Why Bridge Players Quarrel

When Your Partner is Not Up to Your Level, You Should Get Down to His

R. F. FOSTER

MRS. CLYMER made it a point to subscribe to every charity bridge game that had any persons of prominence on the committee. Upon this particular occasion, she had not been able to get together four of her immediate friends in time, and had induced her husband to play with her, although he did not know much more about the game than she did. As they approached the table assigned to them, her husband whispered: "I know the man at this table. . At the club he has the reputation of being quite a shark at this game, but I do not know the lady with him. His name is Raydeer."

The lady turned out to be Mrs. Raydeer.

The game was pivot, and for the first rubber the men agreed to play together. Mr. Raydeer looked inquiringly at his partner and asked, "I suppose you play the spade convention and the informatory pass?"

"Sorry, but I never heard of either of them. Mrs. Clymer and I play a very ordinary game."

Mr. Raydeer played dummy every time in that rubber, while the two women simply trailed along, following suit and smiling at each other. For the second rubber, Mr. Raydeer cut Mrs. Clymer; but the cards were against them, and the only satisfaction he got out of it was that his wife made a bad double, which gave him an extra hundred points on one hand.

"I have told her a dozen times that she should have four and a quarter tricks to double a suit bid when her partner passes," he remarked to Mrs. Clymer, as if apologizing for his wife's error.

"I SHOULD think you would be glad to have your opponents make mistakes," returned Mrs. Clymer, noting the confusion on her partner's face.

"But don't you think it was a rotten double?" persisted Raydeer, turning to Mr. Clymer.

"Why, really, I don't know anything about quarter tricks. I double when I have a hunch. That is about all."

For the third rubber, it was family against family.

"Now for goodness' sake, don't try any of those jack-high bids this afternoon", Mr; Raydeer begged, as he dealt the cards, "and don't finesse with nine cards in your hand." Then, turning to his opponents: "She has so much faith in her luck that she thinks rules are all nonsense," he explained.

"W;ell, I notice that I win all the time, and you don't," was the sharp retort, as Mrs. Raydeer began to sort her cards. This was the distribution:

The dealer bid a club, Mrs. Clymer a diamond, Mrs. Raydeer a heart, and Mr. Clymer had a hunch to double. When Mr. Raydeer passed, Mrs. Clymer went no-trump, and Mrs. Raydeer two hearts, at which her partner began to writhe as if in pain. Again Mr. Clymer doubled, the dealer going to the rescue with three clubs, which Mr. Clymer overcalled with three diamonds, and every one passed.

Mrs. Raydeer led the seven of clubs, dummj putting on the nine. Mr. Raydeer saw at once that the declarer must have at least king and eight, so he passed up the trick, playing the two of clubs.

Mrs. Clymer proceeded to draw all the trumps, Mrs. Raydeer discarding a small heart and a club—plays which made her husband squirm like an eel. Dummy let go a small heart. The next lead was a heart, and the nine second hand allowed the ten to win. Dummy came back with a small spade, and the queen won the jack. Mr. Raydeer sat up and began to take notice.

WHAT he noticed was an immediate return of the spade ten to set up the king, won by the ace; and a third spade led, won by the king. At this point, Mr. Raydeer had to let go a small club. His partner eyed this card for a few seconds and then remarked quietly, "Well, I suppose we had better save the game," and laid down the ace of hearts, followed.by a small one, and dummy won the last trick with the spade. Three odd and the contract.

"Well, of all the ridiculous plays I ever saw in my life!" burst from Mr. Raydeer. "All you had to do was to jump for the first heart lead and come through with another club, and we set them for two tricks."

"Why, who would have thought you had all those good clubs?" retorted the delinquent. "You could not beat the nine on the very first trick, and then you kept discarding clubs afterwards."

"Didn't I bid clubs? Do you suppose I was making one of your fool bids on six to the eight spot?"

"If you will allow me," interposed Mr. Clymer, turning to Mrs. Raydeer, "I do not pretend to be a player, but it seems to me that, unless you had three small clubs, it was impossible for Mr. Raydeer to make his suit; and I should have put the ace right up and led another round."

"Oh, but he never plays that way," explained Mrs. Raydeer, petulantly. "He always studies out something so deep and clever that his partner would have to lie a mind-reader to know what he wanted. Well, we saved the game anyway, and I did not lose any of the tricks."

"Had you jumped for the first heart, as your partner suggests, you would have lost a trick," suggested Mrs. Clymer, "because I had to lead a spade, and then you could lead clubs after making a spade trick."

"There!" snapped Mrs. Raydeer to her husband, "I believe Mrs. Clymer is a better player than you are."

