When a player is anxious to place his partner in the lead, the signal may be of the greatest possible value. Suppose, for example, he has two suits from which to choose. In one of these suits he is without strength, but his partner may have the Ace. In the other, he has the Ace himself, and his partner may have the King. If he guess the wrong suit, the Declarer will get in and take the rest of the tricks. By leading his Ace and watching the size of the card his partner plays, he can generally tell what to do. If the lowest card be played, he should shift the suit. In such a situation, if the partner wish the suit continued, and has more than two small cards, he should play the highest so as to emphasize the signal.
THE DISCARD
The discard which in Whist has been the subject of so many controversies, and which, even in Bridge, has created some discussion, does not assume nearly so great importance in Auction. The strength of the various suits having been clearly indicated by the bid, there is not as great opportunity to furnish new information by the discard.
It must not, however, be assumed, merely because the Auction discard is comparatively unimportant, that it is not worthy of consideration. True it is that there is no need to worry over any such complicated systems as strength or rotary discards. They are apt to confuse and produce misunderstandings far more damaging than any possible benefit which results when they work perfectly. The strength discard may compel the playing of a card which, if its suit be established, will win a trick, and the rotary is not always reliable, as the discarder may be void of the "next suit," or unable to discard from it because it is composed of high cards only or of necessary guards for single honors. The "odd-and-even" discard, that is, 3, 5, 7, 9, showing strength, 2, 4, 6, 8, weakness, is very satisfactory when the hands are made to order, but a certain proportion of hands fail to contain an odd card when the discarder desires to announce strength, or an even one when he has extreme weakness. The awkwardness, when using this system, of such a holding as 3, 5, 7, is self-apparent.
All these plans or fads had their innings in Whist, where important information had to be conveyed by the discard, but in Auction, they are about as necessary as pitching a curve to a blind batsman.
The plain, simple, old-fashioned discard from weakness is all that is used or required, provided it be understood that a signal in the discard means a reversal of its ordinary inference. A signal by discard (that is, for example, discarding first a 5, followed by a 2) is generally a showing of strength in that suit, and a most pronounced suggestion, if not an imperative command, that it be led at the first opportunity. The only case in which it is not an evidence of strength is when it shows a desire to ruff. The signal in the discard is most serviceable when the Declarer is playing a long suit, and the partner is in doubt which of the two remaining suits to keep guarded. In this case it may not be a command to lead, but merely a wireless message saying, "I have this suit stopped; you take care of the other."
A signal in a discard to show strength is only necessary when it is not advisable to discard once from each of the other suits, which by inference gives the same information, yet does not shorten the strong suit.
Strength information can often be transmitted by the weakness discard, just as quickly and more simply than by the now generally abandoned strength discard. For example, the discard of the lowest card shows weakness and negatives all possibility of a strength signal, but if the first discard be as high as a 7 or 8, and the partner can read, from the general composition of his hand and the Dummy, that the discarder must hold a lower card in that suit, he gets the information at once.
Regardless of showing his partner strength or weakness, the player has ample opportunity to give evidence of skill in discarding. Too much information should never be given to the Declarer when he is in the lead and controls the situation. There are many hands in which it becomes obvious that all the adversaries of the Declarer can hope to accomplish is the saving of a slam, or the taking of one more trick. The question is not what to tell the partner to lead when he gets in, but how to win a single trick. In such a case, a bluff discard, i.e., showing strength where it does not exist, is sometimes effective, although a keen Declarer is not apt to be easily deceived by any ruse so transparent. One thing to remember under such circumstances, however, is not to help the Declarer by showing weakness, so that he will know which way to finesse. In No-trumps or with the Trumps exhausted, never discard a singleton, or too many cards of a weak suit.
When a suit has been declared, it is unnecessary, by informatory discarding, to repeat the announcement of strength. This principle, just as is the case with other systems of play, is predicated upon the ability of the partner to remember the bids. If, however, he be unable to do so, information by discard will obviously be sowing seed on barren ground, and should be withheld, as the Declarer is the only one who will reap any benefit.