"Passing" Goulashes in Contract Bridge

LELIA HATTERSLEY

A New Diversion Which Succeeds in Making Contract a Little Less Serious and Conventional

TO those Contract players who are only recent and reluctant converts to the idea of playing Goulashes, it may come as a shock to learn that straight Goulash deals are considered really quite old-fashioned and out of date. Now it is the "passing" type of Goulashes which hold the vogue, filling as they do, the popular demand for bigger and better hands, for frequent slams, magnificent sets, and exciting times in general.

The argument that such a form of diversion has no place in a serious game of Contract can best be answered by saying:

"Probably not. But it's terribly thrilling." As a matter of fact the idea of passing cards in a Goulash deal is not new. It was introduced more than a year ago with the so-called Philadelphia Goulashes. This form of the game consisted in exchanging three cards in turn with each of one's adversaries and then four cards with one's partner. The Philadelphia Goulash never attained widespread popularity because it was too involved and slow-moving.

THEN someone conceived the idea that the dazzling hands of the Philadelphia Goulashes could be retained and the tedium eliminated simply by doing away with the exchange of cards between the adversaries. The present mode in Goulashes demands just a quick exchange of four cards between partners, and then on with the bidding.

Since everybody is playing these Passing Goulashes, and since ignorance of their many pitfalls is apt to wreck the family Bridge purse, it is well to take them up forearmed with some knowledge of their strategy and technic.

There can be no question but that the keynote of success in Passing Goulashes is consideration of one's partner. If you consider the passing of four cards from your hand merely as an opportunity to discard, you are predestined to failure. Only occasionally, when you have, for example, a long and powerful major suit are you justified in unloading on your partner the undesirable cards from your hand regardless of whether or not they may fit with his. Even when bent on the purpose of building up a dominating hand for yourself, it is often possible to pass winning cards to your partner without sacrificing your own holding. In preparing to pass four cards from the following hand, for instance:

your first impulse might naturally prompt you to select the two small Hearts and the deuce and three-spot of Diamonds. Stopping to consider your partner's hand as well as your own you would realize that, while you must discard the two Hearts, the Ace and King of Diamonds are the proper cards to pass with them. These tricks may enable your partner to make a desirable double or bid, and they will be equally valuable to you in his hand as in your own.

When your transfer includes a card of your strong suit, as would be the case in the following hand:

it is advisable to pass your partner a sevenspot or better to indicate your strength. Avoid, however, breaking up your honour holding for this purpose. Remember that there is always the possibility of receiving from your partner some complementary honours which will give you four or five in one hand.

Many players advocate passing a seven, eight, or nine to indicate that they hold an Ace but not necessarily length in a certain suit. Better policy usually dictates passing the Ace of a short suit rather than a signal card.

It is not really the big suit hands which present the most diffcult problems of Passing Goulashes, but the more general run of mixed and indefinite hands. The important point to keep in mind in such cases is that, lacking the probability of developing an aggressive bid from your own hand, you must play for your partner's.

Whenever you have just four cards of a major suit it is well to pass them intact. Such a holding should not be broken up even for the purpose of adding a side Ace. If this is your partner's suit, the advantage of the transfer is self evident. Should the suit happen to be an opponent's, your defensive position is strengthened by this concentration of adverse trumps. ,

IN passing cards the defensive element should not be ignored. Keep in mind that a Passing Goulash almost invariably produces a game bid, very frequently a slam, and that your adversaries will, on a fair average, play half the hands. Against this contingency you should, whenever possible, prepare an adequate defense. Be generous to your partner, but never let your altruism prompt you to break up a major suit of five or more cards.

As the minor suits play rather a weak part in the high-powered bidding of Passing Goulashes, there is no objection to divesting your hand of the top cards of a minor suit, when the indications are that such a disposition may benefit your partner. Here is a hand where the passing of four top Diamonds would seem to be advisable:

A three-card major suit is usually a favourable "pass" especially when a side Ace can be added for good measure. A two-card major suit should usually be passed. The brevity of the suit in your own hand makes it likely that you may find your partner's length. Avoid, however, muddling your partner's hand with an assortment of suits. Suppose you held the following hand:

the four top clubs should go to your partner, not the Ace and Queen of Clubs with the King of Spades and Queen of Hearts.

STICK to one or two suits unless it is possible to pass a really worth while collection of odd cards, as, for example, the three Aces and the Queen from the following hand:

The bidding of a Passing Goulash is often quite simple and clear-cut. To begin with, you have definite knowledge of four certain cards in your partner's hand. From the consignment which you receive from him it is usually possible to make some deductions concerning his remaining cards. If your partner passes two, three, or four cards of a major suit, you may surmise that he has stripped his hand of that suit. Any single high card other than an honour may be read as a signal of length and strength. Upon receiving a donation of four top cards as the Ace and King of Spades, Ace of Hearts and Ace of Clubs, your inference must be that your partner has given up his only strength to you. In the other case, an assortment of low cards in odd suits carries the message that your partner's holding is sufficiently powerful to justify him in sacrificing your hand.

When bidding an exceptionally long and strong suit, without defensive side tricks, it is frequently advisable to camouflage your strength in your opening declaration. Unless your opponents are vulnerable or happen to be exceedingly timid bidders, they will rarely allow you to hold an initial declaration for grand slam in a minor suit. Such a betrayal of strength seldom passes unchallenged in this game where the adversaries, forearmed with a knowledge of each other's cards, can usually muster some fairly adequate defensive bid.

Because of the unequal advantage of a nonvulnerable side over the opponents who have a game in, many players follow the policy of scoring all Goulash penalties and bonuses as though both sides were vulnerable.

With the freakish distribution of Goulash hands, a sound bid at no trumps almost never occurs. For this reason it is advantageous in Goulash bidding to employ the declaration of one no trump for informatory purposes when holding a powerful three-suited hand. This convention is much like an informatory double, compelling a take-out which enables you to find your partner's best suit.

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To justify this forcing bid of one no trump your cards must be dominating enough to keep the situation in control should your partner's take-out come in your missing suit. The following hand illustrates how this convention could be used to good effect:

You have passed your partner four Spades to the Ace Queen and received four Spades from him. It is impossible to deduce what suit he might be holding, but a signal bid of one no trump will bring out this information. Should your partner respond with either hearts or clubs, you could carry on for a grand slam. If he takes out with diamonds, your cue is to rebid in no trumps, announcing that he has named your missing suit, and asking if he has length in a second.

When contemplating an assisting bid the player inexperienced in Passing Goulashes must be warned against assisting on cards which have been passed to him and are already included in his partner's bid. The question which confronts the assisting player is "How many supporting tricks have I in my own hand, over and above my partner's knowledge?"