21 NOVEMBER 1908, Page 46

The Laws of Auction Bridge. (De La Rue and Co.

6d.)—The speciality of auction bridge is that the dealer is bound to declare —he cannot "leave" it—and that the other players may outbid him. He declares, e.g., to win one trick in hearts, his left-hand adversary declares to win one trick in no trumps; the dealer's partner can outbid this by declaring to win two or more tricks in, no trumps. A greater number of tricks of equal value is an outbid; so two spades outbid one club, three clubs two diamonds, and two diamonds one no trump. This may or may not be an improvement on the old game ; the largely increased rubber, rewards, and penalties are not. They simply tend to gambling. Unfortunately, it is not the game but the gamble that most players care about.