The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-09-20
Change Your Suit"
a DEVELOPMENT OF THE CALL FOR TRUMPs, AS
PROPOSED BY MAJoR-GENERAL A. W.
DRAYsON-CONCIUDED

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CALL FOR TRUMPs, AS
PROPOSED BY MAJoR-GENERAL a. W.
DRAYsoN-CoNCLUDED.
Having considered the advantages of this
system, will now refer to its probable dised-
vantages. will suppose that my partner has
advanced so far as TO speak of the present con-
ventional "signal' as Change your suit to
trumps." he sees me play this signal" and
he holds the losing trump, the better trump
being in the adversary's hand. Is my part
ner, if a reasonable player, likely to conclude
that 1 wish him TO lead his losing trump, or
will he consider that my signal means
Change your suit?
Again, supposing the two remaining trumps
are held, one by my partner, the other by me,
and ask him 10 change his suit Is he likely
to think wish him to draw my trump? or
will he accept my intmation that he is to
change to another suit? Mistakes might hap
pen by such means, but do not think they
are hkely-at least with an intelligent player,
when the task for trumps" has been
altered to "Change your suit" ito trumpsl.
Thus at the early stage of the play OF hand
l suggest that the playing an unnecessarily
high card means ''Change your suit 10
trumps." When, however, the trumps have
all been played. or when only one or two re-
main in, and when the play of an unneccessa-
rily high card cannot mean LEAD a trump"
then the play OF an unnecessarily nigh card
means 'Change your suit
l feel convinced that if two players ac-
quainted with this system plsyed with equal
cards against two others unacquainted with
it, there would be considerable percentage
in favor of the former over the latter.
This is not the introduction of a new
conventional signal, but merely increasing
the powers of one at present IN use, and which
is now rather eramped aud arbitrary in its
meaning When whist players become accus-
toned 10 say, "You asked me to change my
suit to trumps," instead OF saying ''You sig
nailed for trumps" ! think the system will be
found practically useful. player now might
say: "You signaled for trumps when they were
all out. What was l to understand by tina Y"
Ii he said, You asked me to change my suit
TO trumps when they were all out" he would
not be likely 10 ask what to understand BIZ
that, for Irumps being out OF the question
must be considered out of the demand, and
"Change your suit" can alone be the meaning
of the play of the unnecessarily high card
When winning trumps are led by your part
ner, the present conventional system of in
timating that you hold four in the suit, by
playing the lowest but one, followed By the
lowest, would still be followed without any
chance OF confusion. The play OF the unneces-
sarily high trump would-ifwe kept to the lie +
ter of the princIple-mean change your suit to
trumps, as the first Gaming; as, however,
trumps were being led. the play of the I'M
necessarily high card in trumps could only
mean that the player held four trumps at least
When player is leading winning cards and
his partner indicates that he wishes the suit
changed, and when ali the trumps are out,
the player would at once use his judgment as
to whether he should continue his suit or
change it. If the player held enough winning
cards in the suit to win the game out OF his
own hand OF course TO change would not be
desirable, so that a responsibility rests on the
player asking for a change of suit as great as
now rests on the player "asking for trumps"
This responsibility however, does not
diminish the value OF the signal to ''change
your suit" when trumps are out.
When player holds two other suits besides
that which he is leading, and trumps being
out, the signal to change suit may leave him
in doubt as to which of the other two suits TO
lead. A careful and observant player, how
ever is not likely to make an error, and his
partners signal means change the suit" as