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CATALOGUE FROM Bridge, Social or Golf H. & H. BLACKNELL Club with a card room. FARNBOROUGH, HANTS PHONE: 106 The first round to be held in the Club entering . for the CONDITIONS OF SALE AND SUPPLY. This perlodlcnl l.s sold subject to U1e following Contest before the 31st Jan., conditions, namely, that It shall not, without 1947, the winners qualifying to the written consent of the publlshe111 1l111t ~:iveu, he lent, resold, hired out or oU1erwlso play in a .week-end Congress dlsposcd of by way of Tmde except at the full retail price of 1/6; and that It shall not for the remaining rounds, such he lent, rcsol.~ 1 hired out or othenvlso disposed week-end to be organised by of In n muUUiotcd condition or In any un· authorised cover by way of Tmde ; or afllxed the . to or ll8 part of nor publication or ndvertlalng literary or J>lctorln matter whatsoever. BACK NUMBERS. Limited supplies are now available at the Publlsbera- prla e1 /0 eaaq post free. THE CONTRACT 'BRIDGE JOURNAL

Edited by M. HARRISON-GRAY

VOLUME I NuMBER 4 DECE:I

Regional Editors- Eire NoEL BYRNE North Eastern EWART KE.'IPSON Northern Ireland A. J. FLETCHER North Western 'A ConRESPO:SUENT' Scotland ALBERT BENJAMIN Yorkshire MRS. L. L. BEDFORD Wales . . w. H . R ICARDO London MRS. M . HARRISO~-GRAY

Technical Editor-GUY RAMSEY.

Competition Editor J. C. H . l\1Anx.

Commercial Manager- GonooN D . JoHNSTONE.

The JOURNAL is the pfficial organ of the English Bridge U nion.

Publishers- Phone..:...Glo.ucester 2281/z PRIESTLEY STUDIOS, LTD., COMMERCIAL ROAD, Gf.OUq:S~R • . •. • ~ ... l _. MSS. to Editorial Department-S, WATERLOO PLACE, LoNDON, S.\ V. l :; . ~ ... .' !.''_.· : ·,

._' ' '.1 t' •..

CONTENTS ... !: . ~. :_: :Page EDITORIAL . . 2 IN PuRSUIT OF SLA!Its- No. 1. By J. C. H. i\1/ar. ..: :j. THE TIME HAS CoME. By Guy Ramuy 8 CRiliiE AND P UNISHliiENT 10 PERSONALITY PAGE-NO. +-S. }. SIMON .12 SIMPLE SAFTEY PLAYS-No. 2. By Dr. Paul Stem .13 ANOTHER RunnER AT THE CLun. By S . J. Simon . . . . 15. THE LEAD IN . D I!FI!NCE- No. 2. By Geoffrey L. Butler 17. ONE SuiT HANDS. By B. H. Davies 19 THE TAKE-OUT DounLE- No. 2. By Eclmuml Phillips .. 21· FIRST THOUGHTS- No. +. By lai11 111acleocl 22 How GooD ARE You? •. 23 ORGANISATION- NO. 3. By Gorc/o11 D. Johnstone 24- THE NoRTHERN OUTLOOK. By Ewart Kempsoll -.. 26 AnouNo THE ColiiPETITIONS. By 111. Harriso11-Gray 28 NEws FROM EIRE. By Noel Byme .. 33 ~I!WS FROM NoRTHERN IRELAND. By .4 . J . Fletcher 34 ScoTTISH NoTES. By Albert Benjamin 35 \VELSH DniDGE NoTES. By IV. H. Ricardo 36. C Rosswono-No. +. By Carmel Skiclelsky ... 37 D ECEliiiJER ColiiPETITIO~. Set by J. C. H. 2\1arx : 38 ANSWERS TO OcronER Co!IIPETITION . . · 39 ANSWERS TO NOVE.'IIBEil CO!IIPETITION +1 I . -

Editorial

FTER three 1 months of couple of first class players and publication, 'during which note how every bid, whatever the the irregular delivery of the stress of the moment, is produced Joumal has been received with in a dead even tone of voice. good natu~ed toleran~e . coupled Observe the firm refusal to take with genume apprecratton, the advantage of any involuntary time has come to sit back and hesitation by the partner ; the review the situation. readiness to explain any conven­ In our first Editorial we gave a tional bid which may not be pledge to study the wishes of our thoroughly understood by the readers. Letters have poured in by opponents. r the hundred, praising, suggesting Ninety per cent. of the lesser fry and criticising. We are grateful who offend do so through sheer for (and sometimes pleasantly ignorance. Until the error of their surprised by !) the bouquets ; we ways is brought home, they will have adopted every practical continue in their impression that suggestion ; and we have closely these malpractices are all part of examined the brickbats. the game. Few people take them Only one item has come under seriously, for the simple reason general fire : the amount of space that against astute opponents they devoted to Regional News. And give away £!lOre than they gain. so this feature must be drastically We. have unhappy recollections curtailed. of the following incident: the We would like to play the game opponent on our right had opened with our provincial friends, who with One Heart, and with no have done so much for the opposition they proceeded to bid circulation of the Journal-we themselves into a contract of Four would like to see all their names in Hearts. Holding + A· K J ; print- but we must bow to the ~ Q J 10 9 7 5 ; 0 K 8 ; + J ft wishes of the majority. we decided that the time had co~e to double.· The opponent on our It is not without misgiving that left passed, and our partner we publish this month another of continued to gaze into space until Guy Ramsey's outspoken articles. she exclaimed" My lead?" "No',• Not because we differ in any way we replied, "its your bid." This with the views expressed by this was a well chosen remark on our famous journalist, but through part, for the lady, with a look. in fear that an impression may be our direction pregnant wtth created that the type of sharp 'meaning, burst forth with Five practice to which he refers is Clubs, on what turned out to be prevalent in modem contract. five to the Queen and a bust­ The fact is that the offenders b.ecause, as she afterwards are but microscopical drops in the explained,· we had given her a ocean of card players. Nowhere is direct hint that we wanted the ~he standard of ethics higher than do.uble taken out I m tournament ·play. 'Vatch a

2 Many .of our readers had the Trophy contests. Thanks to the opportumty of seeing the Czech efforts of the players who helped team in action last month, and to defeat Scotland, Northern Frantisek Joles and his men, the Ireland and Wales, the Inter­ first continental players to visit national Championship appeared this country since the Austrians to be firmly in our grasp. The came and conquered in 1937, soon young Irish team had different established themselves as firm views, and in the last 36 boards of favourites. With their film star last month's match at Southport looks and jovial demeanour, it was they proceeded to give the English hard to believe that three of them selectors their biggest jolt to-date. had languished in Geqnan Had not '\Vales gone down to concentration camps throughout Northern Ireland at Belfast during the war, one of them losing a leg the same week-end, England would through ill-treatment in captivity. have finished second in the The fourth member of the team, Championship table instead of Hanus Pressburger, well-known at emerging more or less clear-cut Lederer's before the war, served winners of the 1946 series. with the Czech army in Gt. Britain. In most countries the system of The Czechs enjoyed their bridge selection comes under heavy fire. and their stay over here. We hope Particularly does this apply to that these popular visitors will be England, and we have a notion followed by other foreign teams. that our well-worn policy of "giving everyone a go " will be drastically And so England- have once again revised as a result of the Irish muddled through in the Camrose bombshell.

Several readers have written in NORTH asking for double dummy problems. + AK95 The Joumal has been fortunate in r;:} AKJ97 securing the services of one of the 0 AJ2 greatest experts in this sphere of + 3 bridge. Mr. F. C. Bazett-Jones, VhsT EAST who has recently been released • J 10 7 3 from the Education Branch of the rv 42 rv o 10 8 6 R.A.F., has agreed to conduct a 0 9 7 53 0 Q 10 8 6 4 monthly series of articles, ·- + 642 + K Q 10 8 <:ommencing in the January issue, ·which should do much to improve SOUTH the card play of our readers. • Q8642 rv 53 In the meantime, in the column OK

3 In P.ursuit' of ·. $lams .

~y j. ~. H. Marx

HERE is nothing so dis­ heartening to a partnership T as having to register minus scores on a series of fine hands, to hold good cards which, often quite avoidably, have all " gone wrong." There is poor consolation in the thought that, following all these ask them to reflect how often their "rock-crushers," a cycle of bad choice of bid has been governed by hands will now be coming your fear of provoking partner into way and '"-ill free you from . this bidding a venturesome Six or, particular cause of exasperation. worse still, into risking ignominious You will probably lose heavily on failure in a quite unheroic Five. these bad hands and you will The task of compressing a bitterly resent having lost on ypur subject of such immense scope into good hands too. Makeable slams a series of short articles is therefore are said to occur about once in not easy, more particularly as twenty . hands, but " near-slams " differing methods of slam bidding crop up far more frequently, and are matters of acute controversy together they constitute no between leading authorities. These negligible proportion of the total. controversies are the essence of Slam bidding, in its most com­ almost all that has ever been prehensive sense, includes both written about bidding at Contract types, and repeated failure to Bridge and it is impossible to secure tolerable results with them ignore them here. I make no wi~l soon demoralise any partner­ pretence of impartiality, however, ship. in presenting them, nor of Slam bidding is, therefore not objectivity in discussing them. merely a fascinating, but a 'vital My own strongly held opinions, if phase of bidding. If slam bonuses you like, my prejudices and had be~n ~bsent ~rom the scoring obsessions, obtrude themselves table, It Js ccrtam that bidding inevitably. But before proceeding methods would have evolved, in to them, I must deal with one the course of Contract's eighteen question which is not controversial, years or so of life, towards far less the question, not of how to bid a complex forms than those of to-day. slam, but of when to bid it. There arc those who contend that The scoring table reveals that a slam bidding rarely wins or loses small slam, vulnerable or not, will a match, that it is no more than a gain, if it succeeds, a number of secondary factor in the state of a points roughly equal to the value player's balance sheet. I would of the game lost if it fails. It CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL therefore becomes a sound pro­ be less upset by mtssmg a slam position when. the odds for or which happens to be made in play against its success are even. You than by wasting a game on a slam must, however, be consistent in which fails. At least they can your policy. · You should either derive some satisfaction from the always bid your small slams on on the left hand side of the an e\·en chance, a simple score-pad. for instance, or never. Only in With the grand slam, success ·this way can you ensure that· you brings you in additional points to will be right as often as you are the extent of about half the value wrong. If you vacillate between of the game and small slam lost the two, you may always be wrong. through failure. You therefore But there is more to it than that. require odds of 2 to 1 on before A slam, which appears superficially even contemplating bidding it. to depend only on a finesse, may Eight trumps to the three top in fact have the odds weighted honours between the two hands quite heavily against it. Many and no other possible loser offers players consider themselves the almost these exact odds. If you victims of outrageous luck when, fear that some other obstacle, holding eight trumps to the three however trivial, may crop up, it is top honours between the two wiser to be content with six. In a hands; they encounter an opposing contract where you cannot afford trump distribution of 4-1 or S-0. to lose a single trick, there is no The actual frequency of the favour­ scope for end and elimination able 3-2 break is, however, no plays and little for deceptive tactics greater than 68 per cent. It will in the play of the hand. You have occur little more than twice as little to fall back on, if things prove often as those which will wreck difficult. your hopes. The two uncertain Having established the odds we factors of finesse . and trump require before contracting for a distribution in combination will slam, we come to the more formid­ reduce the odds to about 2 to 1 able task of measuring them at the against your small slam, then of card table. In essence it is the course a poor proposition. There same problem as in the bidding of may, nevertheless, be other factors, games, but in a much more such as the possibility of avoiding exacting form. For a variety of the finesse through elimination or reasons, we can afford to bid , which will improve games against the odds ; we have the odds. In this respect you must less to lose if we fail, there is more view your chances in the light of scope for manoeuvre in play, more your ability in dummy play or, if opportunity for the defence to he has to play the hand, that of blunder. For games we can get your partner, the skill in defence along quite nicely, if far from of the opponents and other perfectly, with a few crude tools. imponderables. All things For slams we need precision considered, my advice is not to instruments. It may be true to bid small slams which from the say that slam bidding is a mere bidding appear to be dependent extension of game bidding, but 'it on a finesse. Partners are apt to is not the whole truth. On the

