St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-05


OF March 2S, the leaders hand and the
card turned are given in 80 different
deals, and the contest is to pick the
greatest number of winning leads from
the hands given, the card to be led
from each hand to be named by each
contestant. The tournament is open to
all, the only requirement being that a
coupon, to be found in each issue of
the Telegraph until April IS, accom-
pany each answer. The result is to be
determined by the actual play of the
hands in one or more of the Phila-
ueIphla clubs, the hands other than
the leaders to be dealt, under the
supervision of Mr.. Work, whist editor
OF the Telegraph. The contestant who
names the greatest number of win
nlhg leads Will receive as a prize any
1850 bicycle that is sold in Philadel-
phia for S1j0. The contest is also omen
10 clubs. and if won by a club. the
prize is all the necessary hotel ex-
penSeS for one week of a team of
1our at the Oriental hotel during the
Brooklyn congress. The second prize
II won by an individual, is any 1895 BIZ
cycle retailed at $50, and if won by a
cIuo' the hotel expenses of a pair at
the Brooklyn congress. There is no
limit 10 the number of answers that
any individual or club may send. pro-
Nlded that each answer is accom-
panied by coupon. 1t is not neces-
Sary that club act Officially. anv
one whether member of the cI,,h
named or not, may send an ansvvar in
the name Of a club. There are also
prizes for the best statements CON
cernlng various points in the hands
ne Telegraph of March % contains
the hands and a full statement of tbe
conditions of the tournament. and all
VINO wish to enter this interesting CON
test should send for that paper. which
py the way, contains a column of whist
matter each day of the year, and a
1uI page on Saturdays. Besides the
valuable prizes that any whist PLAYER
VINO can find coupon has a chance
10 win, the hands are very interestine.
ones and participation in the tourna-
hent is sure to be very instructive. The
novice has just as good a chance as
the expert, and he will have the on
poftunty of comparing his own views
with those of the best whist plsvers of
touay' as the Telegraph will publish
the views Of all acknowledged eyperts
inns is the second of the TeIepranb's
tournaments; the first was n grand
success as no doubt this one will he
ana further contests may be looked
for
POINT IN TRUMP MANAGEMENT
The most important and most diff
cult part of the game of whist is un-
doubtedly the management of trumps.
Among the questions that are very
puZzunS to the novice and not alwavs
easy for the expert is the choice that
continually presents itself to a PLAYER
between a lead from his long plain
suit and trump lead from hands con-
talning a long suit and length in
trumps. AS general rule. we let the
decision of this question depend upon
the strength Of the plain suit rather
than the strength of the trump suit.
1t is clear that with a ffve-card suit.
headed by ace, king, queen, a lead
from five trumps, whatever their size,
IS imperative. On the other hand, we
regard 1t as equally clear that from a
five-card suit without an honor lead
of the plain suit is better than a trump
lead. But there are ny hands that
contain suits that are neither headed
by ace, king, queen, nor are they with
out an honor; we have generally ad-
Vocated the following rule in these
cases If you can reasonably hope to
establish the plain suit with the aid
OF an honor from your partners hand,
1t Is well to attempt to exhaust the
trumps first, but if the suit Is so weak
that more assistance from your part
ner IS necessary to its establishment
lead the suit first and wait until it is
established, or until you see that it can
be established, before leading trumps.
This is rule that leaves most every-
thing to the judgment of the player,
as must all rules relating to the man.
agement of a hand in general; it is
more conservative than most of the
authorities, but our experience has
been that many more tricks are lost
by too early lead Of trumps, even
from great strength, than by a more
backward policy. It is a very COM
mon fallacy of some very good players
to argue that the trump should be led
because force will come if it is not
led that will weaken the trump hand
to such an extent that the lead will
be out of the question at a time when
the force will be just as disastrous
after the trumps outside Of the lead
er's hand are exhausted or after some
progress has been made toward ex-
hausting them, when the commanding
cards of the plain suit are still with the
adversaries, is forgotten.
1t is difficult to argue this or any
whist proposition with much force
without the aid Of practical statistics;
nothing will convince the ordinary
player of the merits Of a particular
line of play like experience; for this
reason we have devoted this column
very largely to the analysis Of deals
taken from games actually played, and
we firmly believe that this is alto
gether the best way to make an argu-
ment To illustrate what we have
said in regard to the ADVANTAGES of
establishing plain suit before leading
trumps, we give the following deal
which was played by some of st. PauPs
tournament players in a practice game
feW days ago; in this deal the plain
suit lead gained three tricks over the
trump lead. The hands were:
Nor MtorfhISpades, A, X, 9, Z, 3; hearts, @. 7;
Snonds Spaaes' & hearts rs 3 s. s. 81 clubs s. dia
4. 2: hearts X, g. 2; clubs A. Q, 8. 4 2;
diamonds K g. West-spades 10. 8 s 6:
hearts; A, 10. 4; clubs. j. 8; diamonds, ],
South. t'
The Play
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