The "rescue" or weakness take-out is a warning not to be disregarded. Two Clubs or Diamonds over a No-trump is the most self-evident example, and after such a call by the partner it takes a holding of eight sure tricks to justify two No-trumps. Of course, with four Aces, seven tricks would warrant the call, on the theory that at the worst the 100 for the Aces would set off the possible loss by the double, and more than equal the loss if a double be not made.
FLAG-FLYING
The practice generally called "flag-flying" consists in overbidding an adverse declaration, which will surely result in game and rubber, with a holding which is not of sufficient strength to carry out the contract.
While at times flag-flying is of great advantage, in inexperienced hands it is apt to prove a dangerous expedient. The argument in its favor is obvious. The bonus of 250 points for the rubber really makes 500 points the difference between winning and losing, and in addition there must be computed the points and honors which would be scored by the adversaries in the deal with which they go game, and the points and honors which may be scored by the flag-flyers in the succeeding deal which they hope will carry them to their goal. On this basis flag-flyers estimate that it makes a difference of 600 points whether their opponents go out on the current deal or the flag-flyers score game on the next, and they claim that any loss under 600 is a gain. The estimate is correct; the claim, ridiculous. Whenever the next deal furnishes the player who offers the gambit sufficient strength to capture the rubber, he gains, when his loss has been under 600, but at best it is not more than an even chance that he will win, and when the pendulum swings in the adverse direction, the only result of the performance with the flag is to increase the size of the adversaries' rubber by the amount of the sacrifice. This continued indefinitely is bound to produce Auction bankruptcy.
The player who figures that, on the doctrine of chances, he and his partner will hold the strong cards once in every two deals, should remember that the fickle goddess would never have deserved nor received her well-earned title had she been even approximately reliable.
A run of bad luck may continue for an indefinite period. It has pursued good players not only for a day or a week, but continuously for months and years. It does not sound warnings announcing its appearance or disappearance. To attempt to fight it by the flag-flying process as a rule only multiplies the loss many fold. And yet, it must not be understood that the flag-flyer should always be shunned and condemned. When his loss amounts to only 100 or 200, or when, not detecting his purpose, the adversaries fail to double, and the loss is, therefore, smaller, the odds favor his exhibition of nerve. Flag-flying, however, is like dynamite: in the hands of a child or of one unfamiliar with its characteristics, it is a danger, the extent of which none can foretell; but used with skill, it becomes a tool of exceptional value.
It is only during the rubber game that even the most enthusiastic and expert flyer of the flag should allow it to wave. With a game out, to make the play successful Dame Fortune must bestow her favors twice in succession. Before taking such a long chance, a player should realize that there are future rubbers which he has an even chance of winning, and that it is better to minimize the present loss than to allow it to become so great that, even if good fortune follow, it will be impossible to recoup. On the first game of the rubber, or with a game in, and the adversaries still without a game, it is plainly too early and the situation is not sufficiently desperate to resort to any real flag-flying. Except when playing the rubber game, a voluntary loss of over 100 should never be considered.
VII
DOUBLING