5 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL other hand, the instruments must they hold, is qualified to sustain not be so complex and so specialised • that role. Their joint fortunes . that only skilled operatives, with sway uneasily between oscillating years of apprenticeship behind phases of self-constituted tyranny. them, can hope to utilise them This is not an entirely fanciful successfullv. Some sort of mean picture of what takes place at the for the i.rltelligent average player bridge table these days. A typical must be found. round of bidding between partners The mode of employment of using the Blackwood Convention these instruments is the main line is in effect a peremptory order by of cleavage between rival schools one of them on these lines : " You . of thought. One school will place will submit to me (sic) a. skeleton the power to be derived from their report on your holdings of Aces use almost exclusively in the hands and Kings, no more and no less. of one member of the partnership, On the basis of this information,· the other will distribute it more -I (sic) will then determine the equally between both members. policy to be pursued. In no The first school permits the circumstances will you · question assumption by one· partner of the i.visdom of my (sic) final dictatorial powers, whenever an decision or act on your own "emergency" arises through the initiative. I (sic) · am the. boss arrival of a slam or near-slam hand. The second permits tlie partnership to proceed on a more constrltative basis, each member contributing his quota of information and sharing in the ultimate decision as to the final contract. Tne one may be likened to the authoritarian state, the other to the liberal or democratic. In the liberal state, there must be some residue of authority or anarchy will ensue and in bridge there are occasion~ here." The facts may well be, when a player must assume the however, that the limited informa­ role of senior partner, a primus inter tion provided is quite insufficient pares. In the authoritarian for the making of any intelligent ultimately no vestige of libe~ decision ; the junior partner, now will survive and the powers of reduced to serfdom, may hold a the dictator become absolute. In suit, two singletons, phenom­ bridge, ~nfortuni\tely, it is not a enal suit distribution or what not, st?ble dtctatorship. Sometimes it of which his lord and master is '~•11 be one partner who fancies necessarily ignorant. But all this htmself as Fuhrer, at other times is of no consequence ; orders the other. There is no assurance must be obeyed. t~at either ?f · them, whether by This, however, is far from being vu:;t:ue of thetr personal abilities or an extreme case. Bridge totalitar- . by their circumstances of the ianism, pursued to its logical · moment, that is to say the cards conclusion, may be seen in the - 6 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL celebrated" Asking Bids," in which individual player to use it and to one partner responds like an have reasonable freedom to act on automaton to a series of arbitrary the conclusions to which its use questions. He has no greater has led him. This is not to advocate powers of independent volition so-called " natural " bidding, in than the salivating dogs in Pavlov's which pure an9. almost disembodied famous experiments on conditioned thought is the sole guide to the reflexes. His higher intellect has interpretation of any given bidding been subjugated entirely to the situation. There is too much scope involuntary reactions of his central for disagreement, indiscipline and nervous system to external stimuli. ultimately anarchy. It has all the Its philosophy also pervades the futility of any " Back to Nature" entire structure of such systems moveme!lt, forgetful, that the life as the Vienna and the Baron, of man in his natural state is where, in conformity with a "nasty, brutish and short." Rather pre-war definition of Fascism, it is necessary to formulate a body " eYerything which is not forbidden of Constitutional Law, that is to is compulsory." say a , wherein the I have digressed too far with rights, duties and obligations of this " ideological " and tempera- the individual are defined. Super­ mental approach to the subject imposed, may be erected certain and · have no space left in this Statutes, or bidding conventions, article for matters of more practical which may clarify the position in import. But there will be no doubt certain special cases, of which as to where my sympathies lie or slams are a large generic class. as to the spirit behind the proposals, Within these limitations, the which in subsequent articles I shall individual retains his liberty of recommend. Bridge is primarily a action and enjoys the fruits of his game of the intellect, and oppor- intellectual powers. tunity should be afforded to every (To be contiuued).

NEW BOOKS Reviewed by 1\!J. Harrison-Gray The British Museum were faced with a poser recently when Percy Gillespie, inventor, sought copyright for his unique" Gillie" Everlasting Bridge Pad and Slogger, which comprised four sheets of anodised and satinised aluminium with stainless steel ring binding ! Was it a " book" or not ? It was l It duly secured Copyright Registration and it is now aYailable for Bridge Clubs, Golf and Social Clubs, and all players of Contract or Auction. The Slogger, or tally, works for a table of si.x. Appropriate injunctions head each page, including one which will find fa Your with S. J. Simon-" Not all Partners are Palookas l " Elv Culbertson has undertaken to publish and exploit this undestruct­ iblc '' book" in the United States, and since it obviates all paper and litter and reduces further score-pad expenses to nil it should prove a godsend to busy Club Secretaries. Details of this interesting addition to bridge amenities appear on page v. B 7 The Time has

Come . • •

by Guy Ra"!sey

. J. SIMON refers 1n "Why Diamonds from 0 K J 7 + 2, and You Lose At Bridge " to the West now makes contract. The SInformatory Trance. But the Huddle was based on a singleton Informatory Trance with which I Spade. propose to deal below should T his is a variation of the Huddle rather figure in a volume entitled when you do N OT hold the Queen " Why Some Win At Bridge." and a Jack is led through you. ' Here is an example of what I There is another ·develop,ment mean by the Informatory Trance, of "Why Some Win At Bridge," called by that witty Yorkshire which might properly be called player, Robert Mercado, the " The Crisis Comment." A decade Informatory Non-Double: ago, Richard Lederer, in a Heart Dealer, East, and South passed, slam, held

' I CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL The Huddle and the Trance are have misled but was made with :inescapable at bridge, as at chess. no such intention, or-very­ They are inherent in the game. frequently- because there ts And casual comment is part of a difficulty in getting a fourth, .or social pastime. But a Huddle 'the offender has social or business intended deliberately to mislead is relations with his victims : for cheating ; a comment designed to any one of a I).umber of reasons, influence play is cheating ; and a nothing is done ..' .. save for an bid, otherwise inconceivable, made anonymous whisper that " So-and­ on the strength of .partner's so is very hot," the torridity being hesitation, is cheating. equivocal, possibly meaning good, So are "Asking Bids"- " One probably meaning sharp. Spade,?" "Two Hearts,?" "Three In tournament play, the remedy Clubs,?" "Three No-Trumps,?" is supposed to be a report to the "' Four Spades? "-with a question Tournament Director. But nothing happens. I look forward to one of two events:- A. The effective barring of the offenders whose crimes have been adequately substantiated. (1) by the National organ­ isations from all National Tournaments, and the " posting " of such barred players by name in the Co11tract Bridge Jounzal, as offenders mark in the voice. And the resigned who have been warned off tlie "No Bid," the resounding Turf are pilloried in the Racing " Double," the wavering raise, Calendar, and , the Two-Way sign-off. (2) by Club Committees These are manifestations of from Clubs-and the circular­ bridge the world over : . as much isation by the Club Secretary in Britain, where it is held of the barred player to the traditionally that The Game's The Secretaries of all other Clubs : Thing, as in lands where common preferably through' the Contract habit rules that Victory Is All. And they are as contemptible as Bridge Journal which would ensure the despatch and universal. Now : how to cope with the reception of su~h messages or players who practise them ? B. The introduction, by the In , a player of amendment of the laws of the this type is supposed to be game, of what S. J. Simon ostracised. He seldom is- at any brilliantly 'named "AII-In rate for long. Either to avoid Bridge " which, perhaps, may " unpleasantness," or because it be temperamentally sympath­ may be hard to a borderline etic to the spirit of the Atomic case, or because a remark may Age. 9 C,tHie •~el Pu~tisltmenl'

7 OARD 86 or' the England v. Bidding~Room 2 Wales Cam rose Trophy WEST . NORTH EAST SOUTH B match resulted in a swing No 1 + No 2 0 of 1,040 points to England, at a No 2 <:? No 3 + critical stage of the match. This Dble 3 0 No 4 0 much-discussed hand is reproduced No 50 below, with comments by the I non-playing. captains of the two + 10 led: South made 13 tricks. ·j sides. 640 points to North-South. · · ,I NORTH I + AJ9 5 COMMENT DY PERRY (J A 10 8 4 3 All " expert " players, particu­ 0 A65 larly those playing Approach +5 Forcing, must open with One ,~{EST EAST Spade. • 10 • Q8643 Viewed dispassionately, the hand <:? }65 <:? 7 2 is not very good ; most certainly 0 J9 8 0 72 it is not worth bidding in . + A98762 + KQJ3 When the Welsh South bid Three SouTH Spades, North seemed to heave a + K72 sigh of relief at the thought that (J KQ9 game in Spades was assured. 0 KQ1043 Sitting behind South, I sensed + 104 that he wished to push the bidding Dealer, West. Game All. a little more but could find no justification. The Welsh North lost a glorious opportUnity of a Bidding-Room constructive and cheap· bid of Four Diamonds over Three Spades, WEsT NoRTH EAsT SOUTH but one must consider the atmos­ No 1 + No 20 phere, the general tenseness, the No 2 <:? No 3. crowd of spectators and the No 4 + · importance of the occasion before being emphatic in condemnation. K led. North made 6 tricks. + Spectators behind North were 400 points to East-West. prepared to criticise the closure of

