either in bidding a suit or in doubling, either opponent may demand
a new deal, or may allow the declaration so made to stand, in which
case the next player to the left must bid, just as if the declaration
had been in turn. If a player pass out of turn there is no penalty,
and the player whose turn it was must declare himself. The player who
has passed out of his proper turn may re-enter the bidding if the
declaration he passed has been over-called or doubled.
If a player makes an insufficient or impossible declaration, either
adversary may call attention to it. Suppose the last bid is three
royals, and the next player says four clubs. This is not enough, as
three royals is worth 27 and four clubs only 24. Unless the player in
error correct himself at once, and make it five clubs, either adversary
may demand that it be five clubs, and the partner of the corrected
player cannot bid unless this five-club bid is over-called or doubled.
A player correcting himself must stick to the suit named, not being
allowed to say four diamonds when he sees that four clubs is not enough.
If an insufficient declaration is passed or over-called by the player
on the left, it is too late to demand any penalty, and the insufficient
bid stands as regular. Suppose A bids three royals and Y says four
clubs, B and Z passing. A can repeat his bid of three royals if he
likes, as that is enough to over-call four clubs.
If a player makes an impossible declaration, such as calling six
diamonds over five no trumps, when it is clearly impossible to make any
diamond declaration worth 50, either adversary may demand a new deal,
or may insist that the last bid made by his own side, five no trumps,
shall be the winning declaration, or he may force the player in error
to declare a grand slam in diamonds and play it, his partner being
forbidden to take him out.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The winning declaration settled, whether doubled
or not, the player on the left of the declarer leads for the first
trick, and dummy’s cards go down, the declarer playing the combined
hands. The declarer gathers the tricks for his side, but either
adversary may gather for the other. The first six tricks taken by the
declarer make a book, and all over the book count toward his contract.
The adversaries have a book as soon as they reach the limit of the
tricks they may win without “setting” the contract. If the contract is
four hearts, the declarer must win ten tricks, so that his opponents
have a book when they get home three tricks. All tricks should be laid
so that they may be readily counted by any player at the table.
_=DUMMY.=_ Until a card is led by the proper player, the declarer’s
partner has all the rights of any other player, but as soon as the
player to the left of the declarer leads and dummy’s cards are laid on
the table, dummy’s duties and rights are restricted to the following:
He may call attention to few cards played to a trick; correct an
improper claim of either adversary; call attention to a trick taken by
the wrong side; ask his partner if he have none of a suit to which he
renounces; correct an erroneous score; consult with the declarer as to
which penalty to exact for a revoke; and, if he has not intentionally
overlooked the hand of another player, he may call his partner’s
attention to an established revoke made by the adversaries, or to a
card exposed by them or a lead out of turn made by them.
_=The Revoke.=_ Should a player fail to follow suit when able to do so,
it is a revoke, and the revoke is established when the trick in which
it occurs is turned down and quitted by the side that won it, or when
the revoking player, or his partner, in his right turn or otherwise,
has led or played to the following trick. If a player ask his partner
if he has none of the suit led, before the trick is turned down, the
revoke may be corrected, unless the player in error replies in the
negative, or has led or played to the next trick.
Dummy cannot revoke under any circumstances.
The penalty for the revoke depends on the side in error. If the
declarer revokes he cannot score anything but honours as actually held,
while the adversaries take 100 points penalty in the honour column, in
addition to any they may be entitled to for defeating the declaration.
If an adversary revokes, they score honours only, and the declarer may
either take the 100 points, or he may take three actual tricks and add
them to his own. If he takes the tricks, they may aid him in fulfilling
his contract, as the score is then made up as the tricks lie, but the
declarer will not be entitled to any bonus in case he was doubled.
Suppose Z is the declarer, and is playing three hearts doubled. He wins
the odd trick only, but detects a revoke, for which he takes three
tricks. This gives him four by cards, doubled, worth 64 points toward
game, but he does not get any bonus for making his contract after being
doubled, or for the extra tricks, because they were taken in penalty
and not in play.
_=Exposed Cards.=_ After the deal but before the winning declaration
is settled, if any player exposes a card his partner is barred from
bidding or doubling, and the card is subject to call. Should the
partner of the offending player prove to be the leader to the first
trick, the declarer may prohibit the initial lead of the exposed suit.
