Auction of To-day | Page 9

too sanguine to expect him to protect two.
Should he fail to have either stopped, the Declarer's loss is so heavy
that only with a long and apparently established suit and an additional
Ace is the risk justified. It is realized that the case cited, namely, Ace,
King, Queen, and two others, may not prove to be an established (or
solid, as it is often called) suit. If however, the division be at all even,
as it is in the vast majority of cases, the suit can be run, and it is cited as
the minimum holding which may be treated as established.
With the present value of Clubs and Diamonds, either suit presents an
effective original declaration. There is, therefore, much less excuse
than formerly for a reckless No-trump bid, based upon five or six Club
or Diamond tricks and one other suit stopped. When, however, an Ace
of another suit accompanies the unusual Club or Diamond strength, the
advantage of being the first to bid No-trump makes the chance worth
taking.
The hands above cited as containing the minimum strength to warrant
the call are all what are known as "weak No-trumpers." This kind of
bidding may not be conservative, but experience has shown it to be
effective as long as it is kept within the specified limits. A No-trump
must, however, justify the partner in acting upon the assumption that
the bidder has at least the stipulated strength, and it merely courts
disaster to venture such a declaration with less than the conventional
holding.
A few examples may possibly make the above somewhat more clear, as
by that means the various "minimum-strength" or "border-line"
No-trumpers, and also hands which fall just below the mark, can be
accurately shown. It will be understood that an effort is made to give
the weakest hands which justify the No-trump declaration, and also the
hands which fall short by the smallest possible margin. In other words,
the hands which puzzle the Declarer. With greater strength or greater

weakness the correct bid is plainly indicated.
The suits are numbered, not designated by their respective names, in
order to emphasize that it does not matter where the weakness is
located.
HANDS IN WHICH THE NO-TRUMP DECLARATION IS
DOUBTFUL
Suit 1 King, Knave, X Does not contain an Ace, but is " 2 King, X, X
above the average and has four " 3 Queen, Knave, X suits stopped. It is
a No-trump " 4 Knave, Ten, X, X bid.
Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X Has an Ace, three suits stopped, " 2 X, X, X and
a Knave over the average. It " 3 King, X, X, X is a No-trump bid. " 4
Queen, Knave, X
Suit 1 Ace, Queen, X Has an Ace and two face cards " 2 King, Queen,
Knave more than the average, but, not " 3 X, X, X, X having three suits
stopped, is " 4 Knave, X, X not a No-trump bid.
Suit 1 King, Queen, X Has three suits stopped, but is " 2 King, Knave,
X, X without an Ace, and is one King " 3 Queen, Knave, X short of
three King suits all with " 4 X, X, X another face card. It is not a
No-trump bid.
Suit 1 King, Knave, X Has three King-Queen, or " 2 King, Queen, X
King-Knave suits. It is a No-trump " 3 King, Knave, X bid. " 4 X, X, X,
X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X Has three suits stopped and is " 2 Ace, X, X, X above
the average. It is a No-trump " 3 Queen, Knave, X bid. " 4 X, X, X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X This is the border-line hand " 2 King, X, X mentioned
above. It may be a " 3 X, X, X, X No-trump bid for an expert, but " 4
King, Knave, X the moderate player is hardly justified in risking it. The
presence of one or two Tens would add materially to the strength of
this hand and make it a No-trump.

Suit 1 Ace, X, X, X Only above the average to the " 2 King, Queen, X
extent of a Queen in place of " 3 Queen, X, X, X a Knave. No-trump is
not advised " 4 X, X unless Declarer is confident he can outplay his
adversaries.
Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X An average hand. With this holding " 2 King, X,
X only an expert is justified in " 3 Queen, X, X, X bidding No-trump. "
4 X, X, X
Suit 1 Ace, X, X Below the average, and, therefore, " 2 King, X, X only
"one Spade" should be bid. " 3 Queen, X, X, X " 4 X, X, X
Clubs } Has the