10 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL the bidding at Four Spades only The Contract Bridge Jour11al has when they discovered that a sitting long held the view that to open slam was there in either red suit. One Spade on the North hand is Tn Room 2 the English South contrary to all the natural laws of might have done a little better by the game. After all, what can bidding Three Hearts over Three happen if we open One Heart­ Diamonds, which might have led can any response really embarrass to a slam contract, but who am I us ? Over Two Hearts we can to criticise the bidding of an expert pass, or make a , according partnership whose methods I do to the mood ·of the moment ; over not thoroughly understand. One No-Trump or Two Clubs, If Wales had bid a slam, they we rebid Two Hearts, for in each ·would then have been some 500 case game in Spades is remote points in arrears with 14 hands to unless partner can bid them go, but there was nothing in these himself. Over Two No-Trumps hands to indicate whether ,~/ales we can give a picture of our hand might have turned the tide. by bidding- Three Spades, and Nevertheless, an unfortunate over Two Diamonds we can actually for our side. commit the modern crime of " reversing " with Two Spades. CoMMENT BY KEMPSON What exactly does this last Here is a nice opportunity for sequence mean ? Merely that we me to point the finger of scorn at have more Hearts than Spades, .Approach systems and show how and that we feel strong enough to simple the slam is to call under play for 9 tricks if a tepid preference .common sense methods. bid of Three Hearts is forthcoming I shall do no such thing. Despite from partner. And, with a nice fit the fact that 12 tricks are ice cold in his suit, which he bid at the two in either red suit, I do not consider level, we feel quite comfortable. a slam easv to arrive at. But I do If partner makes the correct think that· reverse bidding, which inferential bid of Four Hearts over prevents North from opening with our Two Spades, holding some­ One Heart, is one of the worst of thing like + K 6 ; ~ 9 7 5 ; many dreadful Approach 0 K Q 10 4 3 ; + K 10 4, the .conventions. prospect does not fill us with The critics should remember terror. W'hat does unnerve us is that only 1,200 points separated the thought of being put back to the teams when this deal cropped our first .suit, Spades, and being up, and both sets of players were attacked in our weak suit, Clubs, conscious of the fact that an as Stone _was in Room 1, when we adverse swing of 700 or so points hold only seven trumps in the ·would probably cost the match. two hands. SuMMARY Assuming that One . Spade is Both Perry and Kempson hit North's correct opemng, one the nail on the head...!....all " expert " question has always puzzled us : players must open with. One Spade. how is South to know whether Substitute the word " modern " North has five Spades and four for " expert," and we are nearer Hearts, or vice versa ? All he can the truth. (Co111i11lled 011 page 4-2) II I i' education took place tn I Vladivostock, the other half at Personality Page Tonbridge and, later, London University. No. 4-S. }. Simon At London, he read for the B.Sc. in Engineering and got it ; even HE name on the entry form though his' mechanical drawing is S. J. Simon. But the was so untidy it reduced his T name of the man-to friends, professors to frenzy. But he acquaintances and strangers alike­ decided Engineering was not for is " Skid." him, so he took to journalism, Ashes on his waistcoat, hair cashing in on an unique sense of . flopping over his brow, cigare~e humour. He still remembers his smouldering, saucer filled wtth first acceptance from· Punch. sodden butts, he leans back, half Not only has Simon created an his cards exposed, and still comes Attitude of Mind for bridge players, top in most events. he has also invented a language. His thoughts may be miles When you " bid 2 D in sleep "; away: he is (with Caryl Brahms) a best-selling author, a writer of when you open a big hand with and radio scripts, a play­ " A couple of Clucks "; when you wright. His interests are as wide say to your opponent " Give light " as the world and as narrow as a and, as . the match is struck, say card-table. " Give cigarette " you are talking Play a rubber against him- and Simonese. you are devastated : he overbids Skid has, in fact, one trait in on nothing, he doubles negatively common with Culbertson : both on three points and a bit of shape, speak many languages and both he takes his life in his hands a speak all with a slight accent. dozen times a session . . . and he Skid's is a diction impossible to is still alive. reproduce phonetically, an attrac­ Play a rubber as his partner, and tive inflection which enhances his you need remember only two natural irony. things : never make a bid he can No portrait of him would be pass, for he certainly will ; never complete without reference to his pass when you have one-third of wife : tall, fair-haired, cool, an excuse for bidding. Leave the superbly soignee, eminently rest to him. He can cope with it. English Carmel, nee Withers (sister With Jack Marx · he invented of Molly Furse) and known - and defends it as, not a universally as Caramel-herself no system but an ''Attitude of Mind." mean bridge-player and, following In partnership with Harrison-Gray in the footsteps of the Master he put it so far above anything else (-bidder), a writer. Her" Contract in Britain before the war that it for a Corpse " is due soon. was a case of Acol first and the Carmel, M.A., of Oxford, was rest nowhere. very hush hush in Ciphers during Skid- necessary abbreviation of the war and .not only ·sets the an unpronounceable Russian Contract Bn"dge Journal cross­ patronymic- was born in 1904 in words' but normally polishes off what used to be · Ekaterinoslav and The Times teaser during a cup of is now Dnepropetrovsk. Half his tea.

12 D'!l PA\1L STERN. _ \ Simple Safety Plays by Dr. Paul Stern

No. 2

HE situation illustrated in the following hand is fairly T common, but how many declarers know of the At trick 2 declarer must lay which should be used ? down the King of Spades. When both opponents follow, dummy is NoRTH entered with the Ace of Clubs and • 976 the Seven of Spades is led. If ~ 10 7 + 3 East plays the Eight, South covers 0 K72 with the Ten ; \Vest shows out, +A103 and East can now make only one WEST EAST of his trumps. The play of the +Z • QJ84- Ace at trick 4- makes the loss of ~ QJ986 ~ K2 . two tricks inevitable. Note that 0 A863 0 1094- the play of the Ten cannot cost + 95 2 + J 874- anything. Should West win with SoUTH an honour, only one trump will + AK1053 remain in the East-West hands, ~AS and it will fall to the Ace. East 0 QJ 5 cannot do better by splitting his + KQ6 honours, for if he plays the Jack The contract is Four Spades by when Dummy's Seven is led, South, and West leads the Queen declarer wins with the Ace and of Hearts. When dummy goes leads a small trump to dummy's down declarer should, as always Nine, forcing the Queen, and in a suit contract, count his losers. South's Ten will pick up the last He must concede one Heart and outstanding trump. one Diamond trick, so he cannot Another typical trump position afford to lose more than one trick is shown in the following hand. in trumps. With any 3-2 division NoRTH: + KQS+; ~Q976; South is on safe ground ; his one 072; + AJ2 fear is that an opponent will hold SoUTH : + A 7 ; ~ A K 2 ; four trumps including the Queen 0 9 ; Q 9 8 6 5 + 3 and Jack. If West holds them, ·+ obviously two tricks must be lost, North-South have bid the but if they are in East's hand a small slam in Clubs and West simple safety pl:iy will prevent leads the King of Diamonds, him from making more than one followed by the Queen, which South ruffs. The fate of the trick. 13 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL contract depends on not losing to Six Spades is easy to bid. West the King of Clubs. The odds leads the Jack of Heaits, South greatly favour the finesse, as the wins and plays the Ace of Spades ; chance of finding the bare King when both opponents follow the with East is remote. But now Six of Spades is led, and the comes the question : which card horrid truth is revealed : East should South play at trick 2 ? mus~ now win two tricks in trumps. The Queen, the Nine, or a small South shows his disgust i~ various Club? Let us assume that you lead the Nine or the Three. West plays the Seven, and dummy's Jack is finessed. It wins- but East shows out, and West still holds the King-Ten tenace over your Queen, and the contract must fail. But what if. you had led the Queen ? Whether \Vest covers or not, you must take all the tricks. If he covers, dummy's Ace wins and East shows out ; you simply return to your hand and take a second finesse against the Ten. ways, depending on his tempera­ I' If West plays low, the Queen holds ment and manners, but the usual the trick, and once again the safety plaint is " ... that can only happen play has worked. to me, four trumps in the wrong Although my third example hand," or, alternatively "Sorry, occurs frequently in various forms, partner, against that distribution it is no exaggeration to state that only a clairvoyant would make 95 out of 100 players fail to handle the contract." He is often the the situation correctly. recipient of polite commiseration, but nevertheless correct play would NORTH have landed the slam. The safetv + KJ 53 play is easy-if you know it and \? K 76 don't forget to use it at the critical 0 A4-2 moment. + KQ3 The correct play is to lead small to dummy's King. If both opponents WEST EAST follow, your contract is safe, and +2 +Q1084- it makes no 'difference which \? J 10 9 3 \? 54- opponents holds Q 10 8 4-. Try to 0 Q 10 8 3 0 J976 ' work out the continuation for + J984 + 1072 yourself. If you can't see it, drop me a line and I shall be pleased to SOUTH explain it in detail.· + A976 One word more. The play of the \? AQ82 trumps does not alter if dummy 0 KS holds K J 3 and declarer A 9 7 6 5 ~AlOS or a similar combination. Another Rubber · at the Club by S. j . Simon ·