All cards exposed by the declarer’s adversaries after the original lead
are liable to be called and must be left on the table, face upward.
Exposed cards are those played two at a time, dropped on the table face
up, or so held that the partner might see them, or cards mentioned as
being in the hand of the player or his partner. The declarer is not
liable to any penalty for exposed cards.
_=Leading Out of Turn.=_ If either adversary leads out of turn, the
declarer may call the card exposed, or call a suit when it is the turn
of either adversary to lead. If the declarer leads out of turn, from
his own hand or dummy’s, there is no penalty, but he may not correct
the error unless directed to do so by an adversary. If the second hand
plays to the false lead, it must stand. If the declarer plays from his
own hand or from dummy to a false lead, the trick stands. In case the
dealer calls a suit and the player has none, the penalty is paid.
_=Cards Played in Error.=_ If any player but dummy omits to play to a
trick, and does not correct the error until he has played to the next
trick, the other side may claim a new deal. If the deal stands, the
surplus card at the end is supposed to belong to the short trick, but
is not a revoke.
_=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The object in auction is for the declarer to
fulfil his contract, and for the adversaries to defeat it. The highest
card played to the trick, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and
trumps win all other suits. At the end of the hand the declarer counts
up the tricks he has won over the book and if he has made good on his
contract he scores the value of those tricks toward game. As soon as
either side reaches 30, it is a game, but the hands are played out, and
all the tricks counted.
_=RUBBERS.=_ Three games, 30 points or more each, make a rubber, but
if the first two are won by the same partners the third game is not
played. The side that first wins two games adds 250 rubber points to
its score.
_=SCORING.=_ Apart from the game score, which is made entirely by
tricks won on successful declarations, there are several additional
scores that have no influence in winning or losing the game, although
they may materially affect the ultimate value of the rubber. These are
all entered under the head of “honour scores,” or “above the line.”
_=Honours=_ are the five highest cards in the trump suit, A K Q J 10;
when there is no trump, they are the four Aces. The partners holding
three, four or five honours between them, or four honours in one hand,
or four in one hand and the fifth in the partner’s, or all five in one
hand, are entitled to claim and score them, according to the following
table. It will be seen that their value varies according to the trump
suit; and it must be remembered that this value cannot be increased by
doubling.
TABLE OF HONOUR VALUES.
Royal spades are indicated by “R.”
-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+-------
Declaration | ♠ | ♣ | ♢ | ♡ | R | No
| | | | | | trump
-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+-------
Each Trick Above 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+-------
H { 3 Honours | 4 |12 |14 |16 |18 | 30
O { 4 Honours | 8 |24 |28 |32 |36 | 40
N { 4 Honours (All in 1 hand) |16 |48 |56 |64 |72 |100
O { 5 Honours |10 |30 |35 |40 |45 |
U { 5 Honours (4 in 1 hand) |18 |54 |63 |72 |81 |
R { 5 Honours (All in 1 hand) |20 |60 |70 |80 |90 |
S {
Rubber 250, Grand Slam 40, Little Slam 20.
When one side has nothing but the odd honour, three out of the five, it
is called _=simple honours=_. The value of simple honours is always the
same as two tricks.
_=Slams.=_ Little Slam is made by taking twelve of the thirteen tricks;
it counts 20 points. Grand Slam is made by taking the thirteen tricks,
and it counts 40. Either score must be exclusive of revoke penalties.
_=PENALTIES.=_ If the declarer succeeds in making his contract, he
scores below the line for tricks and above the line for honours
according to the table of values already given, and he scores for as
many tricks as he wins, regardless of the smaller number he may have
bid.
But if the declarer fails to make good on his contract he scores
nothing but honours as actually held, while his adversaries score
50 points penalty in the honour column for every trick by which the
declaration falls short, no matter what the declaration was, but they
never score anything toward game, no matter how many tricks they win,
because they are not the declarers. They may, however, score slams.
If we suppose the winning declaration to be three hearts, and the
declarer makes the odd trick only, holding simple honours, he scores 16
above the line, while the other side scores 100 points above the line
for defeating the contract by two tricks, worth 50 each.
If the dealer is left in with one spade, he cannot lose more than 100
points, even if he is doubled, provided neither he nor his partner
redouble. If the adversaries set the contract for one trick, the
declarer loses 50 only, and even if he is set for six tricks, he can
lose only the 100.
