The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-03
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.

To one who is controlled by desire to
learn some of the mysteries of the game of
whist, and who brings to it an ordinary in
telligence. it is surprising how rapid the
advancement is; and here it may be well to
note briefly como of the changes which
have taken place in the game since its in
fancy. The average stock IN trade of the
card player is that you must follow suit or
trump, play second hand low, third hand
high, lead from your largest suit, lead
trumps II you have five or more, and re-
turn your partners lead in. plain suits and
always in trumps. This marks one of the
first stages of the game. Then the power
of fnesse becomes gradually apparent.
eff have q king and knave," said the
thoughtful player Fand ny partner leads
the suit Will play knave third hand as the
chances are against the knave being at my
left" It was of course easily apparent that
this could be done equally well with the
ace and the queen, the knave and nine,
ETC., and thai this principle of play could
be used in variety Of ways never dreamed
of before. It probably reached its culmi-
nation In Deschapples, the great French
player, whose power OF finesse was SO for
midable to his opponents.
card played before a low one}, while in
one sense # was tho result Of accident,
at the same time grew out of a necessity
for informing your partner that you want
ed trumps led. 1t was frequently the case
that a player finding himself strong in
trumps and not having the lead lost the
game through his inability to draw them
out.
4. L !. AN1A Ii
became prominent the game was essentially
English. Its development had arrived at
certain stage. Honors were counted. This
introduced into the game an element of
chance. The play of trumps, the establish
ment Of the long suit, the signal for trumps,
the conveyance of information, unlocking
and the fineSse were all under the most
vigorous discussion. POoiss famous essay
on the philosophy of whist was welcomed
and applauded. Poole's idea was that the
two hands should ba played as one, and
that each player should endeavoT, by every
means in his power, to transport himself
into the hand OF his partner, Just at this
point in the progress Of tbs GENE arose a
new light on the horizon 1t was to be
demonstrated tAat q new element could be
introduced into the game.
About six years ago the late Nicholas B.
Trist, Of New Orleans, first introduced the
idea of conveying information by the nu-
merical value Of the cards. In order to see
the value Of this discovery, let as under
stand the precise idea of whist play. OF
two partners, one must necessarily be
stronger than the other. This may be
shown before a card Is played; it may be
shown during the first round or later, but
the moment that IL is shown the weaker
player plays his partners game. 1t is,
therefore, of the utmost Importance for a
player to know just hat cards his partner
holds This power CT conveying informa-
ton had always been recognized and dis
CusSed. Mr. Frist was the first TO reduce
it to a scientific basis. lie showed the nu-
merical value of each card and its power of
conveying information. HIS first discov-
cry was the play Of the fourth best. When
YOU open q long suit, he said, always play
your fourth best.
II after the first round you play one card
lower than the one you led, your partner
knows you mast have held five at least
originally; If yen play two cards lower,
then lie knows yea must have led from six
at least, and 50 On. Il you playa high card
Of your long suit, follow it with your orig
inal fourth best. Your partner knows you
must have two better than the second card
led
The next thing Mr.. Trist discovered was
the conveyance Of information by high
cards, and he formulated this rule: With
Two high. Indifferent cards lead the higher
if you opened a suit Of four, the lower il
you opened a suit of FIVE
These rules OF play rcvoiutioned the game,
and still further has whist baaa reduced u
an exact science by what is termed "the
new play which deals with eQuences. II
tells you how, with Il certain mum Ser OF
cards in sequences they should be played so
as 70 convey the srnatest amount of infor-
nation to your paro1e-. Another distinct
lively American play is the play Of the 9,
which is never led except with X and kn, and
never with Gee or q. The American play
has been adopted in England. and is the
standard Ton LANSING