3

~<11 (b) Futile Willie IS a little (The famous quartette from "Why upset. This IS JUSt the sort of You Lose at Bridge" conti11ue hand he would have relished their game) bidding all round the world to Deal 3 show his shape.· But the level has got too high to do anything Dealer, North. North-South except support his partner's suit vulnerable. right away. Infuriating I NoRTH (Mrs. Guggenheim) (c) In a mixture of relief and • 5432 ' tearful entreaty. QJ9xxx; OJxxx; No.2 + Ax · X the pre\·ious article discussing If he has only five trumps they the occasions when it is proper are possibly ·a little better and I for the defence to open their somewhere outside he should ha\·e attack by leading trumps, we an extra King, or so. The fact tabulated the headings. · For ease that he passes indicates that he is 0f reference the list is repeated. prepared. for you to launch the 1. When dummy has ruffing assault with a ·trump ; vour side ,·alues. is, in fact, playing the hand .with Hearts, chosen by your partner, as 2. \Vhen you (or your partner, trumps ·and you start pulling the by inference) have considerable adverse trumps first, as you strength in one of declarer's suits, generally do with the dummy other than trumps. ·exposed. . . 3. When your Take-Out Double has been turned ·into a Business 4. When dummY, has gone back Double by your partner's pas;. to a suit after his partner has doubled your side for +. When declarer has doubled penalties. your side for penalties but dummy has not " stood" it. This fourth · case, requiring a 5. When opponents have ·certain degree of judgment, arises secured the contract after your ·out of · the following ·type ·of partner has opened the bidding bidding: "·ith No-Trumps. · SOUTH WEST NoRTH EAST, ·: 6. When declarer's trump suit 1 cy> . No 2\? .· 3 + is presumed to be solid and you Doubl~ No 3 hold tenaces in the· side suits. \? 7. When all other leads look Your holding, as \Vest, 1s: unattractive-which does not rriean, + Q X X X ; \? 10 X X •; 0 Q' J merely when in doubt or when you ca~'t be bothered to think it 9x; + Ax .. :·· , out carefully. . Clearly declarer has a number of The first two cases were dealt :clubs and dummy has one· or none. with last mon.th and we come nciw He cannot have two :or more; or to he . would have stood ·. the, .do\lble, 3. When y~ur Tahe-Out Double and it stands out.plainly that some has been turned into a of declarer's .... sm;lll· '. .Clubs are Business Pass. expected to be ruffc;d il) ~ummy. .17 . CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL You lead a trump and the whole 7. Wlzm other leads look 1m­ set up is: attractive. NoRTH These two cases are discussed • 7 53 together because they have similar ~ K754 features and in both cases the lead 0 10 8 7 6 2 is negative rather than positive. ++ Such hands as these suggest that the best defence is not attack, but EAST WEST waiting. No harm is likely to AKJ • Q642 · + come from a trump lead, whereas cy> 10 6 2 ~ J3 a blind lead away from a tcnace 0 QJ93 0 S+ J 10 8 6 52 may easily give declarer the extra + A7 + trick he needs. If you hold for SouTH example: • 10 98 cy> AQ98 • K 10 X X; ~9 X; 0 A Q X; 0 AK + A9xx + KQ93 and the opponents are playing Hearts, you rule out of account If you get one Heart out of the lead of a Diamond: to lead dummy on the first lead, and small from A x x x is not good, another as soon as Clubs are played and, moreover, the Ace of Clubs to your Ace, declarer will find may serve a better purpose later himself having an unhappy time (to kill declarer's King) ; and a trying for nine tricks. Spade lead may easily cost the 5. Wizen your part11er has opetzed rubber. Here the Heart lead is the bidding with No­ strongly indicated, but it will be Trumps. noted that there are reasons for it. In this case the lead of a trump So many pull out a trump because is not obligatory, but it should they cannot decide which. of the certainly be considered, the more three other suits would be best. so if your partner's No-Trump Against a pre-emptive bid a bids are sound ones and opponents trump lead is often harmless. are in a game contract. The There is less danger of trapping an reasoning behind the trump lead honour held by your partner, but in this position is that your partner the automatic lead of a trump is marked with a number of high against a pre-emptive contract. cards and opponents have got to merely as an escape from thinking. ,kill these trick-winners by ruffs. is useless. The sooner some of these trumps It is never, or almost never. are removed from the dummy, the wise to lead a singleton trump, for better. that may well lead to the capture · If you have three small trumps of partner's guarded King . or this lead is indicated ; with a Queen, and if ever you feel hke doubleton it is contra-indicated. leading a singleton King of trumps. 6. Wizen the trump suit appears you had far better play halma. to be solidly held a11d you A singleton King always makes. hold te11aces in the side except against swivel-eyed s11its. declarers. - IS hold a complete suit, you will get away with it. More than that.· You may proceed to triumph even One Suit Hands if the other suits are " scrambled." Especially if the foe are vulnerable. by B. H. Davies Supreme courage is needed to bid Seven No-Trumps,·over a vulner:­ HEAVY phobia shadows all able Seven Spades opening, when my card sessions. 'Vhat you yourself are Spadeless. But­ A shall I bid if I am dealt as so often at bridge--:your partner 13 cards of the same suit? is the main snag. Imagine for Boobs, simpletons and suckers example that he happens to hold lie awake o'nights, yearning for +- ;

20

II rule that, after a redouble, the opening bidder should almost The Take-Out invariably pass, unless he himself can make a penalty double. -On hands not strong enough for· Double a redouble, the normal suit take- · t. out or minimum response should I by Edmund Phillips be made ; there is no virtue in the . No. 2 Pass, recommended in some ' svstems to show a hand of moderate · ' strength ; while occasionally it So far little has been said about lures the opponents on to an possible intervention by third hand. unmakeable contract, far more In a short article it is not possible often it leaves you with no good to cover, however sketchily, the bid on the second round. · full story of the development of Finally, of course, there are no the bidding after a take-out double, immediate game-forcing bids after but we think that this in particular a take-out double ; any hand is a topic on which a few words strong enough for such a bid could profitably be said. qualifies for a redouble. It follows It is generally agreed in most that all jump bids, whether in systems that the opener's partner partner's suit or another, are shows a good hand by redoubling, purely pre-emptive. There is but there is some difference of often opportunity here for a psychic opinion as to the degree of strength bid ; such psychics are fairly safe required. because they rarely deceive partner, + A;cy>Q7643; <)9752; who will not in any case be expect­ + K 8 4 ing a strong hand ; on the other This hand was set as a problem hand, they are usually easily read in the American Bridge World. _ by the opponents also. Here Your partner has opened One however is an example of a Club, which is doubled ; what do successful pyschic. you bid ? The official answer NoRTH given, Redouble, is quite fatuous. + J Suppose fourth hand now goes c.::? 8763 One Spade (his most likely bid), 0 K92 and his partner supports him to + }8653 Two Spades. You are shut out· WEST EAST from showing your Hearts with + AQ8 + K 10 6+3 any degree of safety at all. The cy> AQJ95 cy>K42 obYious answer to the problem is 0 J 10 6 0 8 543 that on the first round you should + AlO + 7 bid One Heart. SouTH The Redouble in fact should be + 97 52 confined to hands on which you c.::? 10 can more or less guarantee action 0 AQ7 of some sort on the next round ; + KQ942 this action may be a bid in your Dealer, Sou~h. own suit, support for partner's suit, or a double of the opponents' East-\Vest, vulnerable. contract. It is a corollary to this (Co11timll'd 011 page 20) j,

First Thought~ 4 by lain Macleod

IDDING, once you've mastered a few principles, is fairly B simple if the opponents don't interfere. But they have, of course, they have a possible rescue in Spades. On hand (c) bid Two I an annoying habit of taking part 11 in the auction and frequently Spades. There' is probably a game cramping the easy flow of informa­ for you, but as it may be in Spades, tion exchanged by your partner Hearts or No..:Trumps, you should and yourself. If your partner opens approach it slowly. .Partner, of the bidding and an opponent course, cannot pass your bid of intervenes, these are the rules to Two Spades. observe: For the defence there are equally 1. If possible (and tl1e penalty two rules to observe in interference looks good enough) double. bidding: 1. If you must "butt in" do 2. If not, ignore it and make it as soon as possible. your normal bid. For example. With both sides 2. If the balance of strength is vulnerable your partner deals and with opponents, bid as high as you bids One Heart and - the next safely can on the very first chance player Two Diamonds. You hold: you have. '! The " l?Cientific schpol " _ often (a) + 10 3 2 (b) + 2 wait till the opponents finish ~ Q 4 (.'? Q 10 3 2 ?idding before. they start. This · 0 K108 0 K108 1s dangerous against good + AJ963 + AJ963 opponents, and sheer lunacy against (c) + AJ 9 6 3 weak ones. If you must stick your ~ Q32 neck out rememher to do it at an 0 42 early stage. + A102 . These points are very well· 11lustrated by a classic hand played On (a) you should double. in 1937 in a Gold Cup match. There is litt!e game prospect and The full hands were : 1f partner IS at all strong the :penalty may he large. Even if he NoRm 1s. very weak, you will probably + 7 stJll get at least 200 points. On ~ AKJ75 hand (b) bid four Hearts. The 0 K9 douhle is not attractive now and + AQ 105 2 22 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL WEST EAST and the slam was duly netted. + AKJ 10 + Q 9 8 6 54 3 2 Note ·how East in Room 2 dug his \? 10 4 \? 8 6 3 2 own grave. Clearly the balance of 0 AJ 10 7 0 5 strength is with North-South. He + }83 + --'- allowed them plenty of time to try SouTH all three suits and he misled his + _ partner into a double. Even then \? Q 9 he could have saved a big swing 0 Q 8 6 4l'2 hy the in Six Spades. + K 9 7 6 4 The moral, of course, is "make things hard for your opponents." East--West were vulnerable and \Vest dealt. In each case his opening Spade bid was doubled bv North. It will be seen that How Good North-South can make Six Clubs, but not Six Diamonds, or Six are you? Hearts which is defeated ·on the Diamond lead. East-West can Can you make this Contract ? save cheaply in Spades. I was The deal set out below may justly East in Room 1 and over the be described as " the hand of the double, bid Five Spades. South year." It was submitted last lVIarch is obviously on the spot. He has to " Bridge on the Air " by Mr. H. D. only one chance to guess right. Frederham, of Finchley, but was not used in a broadcast owing to its He cannot reasonably bid 5 No­ pre~ature appearance as a double Trumps since Six Hearts is the . dummy problem in The Times.-ED. almost certain reply. So he bid Six Diamonds. Jack Marx (West) Hand 7 correctly passed since he could not NoRni cope with Six Hearts, and so did • Q10984 North after an unhappy trance. · \? K 10 8 7 54 I thought Six Diamonds was a 0 5 possible make, but Six Spades can +A be expensive if Vvest has three WEST EAST Hearts and the Club instead of • J7 65 • 3 2 the Diamond Ace. Moreover, ~ 62 \? AJ 9 3, partner on the bidding is almost 0 10 9 8 7 6 0.43 bound to lead a Club (he can only + 107 + 98654 lead a Heart or Club and probably SoUTH has more Clubs). So I passed. + AK Marx led a Club and the contract \?Q went three down. In the other 0 AKQJ2 room with Harrison-Gray, South, + KQJ32 and Simon, North, the bidding Contract: Six No-Trumps by went: South. \VEST NoRTH EAST SouTH West leads 0 10. Dhle Redble 3 0 I + Can you make this contract ? No 3\? 4 + 6+ Dble (Solution 011 page 3s) 23 The simplest Movement of all is the " l\fitchell " Movement. This Movement provides fo r Duplicate Bridge each pair to play against half of the other pairs i~ the competition. Organisation or in the section of the competition• . For instance, a pair sitting North­ No.3 South will by the " Mitchell" 1\·Tovement play against every other by Gordon D. Johnstone pair sitting East-West and similalry each East-West pair. will play against every other pair sitting N our last month's _article we North-South. indicated the equipment I required to deal with the varying The pairs, having been allotted number of tables froin 15-35 for their positions as above, move in a Pairs Movement and this month the following way. The North-. we turn to the actual instructions South pairs in each section remain to be issued to the players and seated, that is, stay in the same their movement to provide for all seats throughout the whole competitors ·playing the same hands competition but the East--West or boards. pairs move at the end of each hand to the next highest numbered The Tournament Manager will table in their section. Thev do· re·quire to see that the Competitors not of course move until. the are properly seated, for which Tournament Director has purpose he may leave them· to fill instructed them to move. Other- · seats which are vacant until the wise there would be general whole of the available seats are ·col} fusion and a break in the occupied and· the players thereby concentration of the players. find their own positions, or he The boards or hands move in may have found it desirable to the opposite direction to the allot positions. In the event of players, that is to say, the boards positions being allotted, in those move down one table when each cases where the names of the hand has been played. competitors are known prior to 7 the competition starting, positions V\ e therefore can summarise the can be allotted in advance and a Movement quickly by saying the suitable dire'ctive to the players East-West players move up one exhibited at the entrance to the table, the boards are moved down room in which the competition is one table. · taking place. If however positions In those cases where the arc to be allotted as the players Tournament Manager has the arrive the Tournament Director assistance of stewards, it is usual will require. to hand out to each for the stewards to move the competitor as he or she enters the boards, but . where there are no room, a slip or piece of paper stewards or insufficient stewards, indicating the , position and table it is usual for the Tournament at which they arc to commence Director to request the players playing. And now- what are the seated North or the player seated Movements? South at each table to be responsible CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL for the movement of the boards to the transfer of boards with the use­ the next lowest numbered table. of a " relay " requires rather This " Mitchell " Movement is greater care on the part of the simple in operation and works out Tournament Director and greater admirably for any combination of vigilance than in the case of the­ an odd number of tables, but if use of a " skip " movement. the number of tables should happen A great many Tournament ­ to be an even number, a further Directors find that the additional small CC?mplication is introduced. complication of using a " relay , . If the ordinarv Movement was table is such as to render the­ used for an even "number of tables, disadvantage thereof greater than the players would halfway through the advantages of overcoming the the competition meet the board necessity for a " skip " movement they played at the first table, and the simplest method of overcoming this is that at the halfway stage there is one extra movement called a " skip " movement, and for that movement and that movement only, the East-\¥est players are asked to move up two tables as opposed to the ordinary one. The result of this is that they skip over the board which they have already played- but there is one weakness to this " skip " which in certain instances renders at, half time, and it will be noticed it undesirable, namely, that the in most of the large Congress East-West players taking part in a Pairs Movements, that the­ " skip " movement fail to play Tournaments Director generally against one of the North-South use the " skip " method. pairs, and play twice with the North-South pair with whom they Space this month does not started the competition. permit me to give any outline of the " Howell " l\1ovement and If the Tournament Manager other Movements which are used therefore, wishes to avoid a " skip " for match pointed events, and movement, he can do so by which are calculated to ·provide for introducing what is called a "relay." the competitors pJaying against A " relay " is substantially an each of the other competitors. additional table at which there irrespective of whether they are arc no players, and the " relay " sitting North-,South or East-West table is included in the movement at -the commencement of the of boards but not in the movement competition, and next month of players. A " relay " movement starting positions for these various. is complete and there is no necessity Movements will be given, and an to vary the instructions to the outline of the methods of match. players at the halfway stage, but pointing. · 1/te .Nu,.tM,.~« · fJut/tJDI( by Ewart Kem pson