If any other declaration is doubled and fails, the adversaries score
100 points, instead of 50, for every trick by which they defeat the
contract. If it is redoubled, they score 200. But if the declarer
succeeds after being doubled, he not only scores double value for the
tricks toward game, but he gets 50 points for fulfilling a doubled
contract and 50 more for any tricks over his contract if he makes them.
These figures are 100 in each case if he redoubles.
Suppose the declaration is three no trumps, doubled, and the declarer
makes five by cards. He scores 5 times 20 toward game, aces as held,
and then 150 in penalties, 50 of which is for fulfilling his contract
and twice 50 for the two tricks over his contract.
_=KEEPING SCORE.=_ Two styles of score-pad are now in general use. In
one the tricks and honours are entered in the same vertical column,
one above the other, and are all added in one sum at the end. In the
other style of pad the tricks are in one column and the honours and
penalties in another, so that four additions are required to find the
value of the rubber, which is always the difference between the total
scores after giving the winners of two games 250 points. The following
illustration will show both styles of pad:
WE ||THEY
|| 36
|| 30
18 || 100
16 ||
====++====
8 ||
|| 40
----++----
|| 36
----++----
|| 250
----++----
42 || 492
|| 42
|+----
|| 450
WE || THEY
8 | 16 || |
| 18 || | 100
| || 40 | 30
----+----++----+-----
| || 36 | 36
----+----++----+-----
8 | 34 || 76 | 166
| 8 || | 76
+----+| | 250
| 42 || +-----
| || | 492
| || | 42
| || +-----
| || | 450
The scoring on which this rubber is won and lost was as follows: WE
started with a contract to win one heart and made it, with simple
honours, scoring 8 toward game and 16 above for honours. Then THEY set
a contract for two tricks, getting 100 in penalties, against simple
honours in royals, scored as 18 above for WE and 100 for THEY. Then
THEY made four odd at no trump and 30 aces, winning the first game,
under which a line is drawn.
On the next deal THEY made four odd in royals, with four honours, 36
each way, winning the second game and also the rubber, for which they
add 250 points. Both scores are now added up and the lower deducted
from the higher, showing that THEY win 450 points on the balance.
_=CUTTING OUT.=_ At the conclusion of the rubber, if there are more
than four candidates for play, the selection of the new table is made
by cutting; those who have just played having an equal chance with the
newcomers. The reason for this is that a Bridge table is complete with
four, and that a rubber is usually too long, with its preliminaries of
making the trump, and its finalities of settling the score, for players
to wait their turn. A rubber at Short Whist is often over in two hands;
but a carefully played rubber at Bridge sometimes occupies an hour.
_=CHEATING.=_ Most of the cheating done at the bridge table is of such
a character that it cannot be challenged without difficulty, although
there is enough of it to be most annoying.
Some players will place an ace about four cards from the top when
they shuffle the cards, so that when the pack is spread for the cut
they can draw it and get the first deal. Second dealing is a common
trick, especially on ocean steamers, marking the aces and slipping them
back if they would fall to an adversary dealing them to the partner
instead, who can go no trumps and score a hundred aces several times
in an evening. Women are great offenders in trifling matters, such as
asking the dealer if she passed it, when nothing has been said; looking
over the adversaries’ hands as dummy, and then pushing dummy’s cards
forward, as if arranging them, but in reality indicating which one to
play. A great deal of petty cheating is done in putting down the score,
and also in balancing it by cancellation. In large charity games, some
women are so eager to win a prize that they will stoop to all manner
of private signals, and some go so far as to make up a table and agree
to double everything, so that some one of the four shall have a big
score. Another common trick in so-called social games is to have a
stool pigeon to overlook the hand of another and signal it up to the
confederate who is playing.
There may be some remedy for this sort of thing, but so far no one
seems to have found it; or at least they lack the courage to put it in
practice and expose the offenders.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The great secret of success in auction
lies in sound bidding, so that no bid shall have a double meaning and
the partner may be able to rely absolutely on the information which
the bid should convey. The complications of the situation are so
numerous, owing to the variations introduced by each succeeding bid
as the players over-call one another, that it would be impossible to
cover them in a work of this kind, and the student would do well to
consult some such work as “Whitehead’s Conventions,” which covers every
situation that could possibly arise in the bidding.
