Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-05-10
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.


learn some Of the mysteries Of the game Of
whist, and who brings to IL an ordinary In
telligence, 1t il surprising how rapid tho
advancement Isl and here 1t may be well to
note briefly some of the changes which
have taken place In the game since its in
fancy. The average stock In trade Of tho
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 havc 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.
''If have u king and knave," said the
thoughtful player, ''and my partner leads
the suit will play knave third hand as the
chances are against the knave being at my
left" twas Of course easily apparent that
this could be done equally well with tho
ace and the queen, tho knave and nine,
ETC., and that this principle Of play could
be used In a 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
midabls to his opponents.
The trump signal ian unnecessarily high
card played before a low one), while In
one sense It was the result of accident,
at the same time grew out OF necessity
for informing your partner that you want
cd trumps led. It 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.
Up to the time that the American game
became prominent the game was essentially
English. Its development had arrived at a
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,
end the finesse, were all under the most
vigorous discussion. Poolc's famous essay
on the philosophy of whist was welcomed
and applauded. Pooles idea was that the
two hands should be played as one, and
that each player should endeavor, by every
means In his power, to transport himself
into the hand Of his partner. Just at this
point In the progress Of the game arose a
new light on the horizon. IL was to be
demonstrated that new element could be
introduced into the game.
About six years ago the late Nicholas B.
Trist, of New Orleans, first introd duced the
idea Of conveying inform alton by the nu-
merical value Of the cards. In order to see
the value OF this discovery, let us under
stand the precise idea Of whist play. or
two partners, one must necessarily be
stronger than the other. This may be
shown before card IL played; it may be
shown during the first round or later, but
the moment that 1t Is shown the weaker
player plays his partners game. 1t is,
therefore, Of the utmost Importance for a
player to know just what cards his partner
holds. This power Of conveying informa-
ton had always been recognized and dis
cussed. Mr.. Trist was the first to reduce
it to scientific basis. lie showed the n,l-
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 a 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 must have held five Mt least
originally; IL you play two cards lower,
then he knows you must have led from six
ut least, and so on. IL you play 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
| II you opened suit Of four, the lower il
| you opened a suit Of five.
! These rules of play revolutioned the game
and still further has whist been reduced Ia
an exact science by what is termed ''the
new play" which deals with sequences. II
| tells you how, with certain number Of
cards In sequence they should be played SO
as to convey the greatest amount Of infor-
nation to your partner. Another distinct
lively American play is the play Of the o,
which Is never led except with and kn, and
never with ace or q. The American play
has been adopted in England, and Is the
standard. Ton LANSING.