " 4 X, X, X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X This is the border-line hand " 2 King, X, X mentioned above. It may be a " 3 X, X, X, X No-trump bid for an expert, but " 4 King, Knave, X the moderate player is hardly justified in risking it. The presence of one or two Tens would add materially to the strength of this hand and make it a No-trump.
Suit 1 Ace, X, X, X Only above the average to the " 2 King, Queen, X extent of a Queen in place of " 3 Queen, X, X, X a Knave. No-trump is not advised " 4 X, X unless Declarer is confident he can outplay his adversaries.
Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X An average hand. With this holding " 2 King, X, X only an expert is justified in " 3 Queen, X, X, X bidding No-trump. " 4 X, X, X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X Below the average, and, therefore, " 2 King, X, X only "one Spade" should be bid. " 3 Queen, X, X, X " 4 X, X, X
Clubs } Has the weakest "solid" suit or } Ace, King, Queen, X, X that with one other Ace warrants Diamonds } a No-trump bid. Suit 2 Ace, X, X " 3 X, X, X " 4 X, X
Clubs } Ace, King, Knave, X, X Absence of Queen in one case, and or } or of King in the other, keeps the Diamonds } Ace, Queen, Knave, X, X suit from being established. Even } the presence of the additional Suit 2 Ace, Queen, X Queen in Suit 2 does not make this " 3 X, X, X a No-trumper. " 4 X, X
Clubs } Absence of additional Ace makes or } Ace, King, Queen, X, X a No-trump inadvisable. Diamonds } Suit 2 King, Queen, X " 3 X, X, X " 4 X, X
It is realized that in the last three cases cited the margin is unusually close; the last one, should the partner happen to have either Suit 3 or 4 stopped, and the Ace and some length of Suit 2, would be very much stronger than the example justifying the bid. It is also true that a fortunate drop of the King or Queen of the long suit, with a little help from the partner, would make the next to the last the strongest of the three. It is idle, however, to speculate on what the partner may have. In such close cases it is most important to invariably follow some fixed rule. The player who guesses each time may always be wrong, while the player who sticks to the sound bid is sure to be right most of the time. Experience has shown that, when only two suits are stopped, it is not wise to bid No-trump without both an Ace and a solid suit, and experience is the best teacher.
WHEN TO BID TWO NO-TRUMPS
An original bid of more than one No-trump is rarely advisable, as it is important that the partner be given the option of bidding two of a suit. With great strength such a call should never be made, as in that case there is no good reason for attempting to shut out the adversary. The only character of hand which justifies starting with two No-trumps is the rare combination in which a long, solid suit of six or seven Clubs or Diamonds is held, accompanied by an Ace or guarded King in at least two of the remaining suits, the idea being to shut out adverse Royals or Hearts.
Some players believe in bidding two No-trumps with "every Ace and not a face," but that sort of an effort to "steal" the 100 is not justified as the partner's hand may make a game, which could not be won at No-trumps, obtainable in a suit declaration. A game with the incidental score is worth much more than "one hundred Aces" and only two odd tricks, or perchance an unfilled contract. It is also important that the bid be limited to the one case mentioned, as in that way it gives the most accurate information.
EXCEPTION TO THE NO-TRUMP RULE
There is one important exception to most of the No-trump bids above described, and that is when the hand, which otherwise would be a No-trumper, contains as its strong suit five or more Spades or Hearts. It takes only one more Royal or Heart than it does No-trump to win the game, and with a suit unguarded, it is far safer and wiser, with such a holding, to bid the Heart or Royal than the No-trump. For example, with Ace, King, Knave, and two small Clubs; King, Queen, Knave, and one Diamond; Queen, Knave, and one Heart; and one Spade, the bid would unquestionably be No-trump. If, however, the Club and Spade holding be transposed, a Royal should be declared. When there is a score which places the Club or Diamond within four tricks of game, these suits become as valuable as the Heart or Royal, with the score at love, and should be treated accordingly.
The Declarer should bear in mind that as the game is the desideratum, the surest, not the most glorious or enjoyable, route of reaching it should be chosen. When No-trump is declared with a hand containing a defenceless suit, there is a grave chance that the adversaries may save game by making five tricks in that suit before the Declarer can obtain the lead. With five or more strong cards of a suit and two other suits stopped, four tricks are more probable with the suit declaration than three with No-trump, but three with the No-trump are more likely than five with the suit. It, therefore, depends upon which suit be held whether it or No-trump should be bid. The inclination which many players have for a No-trump bid should be firmly curbed, when the holding is of the character mentioned and the strength is in Spades or Hearts.