Auction of To-day | Page 2

change has been due to the development of the game, the alteration that has taken place in the count having been the main factor in the transformation. Just as a nation, in the course of a century, changes its habits, customs, and ideas, so Auction in a few months has developed surprising innovations, and evolved theories that only yesterday would have seemed to belong to the heretic or the fanatic. The expert bidder of last Christmas would find himself a veritable Rip Van Winkle, should he awake in the midst of a game of to-day.
The present tourist along the newly macadamized Auction highway has no modern signpost to guide him, no milestone to mark his progress. The old ones, while most excellent when erected, now lead to abandoned and impassable roads, and contain information that of necessity confuses and misleads.
Beyond doubt, the present game, like other modern improvements, has come to stay, and with that belief the following pages are offered as an aid to the thorough understanding of the new order of things.
Until the latter part of 1911, practically all players used the same count in Auction that had for years obtained in Bridge; namely, No-trump, 12; Hearts, 8; Diamonds, 6; Clubs, 4; and Spades, 2. The change was first suggested by the author, and it, therefore, seems only appropriate that he, having had the good fortune to conceive a system which has been endorsed by general adoption, should have the privilege of giving to the Auction-loving public his views upon the most advantageous methods of playing the game under the new conditions, and thus possibly help to allay the confusion created by the introduction of an innovation so drastic.
In this connection, it may be interesting to recall how this new count, which is now so universally used that it should be called, not the "new" count, but "the" count, came to be suggested, and why it met with popular favor.
When Auction first took the place of Bridge as the paramount game in the club and social life of the scientific card-player of the United States (just as Bridge had previously superseded Whist), it was but natural that the Bridge count should be continued in Auction.
Admitting that these values were the best possible for Bridge (and of that there is considerable doubt in the mind of the player of to-day), it, nevertheless, did not mean that for the new and very different game of Auction they would of necessity be the most suitable. It was soon found that the No-trump was so much more powerful than any other bid that competition was almost eliminated. With even unusually strong suits, only occasionally could a declaration valued at 12 be successfully combated by one valued at 8 or less, and the vast majority of hands were, consequently, played without a Trump.
The inherent theory of the game of Auction provides for a bidding in which each one of the four suits competes with each other, and also with the No-trump. Using the Bridge count, this does not take place. The two black suits, by reason of their inconsequential valuation, are practically eliminated from the sea of competitive bidding. The Diamond creates only a slight ripple, and even the Heart has to be unusually strong to resist the strenuous wave of the No-trump.
Players in different parts of the country realized that as long as the Bridge count was used, five bids could not compete in the race, as, due to unequal handicapping, the two blacks could barely pass the starter, while the two reds could not last long in a keen contest.
The desire to make the Spade a potent declaration had appeared in Bridge; Royal Spades, valued at 10, having been played by some unfortunates who believed that, whenever they had the deal, the fickle goddess favored them with an undue proportion of "black beauties." As competitive bidding is not a part of the game of Bridge, that could not be offered as a reason for increasing the value of the Spade, and to be logical, Royal Clubs should also have been created. Naturally, Royal Spades never received any very large or intelligent Bridge following, but as making the Spade of value was in line with the obvious need of Auction, as soon as that game became the popular pastime, Royal Spades (or Lilies, as they were perhaps foolishly called in some places, the pseudonym being suggested by the color of the Spade), valued at 11 and at 10, were accorded a more thorough trial.
They met objection on the ground that three Royals, equally with three No-trumps, carried a side to game from a love score, and, therefore, while some continued to experiment with Royals, it cannot be said that they were anywhere accepted as a conventional part of Auction. Finally, some clever