Judge — April 11, 1931 — page 23: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Mr. Lenz has held, fourtec follow this depart es, the National and Internati nt of Judge will understand ndoubtedly the most remarkable card player the x the One-Two-Three system of Contract bidd response dec- laration is demanded. from the part- ner in only two situations. An original hid of three in suit must be answered by the partner, unless there is an in- tervening declaration. This reply may be one of three things: The partner's suit may be as- sisted. A switch made to another suit. The contracting may be kept open with a response in No Trumps. Should three No Trump be bid, there is no assurance that the hand contains even the semblance of a trick, or it may hold as much as a trick and lf. WwW ith two or more tricks, s given by bidding at least four ‘No Trumps. .As the ‘De- mand bid of three is not Rarted upon less values than are necded for the will be scen that the three No Trump response is merely a ges- ture to keep the bidding alive for the partner to rebid his suit or make an- other declaration of some kind. Hold- ing a worthless hand, the No Trump response is arbitrarily chosen because it is cheaper to overeall than a suit bid. If the opening bidder holds a well-balanced hand that could have tted with three No Trump, choice of bids was desired, he simply passes and nothing has been gained—or lost. Should a suit bid be preferred, any declaration of four will be sufficient to overcall. Of course, if the Demand Bidder is “stepping out,” and does not hold proper v: for his bid, trouble galore is for him should the unfortunate part- ner happen to have onc of those com- binations made unpopular by the very late Lord Yarborough. Players op- posed to Demand Bids scoff at bid- ding, ‘‘a lot of No Trumps or bust hands.” These same players think nothing of opening up with three or more No Trumps when holding very powerful hands. What's the differ- been. s! unless simplest way of arriving at a Slam Contract is to start with a De- declaration of three No Trumps, instead of a Demand Bid, is usually a bit over or under the exact requirements and the partner is apt to be somewhat scary of jeopardizing an assured game to try for a Slam. The second situation that marks the Demand Bid is when the partner's bid is jumped to one trick more than nee- essary to overcall, in another suit. Thus, a bid of one Diamond which is passed by second-hand and overcalled with two Hearts by the partner, must be responded to. A one No Trump bid raised to three Clubs in a similar situation is likewise designated to force the partner to keep going. The No Trump reply, by cither partner, should be ized as the minimum response. bid of two No Trumps over the partner's bid of one Spade is not a Demand Bid, although it is nec- essarily a strong invitation to con- tinue bidding or one No Trump would have heen declared. In other words, the bid of two No Trumps shows the maximum supporting values and un- less the original bidder has additional strength, it is not obligatory to reply. Again, when the adversaries’ bid is jumped with a call of one more trick than necessary, it is merely the same sort of a powerful showing and not a cal Demand Bid. With the knowl- ge that partner necd not keep the bidding open on worthless cards, the overeall bid should be for the full value of the cards and not only one trick more than necessary. When a one bid is overealled by partner with a Demand Bid and the original bidder re: s with No Trumps, it denotes little additional strength. Hence, one Heart, jumped to two Spades by the partner and two No Trumps by original bidder, would y, in effect, “Partner, you force me to keep the bidding open, but I have no values not shown by my opening bid and no worth-while assistance for your Spade declaration.” 21 you can o to places ou have reamed of & Colorado Summer ‘OU CAN go to the very rim of Grand Canyon in a Santa Fe Pullman. YOU CAN take the Indian-de- tours—most fascinating motor tours in all the world—escorted by Courier. VISIT Dude Ranches surrounded by painted hills. And on to Cali- fornia seashore and high moun- tains. The Colorado Rockies are on your Santa Fe way. YOU CAN GO-because Santa Fe LOW summer fares bring FAR WEST sceni: re- gions within your budget. check booklets wanted and W, J. BLACK, Pass. Traf. Mar. Santa Fe Sys. 958 Ry. Exch.. © Grand Canyon Outings © Dude Ranches O All-expense Tours comicbooks.com