AYING taken part either as Miss MacKenzie wrote an unbiased captain or player, in all four report of praise for Mrs. Davidson, H of England's international Mr. Ellis, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. matches this year, we feel that the Pi:ophit and Mr. Skinner. time is ripe for a few comments on At Cheltenham on Tuesday, the series. May 21st, after both teams had England's first match was against been introduced to the Deputy Scotland in Edinburgh, and on Mayo.r and had partaken of the ·Saturday, March 23rd, a fleet of hospitality of a civic luncheon, taxis arrived to take Lewis Ellison, England gained an early lead over Dr. Whitby, Leslie Dodds, Edward Northern Ireland. Rayne, Pedro Juan,Nico Goldinger The teams, however, were dead and us to the City Chambers, there level at Board 24, at which stage to be presented to the Lord Provost. we entered the arena 'vith Lady An official luncheon followed, Rhodes to play the last eight the feature of which was an ugly boards before dinner. scene in which Mr. Clement Ellis . Messrs. Gray, Simon, Marx and accused Mr. Leslie Dodds of Grew, the other members of the drinking his beer. In the general England team, wore looks of dazed confusion which followed, Mr. amazement when the session ended Stanley Nicholson drank every­ with England leading by 570. body's beer. Subsequently Lady Rhodes, who Scotland led for a time, but appeared at dinner wearing a eventually Mr. Goldinger was verv black frock and a stunned persuaded to stand down and expression, was heard to say England finished the first day " ... but at least '''alshie can 1,620 points up. dance." That excellent newspaper, The Northern Ireland, with our old Scotsma11, .is not published on friends Alan MacKinnon, George Sunday, so Mr. John Hastie, the Hanna, Barney Yard and Eric Scottish captain, brazenly played Goldblatt, finished the day 3,000 a few more hands. in arrears but fought a grand England won by 2,700, at which battle on the second day to lose stage Mr. Juan made an im­ by a mere 1,880· points. passioned speech with great relish. On Saturday, October 19th we After the game Mr. Hastie did visited the Civic Centre in Cardiff .a considerable amount of' sucking­ to be received by the Deputy Lord up to Miss MacKenzie, but, true Mayor. Subsequently we met the 'to the tradition of journalism, Welsh team and decided that .. him a cigar. Mr. Tarlo stubbed . out his cigarette, took the cigar and lighted it with thoughtful delibera­ tion. Casting a cunning look in the direction of Mr. Butler. Mr. Niman played his trump card : he ordered a whisky and soda for Mr. Tarlo. Mr. Niman was selected. . It was then felt that some effort should be made to win the match, so Mr. L. Tarlo and Mr. J. Janes. were selected. The Eire team, captained by Dr. O'Dowd, consisted of Mrs. McMenamin, T. D. Purcell, the O'Connells (pere et fils) and the brothers Bastow. Joe and Mauread O'Neil and Dr. McMenamin came along in case there was a party. There was I Irish \Vest ; he doubled, and then made the kindly lead of 0 4. Wraith played faultlessly to make 10 tricks, and the swing wns 1,040 to England. Around the In the final session the Irish gained . . . on nearly every board. Englund could do nothing right, the most humiliating ·Compettttons result being on board 74 :

