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The Club convention is much safer, and is used by most conservative players.
In the event of there being any doubt what the lead should be, if the leader be fortunate enough to hold an Ace, it is good policy for him to lead it for the purpose of taking a look. The contents of the Dummy will probably furnish the desired information.
When a suit declaration has been doubled, a singleton is always an advantageous opening. The lead of a high card is also advisable for the purpose of taking a look. If the leader be without either a singleton or high-card lead, his partner's suit is unquestionably his wisest opening.
THE TABLES
The tables which appear at the end of this chapter should be carefully examined by all who are not absolutely letter perfect in the conventional leads. The present tendency of players taking up Auction is to regard the leads as unimportant, and this often results disastrously. The quondam Whist-player realizes the necessity of having every lead at his fingers' ends, but for the benefit of those who have never partic.i.p.ated in the older game, it may be said that the conventional leads have been determined upon only after years of experimentation; as a consequence of which it is known just which card, in the long run, will win the most tricks.
A leader who, on the spur of the moment, during the play, tries something else, is taking a course sure to deceive an intelligent partner, and one which will probably reduce the number of his tricks.
The one combination that seems to tempt some players to disregard the conventional, is the King, Queen, Ten, against a No-trump. With this holding the King is manifestly most advantageous, as if the Declarer hold Ace, Knave, it will either force the Ace and hold the tenace over the Knave or win the trick. Without the Ten, a small card should be led, but many players fail to recognize the important distinction.
Every one attempting to play the game should learn the conventional leads, and having once mastered this comparatively easy lesson, should never allow a childish impulse, such as "having a hunch," to induce an experiment with a lead not recognized as sound.
The various tables follow.
OPENING LEADS AGAINST A NO-TRUMP DECLARATION
With a Without a Holding Reentry Reentry
Ace, King, Queen, Knave, with or without others Ace Ace Ace, King, Queen, Ten, with one or more others Ace Ace Ace, King, Queen, Ten King King Ace, King, Queen, with three or more others Ace Ace Ace, King, Queen, with one or two others King King Ace, King, Knave, Ten, with two or more others Ace Ace Ace, King, Knave, Ten, with one other Ace Knave Ace, King, Knave, Ten King Knave Ace, King, Knave, with three or more others Ace Ace Ace, King, Knave, with two others Ace 4th best Ace, King, Knave, with one other King King Ace, King, and five others Ace Ace Ace, King, and four others King 4th best Ace, King, and two or three others 4th best 4th best Ace, Queen, Knave, Ten, with or without others Ace Queen Ace, Queen, Knave, with one or more others Ace Queen Ace, Queen, Ten, Nine, and three others Ace Ten Ace, Queen, Ten, Nine, with less than seven Ten Ten Ace, Queen, and five others Ace 4th best Ace, Queen, and two, three, or four others 4th best 4th best Ace, Knave, Ten, with one or more others Knave Knave Ace, Knave, with two or more others 4th best 4th best Ace, Ten, Nine, with one or more others Ten Ten Ace, Ten, Eight, with one or more others 4th best 4th best
King, Queen, Knave, Ten, with or without others King King King, Queen, Knave, with one or more others King King King, Queen, Ten, with one or more others King King King, Queen, with five or more others King King King, Queen, with four or more others King 4th best King, Queen, with two or three others 4th best 4th best King, Knave, Ten, with one or more others Knave Knave King, Knave, with two or more others 4th best 4th best King, Ten, Nine, with one or more others Ten Ten King, Ten, with two or more others 4th best 4th best
Queen, Knave, Ten, with one or more others Queen Queen Queen, Knave, Nine, with one or more others Queen Queen Queen, Knave, with two or more others 4th best 4th best Queen, Ten, Nine, with one or more others Ten Ten
Knave, Ten, Nine, with one or more others Knave Knave Knave, Ten, Eight, with one or more others Knave Knave Knave, Ten, with two or more others 4th best 4th best
Ten, Nine, Eight, with one or more others Ten Ten Ten, Nine, Seven, with one or more others Ten Ten
In all the above cases in which the fourth best is given as the lead, should the hand contain an intermediate sequence, headed by an 8, or higher card, the top of such sequence should be led instead of the fourth best. For example, King, Knave, 9, 8, 2, lead the 9; King, Knave, 9, 7, 2, lead the 7.
In any case not mentioned, in which there is not an intermediate sequence, headed by an 8 or higher card, the fourth best should be opened.
The lead of the fourth best, when it is an 8 or higher card, should be avoided whenever possible. For example, Ace, Queen, 10, 8, 6, 2, lead the 6; but never lead the lowest when holding more than four, so from Ace, Queen, 10, 8, 2, lead the 8.
