To prevent a cross ruff, by leading trumps. _=Simple Inferences=_ from the fall of the cards usually supply the best guide in the matter of changing suits. If the Jack is led from K Q J x x, and wins the trick, partner may be credited with the Ace; and if the original leader has four trumps, and a card of re-entry, he should quit his established suit, and lead trumps to defend it. If the King and Ace have been led from A K x x, partner dropping the Queen on the second round, the suit should be changed, unless the original leader is strong enough to risk weakening his partner by forcing him to trump the third round. Four trumps are generally considered to be sufficiently strong to justify a force in this position. Some players will force, even with a weak hand, if the two cards played by the partner are small, and he has not availed himself of an artifice known as _=calling for trumps=_, which we shall consider presently. If the King and Ten have been led from K Q J 10, and on the second round one adversary has dropped the Eight, the other the Nine; the suit should be changed, as partner must have the Ace, and neither of the adversaries have any more. To lead such a suit again is called _=forcing both adversaries=_; as it allows one to make a small trump and the other to get rid of a losing card. If the Four has been led from J 8 6 4, and the adversaries have won the first trick with the Nine or Ten, A K Q must be against the leader and his partner, and the suit should be abandoned as hopeless, unless it is feasible to force the partner. If at any time there is a strong indication that the adversaries will have a cross-ruff, it is usually best to stop leading plain suits, and attempt to get out the trumps.
This saves endless disputes. _=BIDDING.=_ Beginning with the eldest hand, each player in turn, after examining his nine cards, can make _=one bid=_ for the privilege of naming the trump suit. The peculiarity of this bidding is that nobody sells, the bids being made _=to the board=_, as it is called. The bidder announces the number of points he thinks he can make (with his partner’s assistance) but does not name the trump suit. If a player will not bid, he says: “_=I pass=_.” After a bid has been made in its proper turn, any following player must bid higher or pass. No one is allowed to bid more than fourteen. There are no second bids, and a bid once made cannot be amended or withdrawn. The player who has made the highest bid is called upon to name the trump suit.
Ezzeka. FATHER S Fiddle. Feed the Dove. Find the Ring. Fippeny Morrell. Fire, Air, and Water. Fivestones. Flowers. Follow my Gable. Follow my Leader.