The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-15
THE CALL THROUGH AN HONG


We published on Oct "a deal from
the Hamilton-St. Paul match in which
a Hamilton player led the five Of
spades from the following hand:
Spades, J., s, 5; hearts, 9, 8, z; clubs,
9, 8, A. diamonds, J., 8, 8, 8; queen Of
diamonds turned. The player was COM
PEELED to make this singular lead by
reason Of the very common aversion
to the lead Of a trump from hands con-
tanning three card suits and four
trumps, and because IL he had led the
top of either of his plain suit, he would
be considered under the Hamilton "call
through an honor system" as calling
for trumps. In our comment on the
lead, we remarked that the Hamilton
device sometimes caused trouble, and
we intended this instance as an IL
lustration. The fact that the peculiar
lead caused no damage does not dis
credit the illustration. We cannot help
feeling that any system which COM
pells player even in very rare cases
to make such an opening lead as was
made from the above hand, must have
some quite decided advantages, in or
der to justify it's adoption by whist
players.
We give herewith the views of the
originator and chief supporter of the
call through an honor play, as pub
hshed in the Philadelphia Telegraph
VI NOV. III response TO our comment
on the above deal
MR.. WORKS IDEAS.
This hand has caused great discus
sion as to whether it Is not Of a type
Which is numerous enough to make the
Hamilton system of considering any
irregular lead a trump call when an
honor Is turned doubtful play Mr..
Bum, however, does not prove that
this character of hand causes trouble
Tor a believer in the Hamilton system
as he advocates trump led, if Mr..
Bunn's advice is followed the leader,
OF course, has no difficulty.
We do not believe, however that
there are half dozen A. w. l.. players
OF any ability outside of ST. Paul and
Minneapolis teams, who would advocate
trump lead under such circum-
stances, and Our opinion is that a sys-
tenn which requires such lead must
prove ultimately very expensive, and
II 1t was in the hands Of any players
who had not reached the wonderful
proficiency of Mr.. Bunn's team would
be very destructive
Assuming then that it is decided in
such cases not to lead trumps, the Ques-
ton arises, are they of such frequent
occurrence and is the result of such a
FORCED lead as was made here SO dis
aStrouS as to warrant the abandonment
of the irregular lead as a call? TO
both queries we answer mo- with all
the emphasis Of which we are capable.
In three years OF constant play this
is the worst hand for the system we
ever met, and in this case we think
we shall be able to show later that the
Hamilton system was not a loser.
We have seen so many tricks gained
by the ability to call for a lead, through
an honor that to abandon the play
would seem like deliberately suffering
a handicap. BY this we do not mean
that we approve Of the play in all the
cases in which we have seen it used;
like the trump signal its use is grossly
abused by players Of moderate ability,
who desire to show their knowledge,
and then when it fails to come off in
cases where it would never have been
tried by an expert, the play and not the
player Is criticised. We have even
seen the misuse Of this play carried 50
far that we have noticed deals being
made large number Of times to test
whether the call by irregular lead was
as general rule, sound while the
hands selected as tests were of a char
acter that did not warrant the play be-
ing even seriously considered.
While, therefore, we believe in the
play in certain cases, we have long
doubted as to whether an irregular
lead was the best way to make such
a call, inasmuch as the fact that the
lead is irregular has not always de-
veloped by the time the partner first
gets in and it is absolutely essential
to the success of the play that the
partner be able to recognize it at once.
To remedy this we have to suggest
the following scheme. Let the lead of
a 5, T. 3, or with an honor turned be
considered an absolute call. The ad-
Vantages of this plan are that all am
biguity is at once removed from the
q no nd Mo OF
once says either partner I want trump
through that honor or the reverse. In
such hands as the example given above
and others Of this character four lit
tie trumps, a four-card suit high J.
10 in one short suit and three small
in the other it enables the Jack to be
led All this is unquestionably bene-
fetal, and the cases are rare where a
call is imperative that the long plain
suit has not one of the four lowest
cards in it. If the leader has no long
plain suit, the chances are that the
call is not imperative.
The objection is that it may often re-
suit in a third best being led when a
call is not desired. We think the weight
of the argument is in the affirmative.
but a lengthy practical trial can alone
decide.
OUR COMMENT.
We suggest that if we have failed to
prove that this character of hand
causes trouble" for a believer in the
Hamilton system, yet the deal seems to
give the whist editor of the Telegraph
some food for thought. While he re-
fuses to be troubled by little obstacles
like the occurrence at rare intervals of
such hands, he yet is induced to pro-
pose new system for calling through
an honor which will do away with these
obstacles and with the old system. Mr..
Work is a trif1e less clear than usual in
explaining why our advocacy Of a
trump lead from such a hand removes
the difficulty for a player who does not
believe in the trump lead, but who does
believe in the call through an honor
No player who did not play the Hamil-
ton system would find any difficulty
with this hand, whether he favored the
lead Of a trump or not; he might lead
from the top of any plain suit, and not
be afraid of a lead of trumps from his
partner. Our preference for the trump
lead from the hand is not decided; we
have no quarrel with the player who
prefers to lead the nine Of clubs or nine
of hearts, or even jack of spades. Mr..
Works statement to the effect that not
half dozen A. w. l.. players of any
ability outside ST Paul and Minneap-
oils would advocate a trump lead from
such a hand may be correct. We are
aware that there is a very prevalent
idea that a trump lead Is a very dan
gerOus thing; we do not share that
idea; we believe that the danger is
much exaggerated, and has become a
good deal of a bugbear.
Mr. Work does not feel like abandon
ing his system. We do not blame him
any more than we blame a father for
not wishing to abandon his child when
it is sick unto death. But does not Mr.
Work advocate such a radical change
in the system as to amount to it's
abandonment? He proposes now to
make the lead of a 8, 4, or with an
honor turned an absolute trump call |