MRS. CLYMER, who was dealing for the next game, protested that, on the contrary, she was a very ordinary player; and after saying something nice to her right hand adversary, sorted her cards and bid no-trump. Every one else passed. This was the distribution:

Mrs. Raydeer had had it drummed into her so often that suits headed by king jack were bad leads that she picked out the clubs; and thinking it did not make the slightest difference which of the little ones she led, or, perhaps, without thinking about the matter at all, she led the eight, and dummy went down. Mr. Raydeer's eagle eye read the situation at once. By the eleven rule, he knew the declarer could not beat the eight; so when dummy put on the three, he played the two and smiled at his cleverness: whereupon the king took the trick.

"I'd like to know what kind of a lead you call that," he blurted.

"I led my long suit." was the sharp rejoinder, "What would you have led Mr. Clymer?"—appealing to dummy— "would vou have led that?" — pointing to the hearts.

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"Certainly not. In my judgement, you were quite right," he assured her.

Mrs. Clymer led her small diamond, and dummy put on the king, returning the suit and finessing the jack, which lost to the lone queen, much to Mrs. Raydeer's satisfaction. Under the impression that her partner did not like the suit first opened, she tried going through the king of spades with the jack.

The king went right up and the suit was returned, Mrs. Clymer finessing the ten and then catching the queen, making four spade tricks in a row.

"Haven't I told you a dozen times there is no use leading a jack unless you have the ten behind it ?" demanded Mr. Raydeer, glaring at his partner.

"I shall just make these diamonds; that gives me the game; and you can have the rest of the tricks," interposed Mrs. Clymer.

"Now, do you see what that rotten opening lead of yours cost us?" demanded Mr. Raydeer, angrily.

"Why, Mr. Clymer said he would have led that suit."

"That suit, yes; but the eight wasn't your fourth-best. If you had led correctly, I would have put the ace on the seven and dropped the lone king. Then we would have made five clubs and four hearts before they got in. That would have set the no-trumper for three tricks, instead of losing game."

"But really, Mr. Raydeer," interposed Mrs. Clymer, laying her hand on Mrs. Raydeer's arm to restrain her retort. "If you know your partner is in the habit of making irregular leads, why do you depend on them?"

"TUST let me say a word, will you?"

interposed Mr. Clymer. "If you thought the eight was really Mrs. Raydeer's fourth best, why did you pass it up?"

"Because I knew it would win the trick."

"But if Mrs. Clymer cannot beat the eight, your partner must have both king and queen. What can you lose by putting up the ace and returning a small one?"

This was the distribution:

The dealer bid a diamond, Mr. Clymer no-trump, taken out by Mrs. Clymer with two spades, which he disregarded, going back to no-trump.

"Well, I suppose you have another of your favourite jack-high suits," remarked Mr. Raydeer, leading a diamond, on which his partner put the queen, losing it to the ace. Mr. Clymer led two rounds of spades hoping to find them split, Mr. Raydeer discarding the eight of clubs. His partner was too intent on the spades to notice his discard, and too pleased to find her queen of spades led up, so that she could go on with the diamonds, setting up that suit, and hoping to get in with the king of hearts.

On the third round of diamonds, won by the jack, her partner let go the deuce of clubs, dummy giving up the ten. The impression made upon Mrs. Raydeer's mind was that her partner probably had something in hearts, as he was discarding clubs.

After dummy had been put into the lead to make two more spade tricks, both Mr. and Mrs. Raydeer were discarding clubs. A small heart from dummy and the finesse of the nine lost to the queen.

After wagging his head and squirming in his chair for fully half a minute, Mr. Raydeer concluded to return the heart, slamming down the card as ii it were a firecracker. This lead killed his partner's king, and the return of the ten put dummy in to make a trick with the seven of hearts, winning the game and rubber.

"Another game thrown away. You will never learn this game." •

"What is the matter now?" demanded Mrs. Raydeer. "I suppose you made some play that was too deep for me, as usual."

"Didn't you see my discard?"

"I saw you discard a diamond and the deuce of clubs."

"That was after I had discarded the eight of clubs on the second spade. That is a card above the six isn't it? I suppose you didn't see it."

"No, I didn't notice it. I was watching the spades. I have told you a dozen times I don't pay any attention to those fine points."

Answer to the May Problem

This was the distribution in Problem LIX, a study in forced discards. There are no trumps, and Z leads. Y and Z want all the tricks. This is how they get them:

Z starts with the club ten, which Y wins and returns the suit, Z discarding the five of hearts. If A lets go a heart, Y leads two rounds of hearts at once, Z discarding the eight of spades. If A discards a spade on the second round of hearts, Y leads a spade and gets in again with the ten of diamonds to make a spade trick later.

If A discards a spade instead of a heart on the second trick, Y must lead the ten of diamonds before leading a spade. Z makes two spade tricks, and A must discard the top diamond or unguard the hearts.

If A discards a diamond on the second trick, instead of spade or heart,

Y leads the diamond and follows it with a spade, and again A has to discard on the second lead of diamonds.

Note that if Y docs not win the club ten, Z will have to put Y in with a diamond; but this will allow A to discard with safety whatever Z discards, as he will lie over Z in two suits, and must win a trick in the end.