NORTH 'THE CAJ\IROSE TROPHY + 94 The 1946 International series nearly " K Q 10 8 4 ended in n snd nnti-clima:"C. After. 64 0 8 5 .0 f the 100 hands in their match agnmst + QJ 52 Eire had been played, ~ngln!ld were leading by 2,140. A,t this pomt came WEST EAST the news that vVales, m the correspond­ + Q J 10 7 3 2 + 86 ing match at Belfast, had gone down " J 5 " 7 6 3 to Northern Ireland by the unexpected · O KJ7 0 Q6 margin of 4,200. This meant th:1t + 43 + AK9876 ·every countrY but England hnd lost at SOUTH . least two miltches, so that we could + AK5 afford to lose the Irish match and still (\? A92 win the trophy. . . 0 A 10 9 4 3 2. This fact had nothmg to do With the + 10 ·subsequent debacle. England did not Dealer, West. Game All. relax ; they were simJ?IY jostled out of their stride by a h1ghly competent In both rooms East opened with Irish team who took advantag.e . of 1 +. In Room 1, Purcell doubled e\·ery mistake, whilst comm1ttmg with the South cards, and 4 " was remarkably few errors themselves reached without difficulty, 11 tricks England were 780 down after ~e being made for a score of 650. In first 32 boards. L. Tarlo and Janes m Room 2 the English · South trapped Room 1 and Kempson and Wraith in himself by overcalling with 1 0, and· Room 2 'then played impressive brid_ge, \V. R. Bastow promptly jumped to and England piled up a <:ommandmg 2 +. This silenced the opposition, lead. Their biggest swmg was on nnd as 8 tricks were made Eire gained board 51 : a further 110 in this room. ~ORTH The English captain rearranged his + J 8 7 forces, but as in the \Velsh match, the " K43 fatal board 86 was yet to come, England 0 AJ752 this time being the victims ; this hand + J3 will feature in " Crime and Punish­ WEST EAST ment " ne."i:t month. Suffice it to say + K 9 52 + Q 10 3 (\? Q972 that England were 1,000 dowri in 4 " (\? 10 redoubled · in Room 1, while \V. R. 0 Q64 0 8 Bastow joined the ranks . of the + A 10 8 6 2 + KQ754 immortals by making 4 ", by super­ SouTH lative play, in Room 2 for a score of + A64 620. Eire gained 1,620 points on this " AJ865 den! ... The finn! margin was 1,200 0 K 10 9 3 to Eire. + 9 The winners played a sterling game. Dealer, Korth. The 24-yenr old Barry O'Connell, playing with his father, the veteran North-South vulnerable. International, mode the fewest mistakes Both North-South pairs reached 4 "· on the Irish side, his opening leads In Room 1 Jones found the inspired being sometimes brilliant. The Bastow lead of + 2, and with the Irish South brothers, in their very early thirties, taking every wrong view the contract were a conspicuous success in their was set 3 tricks. In Room 2 Kempson first International. Desmond Purcell and Wraith bid 1 cy>-2 "-3 "- showed touches of class throughout. 4 (\? , bidding which is perfectly logical, But the player who caught the eye hut which sounded nil wrong to the most was Mrs. Ina lVIclVIenamin, on 28 CONTRACT DRIDGE JOURNAL this form indisputably the best woman 6. L. Jacobs and G. Johnson player in the British Isles. (Bristol) + 2,630 For England, Joel Tarlo had an 7. S. Merkin and E. P. C. excellent match, and it was a pity that Cotter (London) .. + 1,730 this fine match player could not be 8. J. Tarlo and J. T. Reese used in the Inter stages. Kempson and (London) .. + 1,270 'Vrnith rendered yeoman service in the 9. R. Nimnn and G. Fell second session, but their defence (Leeds) + 890 towards the el}d was far from impene 10. G. D. Johnstone and trable. L . Tarlo and Janes had to bear S. Collins (Gloucester) 870 the brunt, playing the record number 11. Mrs. Millett nr1d Mrs. of 88 boards ; they were far from Cole (Leicester) --2,000 perfect, but they were the best pair in 12. Reserve Pair --2,320 ei ther team. Playing against the EAST-WEST d octor's orders, "Jackie" Janes was 1. M. Harrison-Gray and the hero of the match. S. J. Simon (London) + 4,370 FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP TADLE 2. R. Vincent and C. Wo11 Lo&t l'oi11ta .A ou'tc. Vickerman (Leeds) . . + 2,060 E ngland 3 1 6 + 5630 3. A. Franklyn and R. :\orthern Ireland 2 2 4 + 3980 Mercado (Leeds) + 1,140 'Vales .. 2 2 4 + 2660 4. A. Elliott and R. Preston E ire 2 2 4 --3550 (London) 920 Scotland 1 3 2 --8620 5. L. Tarlo and J. Janes (London) 930 THE RICHARD LEDERER MEMORIAL CUP 6. Mrs. Dobson and R. D . F. The Tournament Bridge Associa­ Bland (Nottingham) - 1,790 tion's Inter-County event resulted in 7. M. Stern and J. Colyin a clear cut win for J. Pearlstone (London) . - 2,820 (captain), Mrs. Phyllis Williams, A. 8. Reserve Pair - 3,470 Preston .and Dr. S. Lee. Pearlstone is 9. Mrs. Crisford a~d Mrs. thus the only player to . win two big Carr (Warwick) --4,050 events during the season, his other 10. L. Haddon and J. H. C. success being in the London Champion­ Godfrey (Nottingham) - 4,280 ship. Fancied teams captained by 11. H. Esther and N . Marks Dr. Paul Stern (London) and R. (North-Eastern) --5,880 M ercado (Yorkshire) were never in 12_ A. C. Douglass and J. E. the picture, and the Sussex team Gordon (Cheshire) . . --6,820 captained. by Major Bather played Before results have been :malysed, it finely to secure second place. is impossible to give more than a few M.H-G. general impresisons. But certain definite facts inescapably emerge. THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL TRIAL Primarily, the Trials pro,·ed a The first of the International Trials triumph for the provincials, and bore has come and gone, leaving in its wake out the dearly-held contention that, the inevitable discoveries and dis­ given an equal brenk, some of them appointments. Theoretically a 12-pairs are fully the equivalent of the more­ a side inter-team contest, it devolved fancied London players. in practice into a mammoth pairs On the North-South side, the victory competition, with the final placings as of Mrs. Newton and 'Vestall came as follows:-- no surprise to those cognoscenti who NoRTH-SOUTH have long recognised the feminine half I . Mrs. Newton nnd L. of the partnership as one of the Westall (Nottingham) + 5,180 steadiest and most consistent woman­ 2. 1. C. H. Marx nnd Guy players · in the country and recall Rumsey (London) .. + 4,400 'Vestall's fine performance for Englund 3. Mr. and Mrs. A. Kremer against Northern Ireland in the year (Leeds) + 4,370 before the war. 4. A. Oldschool and I. Spiro The second North-South pair proves (London} + 3,970 two things : that lVIarx is amazingly 5. H. F. P. Holloway and easy to piny with, and that Acol 1. Everett (Bristol) . . + 3,340 achie,·es what Approach-Forcing was 29 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL wont to claim-two players un­ THE BEXIDLL CONGRESS accustomed to one another. can get there without difficulty. Many players new to competitive bridge made their way to the E.B.U. The Kremers, third on the North­ Autumn Congress, and several of them, South side, established themselves ns remembering the Editor's injunction in one of the strongest husband-and-wife his November column, more than held partnerships playing-and 11 standing their own with the London cracks, who refutation to those who believe such 11 were also present in force. Everyone thing to be impossible I seemed to enjoy themselves, · and the On the East-West side, the staggering dance on the last night was the brightest performance of the traditional Gray­ on record. Simon team showed that these old The Pachnbo Cup produced · its war-horses are still superb entrants : traditional neck and neck finish. 13 the glory of their nostrils-one for teams contested the final, each team attack and the other for defence-is playing a short match against each of still terrible. To show n plus of 4,370 the others. The favourites fell away . on cards whose par is roughly estimated badly, and 11 sensational victory WIIS at minus 6,000 is nothing short of scored by the Kent team captained by fantastic. · the International player, Mrs. A. L. Vincent and Vickerman sustained Fleming. Her team included two their excellent form throughout nil four other ladies, Baroness Knoop and sessions and their consistency alone is Mrs. Stewart, and the inimitable worthy of the highest praise. · " Teddy " Bruce Parker, all members Franklyn and Mercado, who were of. the West Kent Club, Tunbridge satisfied with their form only in the Wells. They scored 9 wins and 2 fourth 24-bonrd sitting, confirmed defeats, with one match drawn. Second their position ns one of the ranking with 9 wins and 3 defeats, WIIS the provincial pairs. They will be even well-known Hert~ team captained by better when their temperaments are W. J. Beach ; T. V. M. Cotter's subjected to a control ns rigid ns their London team was third: admirable card-play. The B.B.L. Championship for Ladies' Generally speaking, the Trial did not Teams-of-Four {the Whitelaw Cup) enhance some London reputations. A produced n final excellent in every trial such as this, with its four gruelling respect. The Wnnvickshire team, sessions, is sure to reveal weaknesses, Mrs. Crisford {captain), Mrs. le Couteur, Mrs. Carr and Mrs. Davies, where such exist ; and it is 11 rare partnership which can " take it " jumped into an early lead of 1,540, without cracking in at least one of them. but some steady play by their opponents enabled Miss Kleuser's team to lead " Acolytes " will proudly point to by 960 at the half way stage. Both the fact that the East-West One, Two sides played with fine determination Three-the only pairs to score n plus during the second half, with Miss on the bad cards-and the North­ Kleuser gaining the ascendancy to win South Two 'and Three were all its by 3,080, her third triumph in this practitioners. . event. Her team mates were Mrs. This was my first big event. I went Hopewell, also of Nottingham, and to Leeds dreading the ordeal ; I Mrs. Rankin and Mrs. Hadfield of expected, frankly, to do indifferently Sheffield. The final margin flattered and to be very bored. Instead- thanks the winners, for they gained n swing of almost entirely to my pnrtner- I did 1,660 four hands from the end through well. u desperate effort by the Crisford team But thanks to Mr. Devereux of the to save the match. The North-South Aysgnrth Club and his helpers ; to hands were ns follows, nt Game All : Ben , Cohen, who threw a dinner-party NOHT H : + 9 ; ~ A J 8 7 4 • for the Londoners, and to the general . 0 A Q 7 ; + J 10 9 3 standard of friendliness, hospitality, and competence of all concerned, I SOUTH : + A K Q 8 7 4 ; ~ K 9 ; find myself looking fonvnrd to Trial 0 J 10 9 ; + A 4 No.2. The Sheffield pair reached 6 +. nnd G .R. with trumps nnd Hearts breaking 3-3 30 CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL and the Diamond finesse right, p continued in the 100 boards Silver Cup tricks were mode nfter the opening final. Mter amassing n lead of 2,840 lead of a trump. In Room 2 the in the first 8 hands, they had the \Vnrwickshire pnir went all out for the mortification of being gmdunlly over­ gmnd slnm in Spades, but Miss Kleuser hauled by their opponents, who made the daring lend of ¢ 8 from eventually won by the narrow margin K 8 7 4. Fnced with nn immediate of 1,250. The winning team was . finesse, South pu't up dummy's Ace C. E. Davis (captain), M. H. Cohen, and decided to ~amble on the Henrt L. L Abmhams and A. Grossman. finesse and brenk, but ns IV! Q wns Both teams have shown consistent with Enst the contract was two down. form . this season in this and other A strong field qualified for the finn! events. of the South of England Pairs Oxford University led from the first Championship, won convincingly by board until 10 hands from the end of M. Harrison-Gray and Boris Shapiro. their 64 boards match against the· Paris A. J. Smith nnd E. D. Teague were Faculty of Law. An 800 penalty then popular runners-up, thus crowning· n put Paris in front, but Oxford led by successful season ; Intemationnls J. 20 points when the last board came to Pa.vlides. and E. Rayne were third be played. 3 No-Trumps, made by Gray nnd Shapiro gained a · clenr top the visitors, one down in the other on the following ,hnnd, played nt nil room, and the exu!'tant Frenchmen had tables in 3 No-Trumps. snatched a thrilling victory. NORTH ·- There was heavy mortality in the • 1074 qualifying round of the Congress Open· IV! 4 3 Teams-of-Four, most of the stronger ¢ KJ 52 teams failing to survive. The final + AQ65 resulted in a runaway win for Baron \VEST EAST bidders N. ' Goldinger (captain), A. Meredith, H. Leist and A. Rose, who + KQ95 + J63 themselves were the last team to IV! 2 IV! 10 9 8 6 5 qualify in the preceeding round. ¢ A 10 8 7 4 ¢ 9 3 M. I. Montefiore's team gained a + 10 84 + J7 3 meritorious second place, and Geoffrey SouTH Butler's team was third. The Consola­ A82 + I, tion Teams-of-Four went to Mr. and IV! AKQJ7 ¢ Q6 Mrs. G. c: Carpenter, a fine pair of Kempson bidders from Durham, and + K92 the well-known Liverpool players, The opening lend wns ¢ 7, won by Miss Jonas and A. C. Douglass. South's Queen, and ¢ 6 wns returned Best story from Bexhill: North­ at trick 2, West plnying low and South held the following hands in n dummy's Jack whining. Most declarers pairs event : at ·this stnge cashed their winners, NoRTH : • K Q J 6 ; IVJ K J 5 ; hoping for the brenk in Hearts and ¢A86; + A73 Clubs which would yield 12 tricks. Sourn : + A 1 0 9 8 5 3 ; IV! 8 4 ; South however decided to give himself ¢ K 9; K 10 2 a n extra chance, lending a small Spade + from dummy on which he played the In most cases South, the dealer, 8 from his · own hand, arguing that opened the bidcling, and few pairs West would be unlikely to cash ¢ A mnnnged to stay out of 6 +. As \Vest at this early stnge. \Vest retunred a . held both· Ace and Queen of Hearts Club, and South then learnt the bad South contrived to discard his losing news about the Hearts, but the play Club and the contmct was luckily . of dummy's 13th Club at trick 11 made. At one table, however, \Vest squeezed both opponents and + A chose IV! A as his opening lend, and and + 2 won the lost two tricks. · continued with n small Heart. South Should West have risen to the occnsion who had n Club mixed up with his and returned a Spade nt trick 4, thus Spades, put up dummy's King, tabled ruining the squeeze ? his cards and claimed the remainder. The cruel luck that pursued Beach's The opponents made no move to query 1enm, who were provisionally ann~unced this clnim until declarer's wife, who O\'ernight ns the Pnchnbo Cup wmners, was looking on, e.xclaimed " But Jl CONTRACT ~RIDGE JOURNAL darling, if you'd finessed the Jack of THE TonQUAY CoNG~s Hearts you would have made seven­ The first Devon C.B.A. Congress at you could have discarded your ,Club I_'· Livermead Cliff .was n delightful nffnir, The Contract Bridge Joumal 1s not m although the proceedings were saddened n position to state whether or not legal by the death of Mr. Hardman, husband action is pending. . of the very popular Devon Secretary, Second best story: West, in another on the morning before the Congress. pairs event, opened with 1 No-Trump. Mrs. Hardman insisted that " the North and East passed. Expert No. 1 show should go on," nnd the organisa­ sitting South, then asked East " What tion reached the usual Livermead sort of No-Trumps do you play?" to standard. which the answer was "Very weak." The Congress was preceeded by the South thereupon doubled, and Expert finn) of the Westem Morning News Cup No. 2 took out ,\•ith 2 +. which _was contest for Teams-of-Four, which doubled by West and set 800 pomts. resulted in a tie between no less than Finding that 'Vest had a count of 19, four teams, one from Plymouth, one South remarked bitterly " If that's from Torquny and two from Taunton, what You call a weak No-Trump R. M. Morrison's Taunton team being what's · a strong No-Trump like ? " declared the winners after a count of To which East replied " But you asked aggregate scores. me what I played-! play the weak Of the main Congress events, the No-Trump-my partner plays the South West Teams-of-Four Champion­ strong No-Trump." ship was won by the old International Best sight at Bexhill : hat worn by player, Edward Mayer, now living in Mrs. Rankin, of Sheffield, in the Somerset, whose team mates were the Whitelaw Cup final. Nottingham stalwarts, Mrs. Hopewell, Second best sight : Highland Fling Miss Kleuser nnd N. R. C. Frith. executed by Mrs. Rankin, of Sheffield, The South West Pairs Championship at the dance on the last night. went to Mrs. James (Plymouth) and J.C.H.M. R. Nicole (London). M.H-G.

