Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-02-04
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.
A Game Recently Played Illustrating q
Point of Strategy IN Trumps.

As'"h '" "'ebs !" h'hniN|
In the following game, which was recently
PLAYED at Hot Springs, Ark, it /, not CON
tended bN the writer that the whist played
was by ANY means perfect, but il illustrates a
number Of important points in the game, and
il carefully studied will be found Of great
use TO the learner. The best way is TO get a
pack Of cards and play the hand out, at the
same time noting after each play the various
reasonings and differences of each player as
given herewith. While these may I've de.
fectiye they will nevertheless be found Of
great aid to a right understanding of the
game. Let the reader see il he can pick a
flaw in them. The hands are as follows, A
and B playing against { and ID:
As, 5 Of hearts, a, 3 Of diamonds, a, KIN,
2, d, 8 Of clubs, a, X, q, 5 Of spades.
DO, KIN, 10, ? Of hearts, q, KIN, Q, 4 Of
diamonds, . of clubs, KIN, 8, 5, . OF spades.
CO, 4 Of hearts, k, 10, :. d of diamonds, K,
q, s, 5, 4 Of clubs. Il, Z Of diamonds
D-A, k, o.. I, ; Of hearts, :. 3, 9 of dia-
monds, 10, OF clubs, 10, 9, 4 of spades.
A deals, and IL Is therefore Cs first lead.
A glance at all # the hands, which is the
privilege Of the reader, but wa not Of the
players, will show that the battle will lie be-
tween 4 AMI {. Each is strong in trumps,
each having ), and each has a fair hand to
back up his trumps with.
Round &c kc, B &c, Dec, A3c. c,
having 5 clubs and being strong in diamonds,
concludes to lead trumps. As he has the q
back Of the K, he leads the K in order To bring
out the a. This is the proper play for n plain
suit, but In trumps a backward game should
be played, Cs proper play was the fourth
best. A, who is also strong in trumps and
very strong in spades, having them practi.
cally established for him ut the outset, does
not take the trick with the a Of clubs. He
has a double purpose in this. Heallows c To
play his own AS game and he leaves c in
doubt as to where the a lies.
Round &c 4 C, b 4 d, ID 10 C, A KIN C.
When the a Of clu Is doesn't come cut on the
first round c Immediately jumps to the con.
clusion that his partner has il. As there is a
possibility that his partner may have but two
trurhps, c does r)t play the o second round,
but a small club Imagine C's surprise when
his partner shows his highest card 10 be a ten
and the trick i, taken by A with the kn. b,
who has no mCre trumpS, discards from his
strongest suit The rule is, discard from your
strongest sui. on your opponents lead OF
trumps: from your weakest on your partners
lead of truupsl.
Round 3 ks, Cos, B2s,D4s. Anow
chuckles to himself. but he is not quite will.
ing TO declare his strength in clubs yet. He
knows that B and d nave no more clubs left,
because, although he is not familiar with C's
playing, he heard c declare before they sat
down that he never opened a suit of trumps
with less than five. Seven clubs nave been
played already, and as he has three left he
knows q has three more. He knows, too.
that they are the q, 5, 5. Now be proceeds
TO lead out his spade suit, believing that q
will eventually have TO trump il. as it is not
probable that c is strong in spades Then
his purpose Is to exhaust the remaining
trumps in C's hand.
Round A. as, CTS, B3s, d 9s Aeon
tinues his spade suit.
Round 5-A S, Csc, B5s, d los Here
A forces Cs hand and accomplishes his pur-
pose.
Round 6tC6d, B kn d, ID 9 d, A5d. B
plays properly here in putting on his KIN dia-
monds. II he had followed the ordinary rule
Of second hand low A would nave been OBJ
ligei TO play his a With two in sequence,
second hand should always play the smaller
In preference to a low card.
Round 7-B q h, d h, Ash, cab.
Round Sd a b, A h, C6h, B oh.
Round I'D d, Aad, esd, Bed. d
now returns his partners lead Of diamonds.
Round lo-Aac, Csc. Bod, Dish. A
now proceeds to follow OF his original plan
B discards his q Of diamonds, as he knows the
L has not been played.
Round la &C, CO C, B KIN S, d I'D.
Round &c k d, B 10 b, d Z b, A7c.
Round ia s $, c 10 d, B KIN b, ID Q h.
A and B make two by points
The point on which this game hinges is As
holding back his ace Of trumps on the first
round. He believes that by doing this he
will be able TO make it tell with greater force
later on and get all he can out Of his hand.
Does bel Tom LANSING.