In all the Ace-King combinations in the above table, in which the Ace is the conventional lead, it is selected in preference to the King, because the highest card of the partner is desired; when the King is the lead, the suit is not of sufficient strength to make that play advisable.
OPENING LEADS AGAINST A TRUMP DECLARATION
Holding Lead
Ace, King, Queen, Knave King, then Knave Ace, King, Queen King, then Queen Ace, King, Knave King Ace, King, and one or more others King Ace, King, without any others Ace, then King Ace, Queen, Knave[22] Ace, then Queen Ace, Queen, and one or more others[22] Ace, then lowest Ace, Knave, Ten[22] Ace Ace, and one or more small Ace
King, Queen, Knave, with or without others King King, Queen, Ten, with or without others King King, Queen, with or without others King King, Knave, Ten, with or without others[22] Knave King, Knave, and one or more others[22] Lowest or 4th best King, Ten, Nine, and one or more others[22] Ten King, and two or more others[22] Lowest or 4th best
Queen, Knave, Ten, with or without others Queen Queen, Knave, Nine, with or without others Queen Queen, Knave, and two or more others 4th best[23]
Queen, Knave, and one or no others Queen Queen, Ten, Nine, with or without others Ten
Knave, Ten, with or without others Knave
Ten, Nine, with or without others Ten
[22] These suits unless declared by partner should not be opened, as they are disadvantageous leads against a Trump declaration.
[23] This is the conventional lead from this combination, but many good players prefer the Queen, especially when the indications are that the hand is not evenly divided. When long suits have been announced, the chances are that the suit led will be ruffed on the third round, if not earlier. If the King be in the Second Hand and the Ace in the Third, a trick can be gained by leading the Queen whenever the suit does not last for three rounds. Therefore, unless the hand indicate that the suits are evenly divided, the Queen seems to be the better lead.
IX
THE PLAY
It has been stated elsewhere that it is easier to advise an Auction player how to declare than how to play. This is unquestionably true, and as a rule instruction in print relating to intricate situations in the play is of little benefit to the reader.
End situations, and even those which arise earlier in the hand, seldom exactly repeat themselves. Pages may be filled with the description of brilliant plays by the Declarer and his opponents.
The reader may study such examples until he becomes thoroughly familiar with every detail, and yet, so great and infinite is the variety of Auction hands, may play for years without ever having one of them arise. Mathematicians state that the 52 cards may be distributed in 53,644,737,765,839,237,440,000 different ways, and that a player may receive 635,013,559,600 different hands. There is no reason to question the accuracy of these figures, but even if they be grossly excessive, it is still self-evident that each deal is apt to produce some totally new situation.
All that will be attempted, therefore, in considering the play, is to offer a few general suggestions that it is believed will be found applicable to a considerable percentage of hands, and that it is hoped will prove useful.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAY IN AUCTION AND BRIDGE
There is little difference between the play in Auction and Bridge, although in Auction, due to the bidding, all the players have much greater information regarding the strength and weakness of the various hands.
There is one point of variance, however, worthy of consideration:--
In Bridge, the player of the open hand is generally striving for the game as his only object. In Auction, the Declarer has two purposes in view; first, to fulfil his declaration; and second, when the making of the declaration does not in itself secure game, to obtain that also.
Naturally, the opponents of the Declarer play with exactly the opposite idea, their first object being to prevent him from going game, and their second, to keep him from fulfilling his contract.
PLAYING FOR GAME
The Declarer should never take a finesse or make any other play which, if it succeed, gains one or more tricks, but which, if it fail, risks the fulfilment of an otherwise a.s.sured contract. Having once made sure of his bid, he should apply a similar rule to the winning of the game.
An extra trick counts comparatively little, but the failure to carry out a contract or to capture a game may alter the result of the rubber.
The game is, of course, far more important than the contract, and the Declarer, when he has a reasonable chance of obtaining it, should, if necessary, risk his declaration. On the other hand, his opponents should save the game beyond peradventure, even if by so doing they lose an opportunity to defeat the Declarer.
A couple of examples will show this more clearly than pages of explanation.
Suppose, the score being love, the Declarer, who has bid three Royals, has about exhausted the possibilities of his cards. He has won eight tricks and has the lead in his own hand, with an Ace and Queen of the same suit in the Dummy. One more trick will fulfil his contract, two will give him game. The development of the play has shown that the adversaries will make the rest of the tricks whenever they obtain the lead, and consequently, if he finesse and lose, the eight tricks already taken will be all he will secure, his Ace will "die," and he will be "one down."