The Harrogate Congress

The Majestic Hotel was right back Yorkshire players came to the fore to its pre-war standard for this success­ when Rex Vincent's Leeds team, which ful Congress, organised by the Yorkshire included B. Cohen, "R. Niman and C.B.A. A large number of London G. Fell, staved off the challenge of the experts attended, and they carried off Londoners in the other Teams-of-Four most of the major trophies. Dr. Paul event for" Johnny's" Cup. Yorkshire Stem's Austrian bidders, D. M. also maintained their superiority during Rockfelt, Dr. S. Lee, S. Booker and the second instalment of their match S. Dendi.-..:, finished one point ahead of against Lancashire, winning the another London team, captained by complete match by 9,770, although A. Elliott, in the Teams-of-Four this is by no means an overwhelming contest for the coveted Harrogate Gold margin for this type of event. . Cup. Arnold Elliott, who has been to the fore in most events this season, One of the attractions at the Congress had his revenge when, in partnership was the Czech team from Prague, who with R. Swimer, he won the magnificent put up an imposing performance by Yorkshire Evening News Pairs Trophy, finishing in third place in both Teams­ two of Stem's team mates, Booker and of-Four events, and followed this up Lee, finishing in second place. Lee with a decisive victory in a straight gained a further success when he won match against the powerful Leeds team. the Congress Pairs Championship partnered by Rockfelt. B.S. 32 I

by Noel Byrne

Comiug Eve11ts :- proceeded, with North-South silent. Dec. 14th-15th. NATIONAL TEAM 'Vest, 'I\vo Spades ; East, Three­ PANEL 'TEsT. Hearts ; West, Three No-Trumps · E~st, Four Diamonds ; West, Si.~ 19+7 Dtnm~nds. In Room T_wo, the bidding­ Jan. 4th-5th. CARROLL CuP-Semi­ went .-West, One Dmmond ; East,. finals and Final. One ·Heart; West, One Spade; East, Jan. 8th "Entries close for National Two Clubs ; West, Three No-Trumps · Team-of-Four Championship. When the strain of the match w~ over, Scotch and Irish mingled together at n most enjoyable dinner-where UR victory over the [Scots 'gave a ~hort speec~es and numerous musical much needed fillip to our ~orale, ttems co_ntnbuted to the success of Oand we look forward with the evemng. confidence to our meeting with England The Selectors have announced the­ --:when we hope to put a stop to their team to meet England, which is as­ tnumphant gallop. Looking back on follows :-'f. D. Purcell and Mrs. F . the Scottish match, we were all McMenamm, W. J. L . O'Connell and delighted at the opportunity of Barry O'Connell, J, J. Bastow and renewing acquaintance with our friends W. R. Bastow;- Non-playing Captain,. Hastie and Prophit and of meeting Dr. P. J, 0 Dowd. Judging from: new ones, in the persons of l.VIr. and present reports, there will be n real Mrs. Porteous and S. Stein and M. Irish " Invasion " of Southport- to­ Luckner. Their non-playing Captain support the Representatives · of the­ S. B. Nicholson, was unable to travei C.B.A.I. but R. Gray proved himself a capable Duplicate Bridge is weekly gathering substitute-both at the bridge and at more . a!ld more disciples and the­ the subsequent festivities. The pleasure Assocmtlons Headquarters is being­ of the ~\· eek-cnd was completed by the taxed to its limit to accommodate the presence of that " almost naturalised numbers wishing to take part in the­ Irishman," W. H. Ricardo (Wales) tournaments. who refereed most efficiently. On n recent occasion thirty-si.x tables It was a great pleasure to us nil to were filled, while the usual weekly sec " Bill " O'Connell in action again quota is three sections of n total of (after a long illness). I wonder if he th!rty to thirty-four . tables. Nor is is unique in having played on an thts spread of Duphcnte confined to· International team with, first, his wife th~ Metropolis ; ~he Spiro Cup (for and Inter his son ? mt.xed pa1rs) whtch was played at The Father and Son partnership Droghedn, ilttracted the huge entry of gathered 500 points on Board 46, fifty-two pairs-and reports from other where they bid n slam, while their parts o~ the country are equally Scottish vis-a-vis stopped at a game. encouragmg. Barry O'Connell dealt and bid One Diamond, holding:-+ A Q 6 + ; IV1 J 7 ; 0 A K Q 7 4 ; + Q 8. "Regional News," unavoidably held " Bill " bid Two Clubs, holding over for lack of space, will be resumed + 10 ; 1V1 A K 9 4 ; 0 10 9 6 ; + A 10 7 4 3. The bidding then in the January number. 33 NoRTH '\;) AQ98732 •04 + AK974 WEST EAST + A Q 10 9 + 8 7 4 3 '\;) J 10 \? 6 5 0 AQJ10763 0 K985 News fr~Ht. · + - + QJ8 SoUTH + KJ 6 52 N•'!"e'Jt t,,/-lltl '\;) K4 0 2 +.10 6 53 2 by A. j. Fletcher Dealer, West. North-South vulnerable. Hopes of victory .over Wales have Bidding-Room ·been fully justified. . A splendid tonic is this win' against \VEST NoRTH EAST SoUTH such formidable opponents, who were 20 30 40 4 + sporting enough to say that the margin 5 0 Dble. of 4,200 did not over-emphasise the + A led. ·west made 10 tricks. home side's superiority. While I No score (Honours). ·don't quite agree with this, as the Bidding-Room 2 \Velsh players lost points towards the finish through pressing unduly, there WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ·Can be no doubt that the win was 1 0 2 0 2 '\;)(I) 2 + thoroughly deserved. The visitors had 5 0 5 '\;) No bid No bid· ·credit balances from Boards 2 till 6, Dble and for ever afterwards were in arrears. + Q led. North made 11 tricks. ·Generally speaking, the further play 800 to Northern Ireland. .advanced the greater was the deficit. In Room 1, Rivlin and Belman sat The greatest swing of the match was North-South with Shanks and Gabbey ·in favour of Wales. On Board 39 Enst-\Vest, while in Room 2 I sat ·Carter and McAllister correctly stopped North 'with Lindsnv, South the ·in Six Hearts to collect 1,530 points, opposition being Carter and McAilister. whereas our pair bid Seven and went I don't like the first bids of either .one down. The trump suit is K 10 in Rivlin or myself, but the fear is that .dummy and declarer holds A Q 7 4 3. partner may fit one suit and not the If the Ten is finessed (as I believe it other, in which case a game or even a should, particularly as there are slam is possible. My Five Hearts bid doubletons all over the place) the was made hopefully in view of Carter's grand makes. However, I'm glad it previous bid of the suit anti I was glad failed, as it is definitely a bad contract to hear his No-bid and that of my and we were 2,630 ahead at the time. P.a rtner. Carter made the only lead to Wales had another big swing of 970 smk the contract, as if McAllister points on Board 78. Both teams having ruffed, underlends his Diamond reached a small slum in Clubs and the Ace he can get u second . Ace of Hearts was led in both rooms. The Five Diamonds contract in Dummy's Clubs ure A K 10 4 und Room 1 can be made double-dummy declarer holds J 8 7 3 2. Rivlin fines:;ed b.ut Shanks played North for the the Ten on the second round to lund smgleton Spade King and tried to the contract, whereas the home player crush it. went for the drop. Rivlin reasoned We are now runners-up to England that the Heart Ace would not huve and but for our defeat by Scotland .•. been led unless the hand held a further Northern Ireland's team was Gabbey potentiality und ulso on his side was n~d Shanks, Goldblatt and Vard, the fact that there was n visible Lmdsny and Fletcher, and all gave singleton. an excelle!lt performance. They were Hand 28 probably provided more ubly cup tamed by Professor Mackinnon .controversy thun uny other : (Continued on page 39) ' 34 by Albert Benjamin HOW GOOD ARE H E 6th S.B. U. Congress held YOU SOLUTIONS during the last week-end in ? T October at Dunblane Hydro was successful from every a1igle. This was 'WEST NORTH EAST due, in no small part, to the untiring 1. 0 10 05 03 efforts of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Kershaw, 2. 0 6 plus, of course, our genial President, • 4 0 4 Mr. McKerrow, and the other 3. 0 7 + 8 + 2 members of'the Council. 4. 0 8 Q Carswell. Another Glasgow team, captained by If East plays 9, South wins L. Shenken, won the l\1en's Teams­ with Q and makes the grand of-Four. Edinburgh came to the fore when R. G . l\1anson, Miss A. slam. If East wins with ~ A, he l\1uckenzie, Mr. and Mrs. G. T. must either lead a Club, for South Cnrpenter won the Consolation Fours, · to win remaining tricks, or a Heart, und Miss A. Mackenzie's team won in which case dummy takes the the V.7omen's event. All who were present welcomed the remainder. news that another Congress is to be (2) If East discards 9 at held next May. Funniest incident (?) that happened trick 6, South plays ~ Q. If East to the writer occurred when an wins with Ace, he must lead J opponent made an insufficient bid of or a Club, and dummy is high. One Heart over One Spade. When pulled up, he corrected it by bidding If East refuses to win and plays Two Hearts and he and his partner J, play proceeds as follows: proceeded gaily to reach a game bid. The writer's partner led n card out of 7.

DEVISED FOR THE BRIDGE PLAYER

CLUES ACROSS DOWN 1. Not. the order of the cricket tcnm. (3, 4, 2. Tops for pupils ? (i) 2, II) 3. Scmpwork? (4) 8. Be first hut In error. (4, 3, 2 4) 4. llfoml justice. (II) · 11. Cnn receive painful but Illegal sfgnnls. (4) 5. Winning hoards ? (8) 12. AWitcro Austrian ? (6) 6 . Prefemhlo to never. (4) . 13. }' uncreal drink? (4) 7. Hnvo twelve bridge players ever agreed 16. Mnke safe. (II) on this? (7) 17. Without honour ? (II, S) 9. Unlntlected If ethical ! (0, 3) 19. Four Spades or Hearts? (4, 4) 10. No overtricks ? (5, 4) 21. Green lights ? (II) 14. Nevertheless cnn be bonoumbly won. (5) 24. Not next month. (4) 15. Less thnn ten nnd ~·et equivalent. (6) 25. An unpleasant laugh. (6) 18. Fnvonrlto ]lnrtner? · (8) 26. Wild ants. (4) 20. No Aco should be In 10. (i) 29, Cnrjl. (4 , 5, 4) 22. Cnll. (7) 30. Chnructcrlstlc of matches ? (15) 23. ,llnre but no singleton. (0) 27. Tied In knots. (4) 28. Unpaid. (4)

