Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-09-07
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.
Difhcu,ty OF Attaining Great Skill In II
Game--The Power to Finesse.

DifHculty Of Attaining Great Skill In the
Game--The Power to Finesse.
Learning to play whist is good deal like
learning TO write shorthand Almost any
one by practice can learn to write one hun.
dred words minute, or possibly may get up
to one hundred and twenty-five, but beyond
that very few writer's go, although almost
every shorthand writer claims that he can
So in whist it Is easy 70 get up to a certain
point, but beyond that few can go. Any one
who has mastered the rules of the game may
be able TO play ii for some time perfectly;
but every once in while the occasion arises
which only the really great whist player can
meet One of the greatest and most difficult
of plays is the grand coup of which Deschap-
peles was such a master, and which is ex-
planned in every good whist book. But gen.
orally speaking the test of a good whist
player is in his power TO fnessc.
remember, at a recent game which | sat
in, held the and kn Of spades. My part
ner played a small spade, and knowing by
the fall of the cards that the KIN was good !
played it third hand, reserving my ace to
capture the king if possible. 1t would of
course have been bad play to have dropped
the ace. A stranger who was watching my
hand, when hc saw me put on the jack and
have learned the rule third hand high, - said
after the hand was played: "Umphl Don't
you know that it is the rule TO play third
hand high. OF course knew what the rule
was, but rules in whist are not like the laws
of the Medes and Persians. Learn them
first and then mix them up with common
sense. Some people claim that you are often
apt TO deceive your partner, but you won't
if he knows what he is about
1t would De impossible in a short article TO
give all the rules about finessing, and indeed
1t is not necessary. Once the principle is
understood, it will apply itself to every case
Suppose, for instance that you have the k,
kn, . and S, and the player on your right
leads originally the s S. We are, Of course,
supposing that ho plays from his fourth best
Now, an instants thought will show you at
.onco that he has in his hand the a, 9 and 10,
because he must have three cards above the 8,
and you have the Others. Now, the proper
play, ordinarily second hand, would be the y,
but YOU know that the in this case will take
the trick, and YOU play 1t. This won't de
ceive your partner, because he will be on the
lookout for just such play, and he will know
that when you play the d afterward you
were not signaling for trumps. The rule
about the trump signal is not to play high
card beforea low one, but TO play high card
unnecessarily before low one.
The instance given above can be applied to
your partners play. Suppose he held the a,
a 10 and S S, and should play the S. As you
hold the k, kn, 9 and q, his g. of course, would
be perfectly good Daring trumps), and you
would pass 1t, unless for some other reason
you desired the lead 1t is a common rule
with and q to play q third hand but a stu
dent of the game will readily perceive that
this principle can be applied TO vast number
of other cases. TON LANSING.