A few general hints may be of assistance in showing the principles that
govern the more common situations.
_=The Dealer’s Bids=_ may be divided into four parts; a spade, a losing
suit, a winning suit, and no trumps. The one-spade bid simply means, “I
pass,” but it does not signify that he will not be willing to bid on
the second round. It has nothing whatever to do with the spade suit.
The dealer should never call any suit on the first round of bids unless
he has two sure tricks in it. If it is a losing suit, he may have just
those two tricks and nothing else, and the shorter the suit the better,
but the tricks must be A K, or K Q J, or A Q J. If it is a winning
suit he must have at least five cards of it and a trick or two in some
other suit to back it up.
If the dealer bids two spades, he shows two sure tricks in a short
spade suit and a sure trick outside. If he bids three spades he shows
five or more spades and strength enough outside for royals, but denies
two sure tricks in the spade suit itself. The dealer should bid no
trumps when he has not length enough to bid hearts or royals, but has a
hand as good as three aces, well protected in three suits.
_=The Second Hand=_ should declare just as if he were the dealer when
the dealer starts with one spade. He may even go no trump on a lighter
hand. When the dealer bids a suit, second hand should over-call only
when he can make his contract or wishes to indicate a lead in case
third hand should go to no trumps. Second hand should never take the
dealer out of a losing suit with a winning suit unless he has seven
tricks in his own hand. If the dealer bids no trump, second hand should
pass, unless he is prepared to over-call any further bid for three
tricks.
_=Third Hand=_ is not obliged to take the dealer out of a spade, and
should not do so unless he is a trick or two stronger than he would
have to be to declare as dealer. But the dealer must never be left in
with a two or three spade bid. If third hand cannot do any better,
he should declare a royal. When the dealer bids no trump, third hand
should take him out with any weak five card suit and nothing else,
simply to warn him that there are no winning cards in the hand. Always
take him out with five cards in a winning suit, no matter how strong
the rest of the hand.
Take the dealer out of one suit with another suit only to deny his
suit. Take him out of a winning suit with no trump, only to deny his
suit and show strength in each of the three other suits. If the dealer
bids no trump and second hand calls a suit, double if you can stop the
suit twice, otherwise show any good suit of your own, but do not go
two no-trumps unless you can do it all yourself. Leave that to your
partner. Do not assist your partner’s suit bids with less than three
tricks if second hand over-calls.
_=Fourth Hand=_ bids on the bidding much more than on his cards. He
should never take the dealer out of a spade that both second and third
hand have passed unless he can go game. If the dealer bids a losing
suit, second and third hands passing, leave him in unless you can go
game and are not afraid of a shift. If the dealer bids a winning suit,
second and third hands passing, make any sound declaration. If the
dealer starts with no trumps, show any suit that might save the game
if led at once by your partner.
_=Subsequent Bids.=_ Any suit bid on the second round but not on the
first, shows length without the tops. When a winning suit is taken out
by the partner, a losing suit bid on the second round shows tops in it.
Any suit rebid on the second round, without waiting for the partner’s
assistance, shows six or seven sure tricks in hand.
Never bid a hand twice, unless its strength is greater than indicated
by the first bid. Having bid a club on ace king alone, that is the end
of it. If you have an outside ace, which the club bid did not show,
you can assist your partner once on that trick, but no more. Having
assisted your partner’s suit bid with three tricks, do not bid again
unless you have a fourth trick in hand, but if he rebids his suit
without waiting for you, you may assist on one trick, especially a high
honour in trumps.
Do not double unless you have a certainty and are not afraid of a
shift. Do not give up a fair chance for going game yourself just to
double an adversary, unless you are sure of 200 in penalties at least,
and do not give up the rubber game for less than 300. Always remember
that a double may enable an adversary to go game, and will often show
the declarer which hand to finesse against.
_=Free Doubles=_ are opportunities to double when the declarer will go
game anyhow if he makes his contract, but they should never be made if
there is any chance that he may shift.