Result of our November Crossword

37 • . ,L~ tOAHpeti/ibn ThtS llfiJIII~S

Whnt should North bid in the event Set by J. C. H. Marx of the following rounds of bidding taking plnce ? The CONTRACT BRIDGE EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH JOURNAL Offers a prize of TWO (a) 1 + Dbl NB NB GUINEAS for the best set of solutions ? to the following problems. In the 2 -~ Dbl NB event of two or more sets of solutions (b) 1 + Dbl Redbl being of equal merit, the .monthly prize will be divided. PROBLEM No. 3 (16 points) · Answers to CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL (Editorial Department) North holds: 8, \:Vaterloo Place, London, S.W.l., + AQ87; ~A94; 09842; not later than January 10th, 1946, + 102 Solutions and prizewinners' names in Dealer West. February issue. \Vhnt should North bid in the event · A special prize of Ten Guineas is of the following rounds of bidding offered for the best aggregate score in taking plnce ? the sbc monthly competitions from November, 1946, to April, 1947, WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH inclusive. (a) 1 0 NB NB Dbl NB ? .During this period no competitor may win the monthly prize of Two (b) NB NB 1 0 Dbl Guineas more than once. NB ? This month's competition takes the (c) 1 0 NB 2 0 Dbl form of a series of problems dealing NB ? with lo\v-level doubles, most of them (d) NB NB 1 0 NB " informatory." In · formulating their 2 0 NB NB Dbl answers, competitors should assume N B ? thnt no specialised convention, such as the Herbert, is being employed. The score is, in all cases Game . All. PROBLEM No. 4 (12 points) North holds: PROBLEM No. 1 (32 points) . • 7 ; ~ Q 10 6 ; 0 Q 10 9 6 4 2 ; + K 8 7 . North holds : What should North bid in the event + A K 8 7 ; ~ Q 10 2 ; 0 8 ; + KQ943 · of the following rounds of bidding taking place ? \Vest deals and opens with One EAST SoUTH \VEST NoRTH Diamond, North doubles nnd neither (a) 1 NT Db! NB ? East nor West bids again. What should North bid in the event of South's (b) 1 NT NB response being : NB Db! NB ? (a) 1 + (b) 1 ~ (c) 1 NT (d) 2 NT EAST SouTH WEST NoRTH (c) 1 + NB 1 NT NB (e) 2 + (f) 2 0 (g) 2 + (h) 2 ~ NB Dbl NB ?

PROBLEM No. 2 (8 points) PnOULEI\1 No. 5 (16 points) North holds : North holds : • Q J 10 8 7 6 ; ~ J ; 0 10 5 4 ; + AKJ74· ~ AQ975· 08i + 6 4 2 + 10 5 • • Denier Enst. Denier, North. CONTRACT BRIDGE JOURNAL What should North bid in the event of the following rounds of bidding Answers to taking place ? NoRTH EAST Sourn WEST October (a) 1 • 1 NT Dbl NB ? (b) 1 Dbl 1 NT NB Competition ? • (c) 1 Dbl Rdbl 2 0 PROBLEM No 1 (25 points) ? • It can sometimes be said of an (d) 1 Dbl NB NB auction between weak or uninstructed ? • partners that " there is no such bidding," in the sense that two or PROBLEM No. 6 (16 points) more bids by the same player, who is North holds: presumed to have confidence in the correctness of his partner's bidding +7; <:7A765; 0K742; are mutually inconsistent. In othe; + J 8 6 4 words, if one bid is right, at least one Dealer, East. other bid must be wrong. · What should North bid in the event Classify the following auctions as o f the following rounds of bidding (A) consistent or (B) inconsistent. If taking place ? the answer is (B), e.xplain briefly wherein lies the inconsistency. · EAST SouTH WEST NORTH NoRTH ' (a) 1 <:7 2 NT 4 <:7 (a) 1 Dbl ? + 4. SOUTH 2 <:7 3

Three Sjmclcs. South mn~· hnve stretched his PRODLEM No. 3 (15 points) vnlues to the utmost In blddln!l Four Spmles, nnd North should not Imperil the gnmc. North holds:-+ A K 8 6 5 ; 'VI Q (tl} Inconsistent. South's Four Dlnmonds 9 4 3; 0 A 10 2; + 7. N?rth-South though cncoura!jlngi Is not forcing, and It Is ridiculous to bid n s nm thereafter when North nre using the Approach-Forcmg System mny well hnvc taken 11 risk In bhldlnl! even nnd the Blackwood Convention. The 11ame. Tho effect of South's bldcllng Is thnt bidding hns proceeded, with East-\Vest tho hmul cau be played In Four or Six Dlnmonds but ne\·er iu FiYO Diamonds. silent:- (e) Consltcnt. North's Flvo Clubs Is a slnm Imitation, nccopted by South. NoRTH 1 + 3 + (f) Consistent. South, who evidently SOUTH 3 + 4 + hns some SUJlJ:lOrt for Ilenrts, dlcl not 1dvo tho dlscournglng mlso to Two Hearts. lie must What should North bid now ? therefore bo presumed to hold fnlr vnlucs1 ANSWER :-Five Clubs-15 points. Four which together with the strongish bnnu Hcnrts-5 points. dlsclo~ed by. North's Two No·Tnnnps, should . North doubtless wishes he hnd not agreed bo enough for gnme. _ to piny D!nckwood. Four No-Trumps, being (o) Inconsistent. South's Three No· conventional Is obviously out. Four Spades Trumps denotes n strong bnlnncerinclplo There remnlns Five Clubs ns the best of with (/1). • a bod bunch. As partner has forced and cnrried ( i) Inconsistent. South's Two Spades the bidding abovo Three No-Trumps, Ws Clubs Is a wenk rebid, nn

has substantlnl values In tho sult and mediates In Diamonds. Dut If these because the removal of nn entry card values nro nn essential component of from dummy Is patently deslrnble. Ills opening bid, It Is undeslrnble to D. D. For commentary, sec observation piny tho hand In n. contrnct where No. 10. they mny not mn.terlnllse ns tricks. 10. A. Even If South is known to be addicted A bid of Three Dlnmoncls here Is not to t110 practice of bidding n sult with n rebid In an)· constructive sense and tho object of Inhibiting It's lend ·at Is csscntlnlly ncgatlvo and discouraging. Xo·Trum11s It Is unlikely that he If South held n more bnlnnced t111e or would have taken tho dangerous hand with the .Ace, or oven the Jack1 course of doing eo on tho first round. of Diamonds Three No-Trumps mlgh~ :lrorcovcr, If he hns neither Clubs nor well be possible .and South would not Diamonds he must hnvo • length In be out of order In bidding it. Spades, nnd It would Indeed be odd D. For commentary, seo observation If he had never nttemptcd what, for 22. nil he knows, may be n. Iny-uown No. 23. major suit game. Tho fnct thnt such 23. A. South should take the view that, n remark should hnvo been mndo by without nn honour In Diamonds, Three 'outh Is lllustrntlve of how the mere No-Trumps Is too risky n proposition. reputation of certain players for Even with one, It may be far from n. " clever " bidding can be exploited to certainty but unlikely to bo altogether lncluce quito lrmtlonnl fears In tho Impossible on nny lie of tho opposing minds of their opponents. cards, 11. .-\. A switch to tho Club Jnck wou'd not 110 bnd, In that tho contract can still 24. D • .For commentary, sec observation bo defeated and an attack In a No· "'No. 25 Trump contract on n doubleton 25. A. Enst should not seriously contemplate honour, CSJJeclnllr when tho dummy n Spade bid, especially when vulner· Includes two doublotons, Is well known able. After North's opening Diamond to experienced J,llnyers to tend to there Is nlready some evidence of n. tllsrupt declarers communlcntlons, misfit for North-South, with possible C\'en though tho suit Itself cannot be trouble for whichever side )Jinys the established. Tho Spndo switch Is, hand. Purely as n lend directing bid, nevertheless, much to be preferred, One Spade cannot be worth the risk. since, If East's Jnck Is trnmposed with South would be fully justified in ono of South's smnll Spndes, It nlone doubling such n bid, nnd :East-West will prevent Enst being end-played on would have incurred n loss of at least srades nnd tho contract being ronde. 500 JlOints to save n game which 12. •.\.. :E or commentarr, sec obscrvnt•on should not In fnct be made. :Even If No. 16. West rescues Into Two Hearts, and 13. A. Tills Is certainly an umlcrstatement. It Is doubtful whether he should, he Seo observation No. 16 loses 200, nnd Is luck)· not to Jose 14. A. ec observntlon No. 16. tuorc. 15. ll. " , " 10. A. Even thou~h ho hns opened tho bld!lln!ll North's bhl of Three Dlnmoncls I• clenr y In the nnturo of n slgn·off. He lndlcntcs unmlstnkenbly that he Tho lending scores In tho NO\·ember hns no other suit to b.ld, cannot Competition were ns follows ;- support Clubs nnd hns gootl renson to tllsllkc No-Trumps. lf South felt that TV inner· Dn. K. SOLOS (Drlstol) 00 points. his hnnd wns only 1100d enon11h for Specially Commended· Cnpt. A. :It Cree Two Xo·Trumps on the second round, (Southsen) 112 poluts ; :llrs. L. :U. Dill his only justiOentlon for bidding (BincJ..l'ool) 88 )JOints ; .T. II. Dontmnn (St. Three No·'l'nunps on tho third Is Albnns) 88 JlOints. either a fit with his partner's Diamonds or a solid suit of his own. He hns Comme11ded • M . .A. Porter (Dinulnghnm) neither. South coultl not be seriously 84 points; G. A. Dickinson (Dntchet) 84 points blnmcd r ho hnd bid gamo on tho 84 points · r.. A. Dickinson (Dntchet) 84 second round, since his partner could J!Olnts ; ~dss E. l\[. Turnbull (Hlldenborough) scnrcel:o- hn\'o less to OJ>On vulucrnblo 1:!4 )mints; A . F. Stephenson (Strenthnm) nnd the nctunl contrnot Is not 84 points. nltogcthcr unrcnsonnblc. His selected tnode of procedure, however, was llloglcnl, nnd West's remark (16) therefore lrrelevnnt nml Jgnonmt . (Conlilltltd from page 11) 1i. •-\. This Is n further conslderntlon In tlo Is to make n jump preference ns Rh·lln fli\'OUr of blddlnl! I!UIIlo on tho second dhl, and hope for tho best. ' round, without cxposlnl! too obv!oUJIJy to the opponents the misfit nnturo of A worStl fate· nearly befell Wnles In this tllll hnnds. room. ltlvlln thought n long long time before 18. 11. J>or commentnry, sec obscr\'ntlon finally llliSSing (perhaps he 'wns deterred by No. 21. tho a.t!enm In 31nclcod's eye) Four Spades­ 10. 11. For commentnry, sec observation and Stone afterwards stated thnt over nnr Xo. 21. further bid hu would have shot Six S)lnde~. 20. A. ~~~ f.mnmentnrr, sec observation Without full lnltlntlon Into tho mysiiifj;'s 2 of tho lluron system, we hesitate to crltlclso 21. A. There Is little to bu Sllld In fnvour of tl!o unconnnunlcntlve exchanges In Room 2. Xnrth's \msslnl! Two No-TruUIJlS, Jt "o ngree thnt the atmosphere wns electric Is true t 111t North's hand Is wcnk In nnd tho struln bcglmllnl! to tell • but when houour tricks nud his opening justified n}l Is said nnd dono, " modem 1• .-\tlJlroach ouly hy the en11t h null nlr . nter· _:E arcing must take tho rap. 1'HE STANDARD Fl RST-AID TREATMENT

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