Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-02-22
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.

The Gfsas impsrtaass q tAs fsssp
Lssd-Ths Fiassss ~ UsblsehiaU.
In whist thess b mov ignorance Displayed
IN the management Of trumps than perhaps
any other branch Of the game The average
player geuerally makes the error Of lsadisg
out his tfumps from suit Of four Of lsGD
when he has no business TO lead them q III.
Tho old rule 'when In doubt lead trumus"
has caused moro havoc than would readily b
supposed. But IL the whist student will bear
in mind just What the trump d for end the
reason II is played at all, he cannot 20 far
wrong In his trump lead. Il is obvious 70
any one who has studied ct all the philooo-
ply OF whist that trumps can only b uSsd
In two ways to advantage ~ to sxhause
the trumps In the opponents' hands and,
by having one or two left over n
your own, to uss these one or two
as cards Of re-entry for the establishments of
your own or your partners suit, or o. whom
you haven't enough trumps in your own
hand, 30 that by leading you can exhaust
those In your opponents hands, to make
tricks by trumping The first is the ofYsndvs
play; the second is the defensive. The reason
why whist authorities will not, under ordi-
nary conditions, permit the original lead Of
trumps from a suit Of four, ID because four
the opponents hands. For instance, A has
four trumps, B, his partner. has one, G has
five and d has three Now II A should lead
out his trumps, after the fourth round hs
would not have any left, while G, his left
hand opponent, would have one. Consequent
ly, A would be playing his opponents hand.
But II the trhmps are evenly distributed
then AS trump lead would be proper under
certain conditions. The only way, Of course,
that he can tell whether they are evenly dis
tributed Is by watching the fall Of the cards
during the first two or three rounds-to
notice, for instance, II either Of his opponents
signals for trumps. Then again, IL A has
good plain suits back Of his four trumps, .
trump lead may be correct even II one Of his
opponents has five. for A may be able to force
his opponents trump hand.
The main object for A to determine Is, Of
course, whether he can exhaust the trumyA
in his opponents hand. He can almost always
do it IL he has five trumps; he may do it IL hs
has four, possibly II he has three and good
plain suits to force with. But all this de-
pends on the fall Of the cards The hand
which follows deserves to be carefully studied.
It illustrates the skillful use Of the trumps by
two partners and also how q suit may be un-
blocked, two very important points. Il also
brings into play one Of the subtleties Of
fnesse, and shows to what an extent the
fnesse can be carried.
The hands are as follows;
Az, 3 hearts, diamonds, q, kn, Q, 8, 9, 4
clubs, X, q, 9, 3spades
B-A, 10, 8, 0, 4, 8 hearts, 8. 4 diamonds,
k, 10, 8, 3 clubs, 10 spades.
C-Kn hearts, X, q. KIN, Q, Z, . diamonds. .
clubs, a, KIN, s, 8, spades.
DIX, q, 0, 5 hearts, a, 10, 8, 8 diamonds,
a, clubs, 2, 8, spades
Q clubs turned by A.
Round &c k d, BAD, d Sd, A3d Ds
play of the s deserves attention. He does not
wish to block his partners suit and he re-
members the rule which applies to the case
When your partner leads originally from
suit of which you have four play the third
best and then the second best, otherwise you
may block his suit IN the fourth rould.
Round &C KIN d, B 8 d, d 10d, A4c.
Round 3-A Sc, C2c, b 10c, d ac.
BIS finesse here is remarkable and shows
great skill Here is probably his reasoning
A leads from his fourth best. (B) have the
k and 10, consequently A must have in his
hand, outside of the and 10, all but ono
card higher than the 8. This card is just a.
liable to be in Cs as in AS hand therefore
will keep my and play my 10. As it hap
pened, the WAS the one card higher held by
the opponents, and ID held it; but IL had
played his k he would have lost tho trick
This play gives agood insight into the flnesse.
Round 4-D a d, A SC, B ed, b l9a
Round 5-A KIN C, G rs, C, D7c.
makes another play which deserves st-
tention. When you have four trumps and
your partner leads, it is your duty to call his
attention to the number you hold as soon a.
possible, SO that he may avoid leading once
too often. This can be done by the raturn
lead (when you hold three by returning your
highest and then next highest, and when you
hold four or more by returning the fourth
best, or by echoing playing an unnecessari
ly high trump before a low trump on your
partners lead. But it happens in this case
that B has no means of informing his partner
as to the number he holds. He knows that
the kn is good, but if he passes it A may lead
again. B therefore takes the trick with the
x, and in the next round returns plain suit,
in the hope that after that the fall of the
cards will show A that he (B) has two trumps
left
Round 6-B a h. d 5 h, A 2h, G knh.
Round 7-B o h, ID q h, A 7b, Cos.
Round Sd K b, Acc, Css, Bah.
Round "a IS, Cas-, &c., D4s.
1t is useless to continue the game by
rounds. B now brings in his hearts, and A
and b take all the rest of the tricks A and
make by points.
desire once more to call attention to Ds
play of the diamonds By playing his Of
diamonds on Cs lead, and then his 10, he Is
left with the 6, which had his partner had
an opportunity he could have played on C's
lead without blocking Cs suit This could
not be done if had held up the TO-
Ton LANSING.