The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-19
AROUND THE WHIST TABLE.


The Tdesi BouE.suit Hnnd-The High Car,
Game - Analyses Of Two Games Tn,
short-suit Lends-Ciub News nsd Notes
A COMPARISON OF the authorities quoted las
week would seem to show that the custom o
the old school was to avoid leading trumps un
less there was some reason for IL other than tn,
mere fact of holding fivo of them. With sii
frumps, tho only reason for leading them wal
tho absence Of q singleton. The new school II
90 carried away with the wonderful possibilities
of the partners hand that It's followers fee
com elled to lead trumps from five or more. os
pecially II they have nothing else in theii
hands. Even "Pembrdge, who ran his free
lance pen through most OF the doctrines OF
modern whist. seems to have spared this one
with Ave trumps and no cards. he says, lead
the trump. You have made a true lead, and
you have led not merely your strongest suit, but
avery strong suit, and IL your partner has moth
ing. you will lose the game whatever you play
but you will lose IL on that account, and not be-
cause you led a trump. II you open any OF the
plain suits. you will make n false lead ~ hist
or Dunbiepuppp. D. IL.
The virtue OF this practice Of leading trumps
because they are your long suit, or because your
partner may have something. 10 one OF tho
things that tho short-suit players absolutely
deny. Their method OF determining whether
or not to lead trumps is very simple. Let us
suppose three rounds would exhaust all the out
standing trumps, leaving you with two and the
lead. 1s your hand any stronger than 1t was
beforeH But your partnerH" Is your partner
any stronger for having his trumps taken away
from him ? You have do idea what his suit Is,
or how good It is, or whether he has q suit at all.
OF the twelve court cards in the plain suits his
share Is four-if you have none. Have You
weakened or strengthened the probable eight
high cards In the hands of your adversaries by
leading out the trumps7 II your partner ia as
strong as both adversaries combined, your
trump lead will not hurt him; neither would
anything else. But such strength In his hand,
you having mo cards." Is ono of Drayson's
improbable events which will enable you to
win In tho exceptional case."
"Pembridg &c " says IL you have i've trumps
and mo cards." the lead Of a plain suit would
deceive your partner. The short-suit player
says there could be no greater deception than
the lead Of the trump, for the trump attack says
to the partner: Never mind your hand at
present. but let us get out the trumps." After
they are out and you have not a trick in your
hand, It is not unreasonable to suppose that
partner may point out that moro tricks could
have been made had he been warned Of your
weakness in the plain suits.
The three essentials for the success of the
long-suit game are clearly set forth Il in whist
Strategy" D. 124: /. The suit must be estab-
nshed. Z. 1t must be defended by exhaustinR
che adverse trumps. 3. 1t must be brought in.
The first two are interchangeable. Now, a short
suit player will not play q long suit unless he
has sufficient cards of reentry to get the lead
often enough to establish the suit, and to bring
1t in. Howell says the possible results of any
attempt to play the long-suit game may be thus
described: You win IL you both establish and
bring In your suit. You draw II you establish
1t. without bringing IL In. provided you can pre-
vent the adversaries from bringing in q suit
against you. You lose, whether you establish
your suit or not. il you cannot prevent the ad-
versaries from making their suit.
The ideal long-suit hand 10 an unestablished
suit of five cards. containing at least two high
cards. counting the ten as one; a card of rean-
try In another suit, and four average trumps.
II you ask any of the modern authorities what
you should do with such a hand, they will tell
you to establish the suit first, and then to lead
the trumps. THE SUNDAY SUN would ask you
how many such hands you have held In your
lifetime. II you will examine all the 3ss hands
that have been analysed in these articles, and
all those published in Whist" you will not find
three such hands. There arc many cases in
which such a combination is held between the
two patners. Partner may have the four trumps,
Or the card OF reentry. The nine variations OF
y. l3lL. and 1t is there shown that as soon as any
one OF these nine favorable positions is arrived
Al. Lne trump attaCk should follow. !
II the player can be depended on never to at
tempt to establish a long suit without some !
prospect OF making 1t, sufficient cards OF re-
necessary to establish and bring it in being inn
ps sr a q, The he only nil elm element Of uncertainty IN his
trumps. SO as to defend the suit. This leads
Howell to believe that II the ~long-suit game is
initiated with the trump attack. II it |. found
that the adverse trumps cannot be eI Exhausted.
strong suit and cards Of reentry will have to he |
used as weapons of defence. This theory OF the
Whist. which will J prebab 'se ta %9's s aasit deai OF OF
experiment to decide. DR.. Walls. one Of the
years, and with great success. III. motto is:
n .i r., out sni shs trumps and beat them on the play
THE HIoH-oARp GAME.
When there is no long suit to play for. or the
chances OF making 1t are not promising. a favor
ite resource of the short;suiter is to make what
call this running" and It is a sure ind pirays
to the partner that there is little else in plain
VIII en ts shs IS hH the a siSp ies e IL ali fs fean. are ci s sGss:
Sgy; 1t Is often a nice question for the original
20 run with is one with a suit Of only four cards,
headed by 4 4: and no other snit that can he
s : n is to make e he winning cards before tho
Of less than six cards, headed by A X. are
for two tricks on the average, II led origi-
game such suits are good for only Ia tricks
on, the average. In the article published March
IL was shown that in forty-hve instances in
which the leader began with a plain suit headed
by A +, he and his partner got ninety tricks In
the suit, the adversarles getting only eight.
Such hands are not common. In the Manhat-
tan-C Mon League match no such hand was re-
corded. In the Manhattan-C Continental match
there was only one, No. II. the play OF which
follows: A Is are partners. against Y u, Il
deRlt, and turned the heart queen. The under.
tho next one led.
ra,c. Gahoo'p Taylor Haub'. Hatch.