Sarasota Herald-Tribune – 19 Nov 1951
E/W vulnerable, South dealer
Lead:Â 
3
In rubber bridge or in a total-point bridge contest a part-score contract is of only limited importance. You can’t afford to bid too vigorously when the strength is evenly divided because it doesn’t pay to expose yourself to a possibly severe penalty when all you can gain is a part score.
The safest way to compete in these situations is to open the bidding with even the barest requirements for an opening bid. We can see the advantage of this procedure by examining a hand played in the recent contest for the team championship of the United States.
At one table, as shown in the diagram, South opened the bidding with his -minnie. The opponents just never entered the auction, and it is hard to blame them for staying out. They were vulnerable, and the penalty might be severe if they stepped out of line. North made three hearts easily enough, for a score of 140 points. He had to lose two diamonds and one spade and good luck in the trump suit restricted his losses there to one trick.
In the other room, South decided that his hand was not worth an opening bid. Certainly his hand is no rock-crusher, but the point is that if he fails to open the bidding he may never be able to get back into the auction.
This was indeed the case, for the bidding proceeded:
South  West   North  East
Pass   1     Pass   2
Pass   Pass   Pass
This time it was West who made nine tricks with ease, for a score of 140 points. He had to lose a spade, a heart, and two clubs, and the overtrick depended only on guessing the location of the queen of diamonds.
The difference between opening the bidding and passing turned out to he 280 points Quite a few points for a part score hand.
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