Correct contract bridge / by E.V. Shepard ; including the official Laws of contract bridge adopted by the Whist Club, New York, and by all the leading clubs in America.

POWERFUL HANDS

I53

Such holdings possess the probability of going
game in case they can be played at spades or hearts,
but an added trick is required to attain game probabilities at diamonds or clubs. Although the above
holdings barely possess game probabilities, you need
not be surprised to learn that players often advocate bidding two on smaller holdings; of course
these lighter bids will fall below game probabilities
and are suitable only for purposes of obtaining partial game scores and for emergencies.
Either the long suit system or the short suit system requires partner to hold a minimum of a single
definite trick (an ace or its equivalent K Q or two
side kings) to raise an opening bid of two. The
long suit system permits partner to assist although
he holds only two small trumps but the short suit
system requires partner to hold a minimum of four
small trumps or three including one of the high
honors. Of course an advocate of either long suit
or short suit system will open with a two-bid on all
long suits so employed by long suiters, so when an
opening bid of two is made by a short suiter it is
impossible to tell whether he holds a long suit or a
short one. Not knowing the length of suit held,
the opening bidder's partner must always assume
that a short suit is being bid-a serious handicap in
many instances.
In case the opening bidder's partner lacks the
prescribed trump strength for assisting 4-card suit
declarations, if he has one definite trick he proceeds
to declare any biddable suit; lacking a biddable
suit, one definite trick calls for a bid of 3-No