_=Free Bids=_ are anything better than a spade by the dealer, or
anything that over-calls a previous bid, because no one is forced to
bid on the first round. A _=Shout=_ is a bid that is a trick more than
necessary to over-call the previous bid. It shows a solid suit, or five
or six sure tricks in hand. In a losing suit it is a loud call for the
partner to go no trumps if he can. A free bid in a losing suit shows
the high cards; in a winning suit it shows the tricks in hand.
_=A Forced Bid=_ is one that is necessary to over-call, such as two
diamonds over a heart. This does not mean that the caller would have
bid two diamonds originally. A player who must indicate a lead against
a no-trumper makes a forced bid.
_=The Original Lead.=_ The first card must be played before dummy’s
hand is exposed.
_=OPENING LEADS.=_ The position which we have first to consider is that
of the eldest hand, usually designated by the letter “A,” who sits on
the declarer’s left.
[Illustration:
Pone
+-------+
| B |
Dummy |Y Z| Declarer
| A |
+-------+
Leader
]
_=Selecting the Suit to Lead.=_ If your partner has declared a suit,
lead the best card you hold of it, regardless of number, unless you
have an ace-king suit of your own, in which case lead the king first
and have a look at dummy. If partner has not declared anything, lead
your own suit. With high cards not in sequence, such as ace-queen,
king-jack, or even queen-ten, in every suit but trumps, lead the trump.
There is a great difference between playing against a trump declaration
and against no-trumpers; because in the first case the leader is
opposed to unusual trump strength and his object must be to make what
he can of his winning cards, before the declarer gets into the lead
and discards his weak suits, so as to be ready to trump them. But in
the second case, there being no trumps, the leader’s object should
be to get a suit established against the dealer, if he can, and the
longer the suit is, the better. The dealer’s strength in a no-trumper
is usually scattered, and he may often be found with a weak or missing
suit, which is generally the suit in which the eldest hand or his
partner is long.
We shall first consider the leads against trump declarations, because
they are more common and are also the more useful. If a player makes
a trump-hand lead against a no-trump declaration, he will not do
nearly so much harm as if he make a no-trump-hand lead against a trump
declaration. For that reason, if a player cannot master both systems of
leading, it is better for him to learn the leads against trumps than
those against no-trumps.
_=Rules for Leading High Cards.=_ With such a suit as A K Q 2, no one
need be told not to begin with the deuce. Whenever a player holds two
or more of the best cards of a suit he should play one of them. If he
holds both second and third best, playing one of them will force the
best out of his way, leaving him with the commanding card.
The cards which are recognised by bridge players as high, are the A K Q
J 10, and if we separate the various combinations from which a player
should lead each of them, a study of the groups so formed will greatly
facilitate our recollection of them.
In the first group are those containing two or more of the best cards.
In this and all following notation, the exact size of any card below a
Ten is immaterial.
[Illustration:
🂡 🂮 🂭 🂫 | 🂱 🂾 🂻 🂷
🃁 🃎 🃍 🃆 | 🃑 🃞 🃔 🃓
]
So far as trick-taking is concerned, it is of no importance which of
the winning cards is first led; but good players lead the _=King=_ from
all these combinations in order that the partner may be informed, by
its winning, that the leader holds the Ace also.
In the second group are those containing both the second and third
best, but not the best.
[Illustration:
🂮 🂭 🂫 🂪 | 🂾 🂽 🂺 🂸
🃎 🃍 🃋 🃄 | 🃞 🃝 🃗 🃖
]
The _=King=_ is the proper lead from these combinations. If it wins,
the partner should have the Ace; if it loses, partner should know the
leader holds at least the Queen.
Both these groups, which contain all the King leads, may be easily
remembered by observing that the King is always led if accompanied
by the Ace or Queen, or both. Beginners should follow this rule for
leading the King, regardless of the number of small cards in the suit.
There is only one combination from which the _=Queen=_ is led,
[Illustration:
🃝 🃛 🃗 🃖
]
when it is accompanied by the Jack, and there is no higher card of the
suit in the hand. Whether the ten follows the Jack or not, does not
matter. With any two high cards in sequence, the lead is a high card
when playing against a declared trump.
The _=Jack=_ is never led except as a supporting card. It is always the
top of the suit, and the suit is usually short. The object of making
such an opening is to avoid leading suits headed by two honours which
are not in sequence. These are good Jack leads:
[Illustration:
🂻 🂺 🂹 🂴
🂫 🂧
]