A short suit, that is, one of three cards or less, should never be bid originally, regardless of its strength. Even the holding of Ace, King, Queen, does not justify the naming of such a suit.
While the doctrine above enunciated as to the minimum strength required for a Trump bid is unquestionably logical and is now regarded as conventional by a very large proportion of the expert players of Auction, it is only natural that there should be some dissent. There is a certain character of mind that always desires to carry any sound theory to dangerous extremes, and, consequently, some players and writers have seen fit, while adopting the theory which has altered the old system of always starting with one Spade into the modern informatory game, to advocate extensions which would practically eliminate the defensive declaration.
These extremists desire to permit a Dealer to bid whenever he has a long suit, regardless of whether it be headed by high cards, and also whether it would aid a No-trump. One system suggested is that a Trump be called whenever the Dealer holds any suit which counts 7, on the basis of an Ace or face counting 2, and any lower card, 1. The believers in this doctrine would, therefore, bid a Club from such a hand as Queen, Knave, X, X, X, without any possibility of another trick; or even from Knave, X, X, X, X, X. The absurdity of this becomes obvious when it is remembered that the only real object in bidding a Club or Diamond is to show strength which will justify the partner in declaring one of the three game-going declarations. Any such holding as that mentioned not only does not help any other declaration, but as a matter of fact is a hand so far under the trick-taking average that, if any method could be devised by which weakness could be emphasized more strongly than by making the defensive declaration, such a hand would fully justify employing it. It is difficult to conceive what benefit can result to a partnership from any such weakness being, for the purpose of the declaration, changed into alleged strength. If a player declare with any such combination, his power to give information when he really possesses strength of course immediately ceases to exist, and the entire structure of informative bidding thereby drops to pieces.
The system of suit declarations above outlined, and upon which all that is hereinafter suggested in relation to bidding is based, must be followed by players who wish to give their partners accurate data, and while it may be tempting at times to depart from the conventional, the more frequently such exception is made by the Dealer in his bid, the more often does misunderstanding between the partners ensue.
VARIOUS IDEAS OF THE TWO SPADE BID
Every game of the Whist family has some point upon which experts disagree, and which, consequently, produces apparently interminable discussion.
In Auction, it is the two Spade bid, and no less than four recognized factions have widely divergent views concerning it. These views may be briefly stated as follows:—
(a) With the border-line No-trumpers now in vogue, a hand not strong enough to bid No-trump is too weak to warrant any call but one Spade. The two Spade bid is, therefore, useless and should never be made.
(b) The two Spade bid should be used as a No-trump invitation with any hand not quite strong enough to justify a No-trump call. Having this meaning it does not matter whether the hand contain any Spade strength.
(c) The two Spade bid should be used as a No-trump invitation, but must also give the additional information that the hand contains at least one trick in Spades.