This part of the game merits much more consideration than a cursory knowledge of Bridge would suggest. The ordinary Bridge player is confused by the many difficulties attendant on discarding, and his cards are apt to be injudiciously thrown away. It would greatly simplify the discard if you were always to throw away your lowest card or to follow some other hard-and-fast rule; but, unfortunately, the discard is so affected by the particular situation and by the previous play as to preclude the possibility of establishing such a rule. When you advise the beginner to throw away a high card instead of a two spot, the situation appears to him hopeless; he fails to realise that at times high cards have little value, and, to obtain the lead, honours and even smaller cards must be properly protected.

When opposed to the dealer, it should be your aim both to protect your hand and to give your partner information. As the eldest hand, your opening lead indicates strength or weakness; any subsequent discard is simply the card that you can best spare, and is not intended to convey any definite information. As the original leader, it is important that you know your partner’s suit, and this information he should convey to you by a recognised system of discarding decided on before beginning the game. Thus the discard from the strength or from weakness refers only to the first card thrown away by the younger hand.

There are three methods of discarding used by Bridge players, each having the same object—to protect the hand and to give information.

Some merit may be claimed for each; but there is a wide difference of opinion regarding the relative values of these discards. In Whist, as well as in Bridge, there has always been more or less discussion on this point. It can, however, be stated that the foremost authorities on Whist have uniformly agreed that with strength declared against you, the best discard is from your strong suit.

THE DISCARD AGAINST A DECLARED TRUMP

The great majority of Bridge players use the strength discard against a trump declaration, and there is little doubt that this is sound. It is imperative that you protect honours in the weaker suits, for rarely will your long suit be brought in against the dealer.

The claim made by those who use the weak discard against a trump make is that it permits them to throw away a short suit, and thus eventually to establish a “ruff.” When a player is discarding from strength, this “ruff” can be obtained with equal facility by the proper use of the reverse discard.

Without a doubt the weak discard should be used on a spade declaration that has been doubled either by you or your partner. In this case, trump strength is probably with you, not against you. The same argument cannot be used, however, on a doubled heart, diamond, or club, whereas spades may have been declared from weakness, the other declarations indicate trump strength.

THE DISCARD AT “NO-TRUMP”

The writer has placed himself on record as being in favour of the strength discard, and since doing so has seen nothing that would tend to change his views on this subject.

A theory of good play may be so unfortunately worded as to convey a mistaken impression, and it is amusing to hear the various methods of discarding discussed by players of little experience; not long since, a hand was published to illustrate the loss of one trick by discarding strength, when an ace is first lost by bad play, and the discard so palpably wrong as to insult the partner’s intelligence.

To those who have not taken the time to analyse hands thoroughly, the discard of a card that may possibly make, naturally seems the waste of a trick; but consider how seldom a suit, not led originally, is brought in against a “no-trump” make; remember that you do not expect to win on the adversary’s make, but only hope to minimise your loss, and that often in trying to save all the cards of your long suit, honours in the weaker suits are unguarded which, if properly protected, would have won tricks.

An objection that is raised to discarding from weakness at “no-trumps” is that one discard does not positively show your strong suit. In many hands, to be sure, your partner can obtain the information from the cards in dummy, but at times, when one suit has been led and another discarded, your partner is left in doubt as to the suit to lead, and a wrong guess may result in serious loss.

Again, the discard from weakness may betray your partner’s hand, by giving information that will enable the dealer to finesse successfully. The dealer is more likely to have strength in your weak, than in your strong suit.

The discard from weakness is of no material help to your partner in discarding, as you may hold a high honour in your weak suit, while with the strength discard, your partner, when he is forced to protect his hand, does not fear to unguard honours in your suit.

If you were to play a hundred deals of “no-trump” hands, making the first discard from the weak suit, and then replay the hands making the first discard from strength, the result would be overwhelmingly in favour of the strength discard. It is impossible to make the first discard from weakness uniformly without unguarding honours in the adversaries’ suits, and only the novice attempts to do so.

To say that one should always make the discard from weakness or from strength is wrong both in theory and in practise. No hard-and-fast rule can be followed without loss. With confidence that an intelligent partner will read your discards, you can allow common sense and reason to dictate the occasions to deviate from the rule.

You should aim first, to protect your hand; second, to give your partner information; and, third, to keep your long suit. In the majority of hands, it is immaterial whether you discard from strength or from weakness, but in those which show a difference, the strength discard does not in any hand lose more than one trick, while the loss occasioned by the discard from weakness varies from one to four tricks in a hand.

If you use the strength discard and find it advisable in any particular hand to throw away your weak suit, you can always do so by using the reverse discard. This is also true when the weak discard is used, but, unfortunately, in the latter case, two cards from your strong suit must be thrown away.

No matter what system of discarding you may use, occasionally a trick will be lost, but after an analysis of over ten thousand deals the writer is of the firm opinion that the discard from strength at “no-trump” will lose less than the discard from weakness.

HINTS ON DISCARDING

If three suits have been led or shown, do not attempt to discard from strength. You question your partner’s intelligence. If your only four-card suit contains but one honour, do not indicate strength unless you are particularly desirous of having that suit led to you.

When you have no suit that you are anxious to show, discard from the suit led originally by your partner, or even, when it is obviously established, from the adversary’s suit. This implies that you have no strength to indicate, but you are protecting your hand.

It is bad policy to discard all the cards of one suit, as it betrays any strength your partner may hold.

As the younger hand, infer from your partner’s discards what suit he is guarding.

When the dealer can lead through a king in your hand, try to keep it twice guarded.

It would be unwise to discard from an established suit if you hold a sure re-entry card; as all you require is the lead, the best discard is from the suit containing the re-entry card.

If you hold a tenace or strength in a suit over the dummy hand, it may be a better discard than your longest suit.

When your partner has shown a four or five-card suit, don’t look to him for much further strength.

Protect all four-card suits even if they are but to the nine or ten, and remember a jack or ten twice guarded will often block the dealer’s suit.

Watch the dealer’s discards and protect the suit that he is saving.

THE REVERSE DISCARD

In discarding, the play of a high and then a lower card reverses the original meaning of the discard. If you adopt the strength discard, and wish to throw away your weak suit at “no-trump” do so by discarding first a high and then a lower card. If you use the weak discard and wish to protect your weak suits, discard first a high and then a lower card from your strong suit.

The reverse discard may be used when it is shown that two discards can be made.

DISCARDING BY THE DEALER

The discard offers fewer difficulties to the dealer whose two hands reveal the suit that should be protected, and show the cards that can be conveniently spared.

In a “no-trump” hand it is especially necessary to guard all weak suits; not forgetting that a four-card suit to the ten will often block the opponent’s lead.

The second suit that they will open is often shown by the adversary’s discards; and this, too, will aid you to prepare a proper defence.

When you hold trump strength discard losing cards from one hand on winning ones in the other.

At times it may be necessary to discard high cards to unblock a suit and to protect honours in another suit.

In discarding endeavour to conceal both your weakness and your strength; you may often mislead your opponents and tempt them to lead to your strong suit.