The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-20
.F0R L0VERS'0F WHIST.


The Fourth Class Of Gambit Hands and
Its Subdivisions Choice Between Two
Short suits--Cards That Must Not He
Risked- some illustrations.
Just az there are several distinct classes
Of hands from which trumps should be led
originally, several other distinct classes
from which the small card opening Of the
best plain suit is demanded, and still an
other class from W hich the high card open
ing Is imperative, 80 there are several dis
tinct classes Of hands that require gambit
treatment. These / shall at first outline
and then discuss in detail.
In considering the trump attack and the
small card and high card openings we have
hitherto paid little attention to the weaker
elements Of hands-the short suits that are
worthless for trick winning purposes.
Trump strength, the best plain suit and
means Of re-entry have been the only char
acteristics of hand that we wanted to ex-
anime. Now that we come to the study of
the gambit, however, we must take into
account weak suits as well as strong,
though the trick winning elements of the
hand are still Of paramount Importance.
reason out every case Of gambit opening.
Taking the more forward openings as
standards, we must study the gambit by
comparison. Given hand to be opened,
we first ask rs is good enough for tho
trump attack" If the answer Is "No,"
then follows the question, lis 1t adapted
to the long suit game, small card OPEN
ing?" Or, docs it call for the opening
Of high card sequenoep" II the answer
is still "No," we resort to the gambit. /
wish the student to bear this in mind
clearly-the gambit or short suit lead Is
not thing that we look for, first Of all, In
determining how hand should be opened,
but Is resource that we adopt only after
considering and rejecting the idea OF a
stronger opening. AT the same time we
must not regard the gambit as an unfavor-
able or hopeless resource, Sr as q dernier
ressort. Our theory n, ON the contrary,
that IL the hand does not contain the ele-
ments Of strength which justify the trump
attack or the long suit form of strategy,
the gambit or short suit game is the best
method of handling Ii. Sometimes the
players Judgment is sorely taxed to decide
between the ''long'' and the short" open
ings, in which case the "shOrt" is gener-
ally the safer. In q word, II the hand
plainly indicates the trump attack or long
suit opening, SO play It; but II there Is
reasonable doubt, don't.
The easiest way 10 get at the classifca-
ton of gambit hands Is by taking trump
strength as the fundamental criterion.
Let us suppose, first, that the hand con.
tains great trump strength-fve or more,
or four very good ones-but no long plain
suit (at least four oards). Now, in our
gtudy Of the trump attack we agreed thai
this sort of hand ought to be opened with
the trump II each plain suit Is headed by
. high or supporting card-ten or better
and It follows, II the high or supporting
card II absent from one or moro of the
plain saits, that the proper opening IL not
tho trump, but the plain suit sa,nbit For
example, from heayts (trump), Z, 10, 2, s,
q; clubs, J, 8, &; diamonds, 2, 4, 8;
spades, A, 8, lead the @ j. The first GLASS
Of gambit is therefore from hands con.
tanning trump strength, but no long plain
suit, nor all round plain suit strength or
support (see whist Openings, page 1867.
Again, II, with fair trump strength,
there are good plain suit and means OF
re-entry, we think the long suit game is
the most favorable form of strategy; but
II the means of re-entry are lacking, or II
the long plain suit Is weak, we generally
prefer the gambit--e. g., from hearts
(trump), X, 10, 2, s; clubs, X, 0, 8, 8, 4;
diamonds, 10, 3; spades, o, 3, lead the ID
10, because there Is no re-entry outside OF
the long suit, and from hearts Grumpy, j,
8, 9, A; clubs, A, 8, 4, Q; diamonds, X, z,
g.; spades, j, 10, lead the S j, because the
long club suit is 30 weak; hence the second
GLASS of gambit opening--from hands con
<asy nd Az,
suit, without ne entry, and the third class
from hands containing trump strength,
one weak long, plain suit, re entry IN a
second, and a gambit card in the third.
All other gambit hands-namely, those
which do not contain trump strength
may for. the present be grouped In one
class, the fourth. But we shall see that
subdivisions may be made, depending
chiefly on the character Of the gambit suit
and presenting some strategic peouliarities.
1t frequently happens that, after select.
ing the gambit as the proper opening from
q hand, the player has choice between
two short suits. In this contingency IL Is
usually best to lead the highest available
supporting card. The student will under.
stand, of course, that he must not risk the
loss Of possible trick winning card, such
as a queen twice guarded. We use ths
queen as gambit card only when IL 10 ac
companied by the jack or by just one small
card, or Is single. The king we thus Offer
to sacrifice only when IL is single, and sci
dom then, ana the ace and one small card
we sometimes, bus rarely, employ as a
gambit suit. Perhaps the best Of all gam
bit combinations Ii the jack and one small
card, and the jack and two are permissi'
BILE. We hardly ever 60 below the for
gambit opening, and we should never lead
"short" 80 small card that partner may
mistake it for a long suit lead. Cards In
sequence form the best gambit suits, such
as q J, j 10, 10 9, etc.
Besides the estrength-that Is, supporting
strength--of the gambit suit, we should
also take into account its length. Whether
or not suit Of only two cards Is better to
open than suit Of three tho strength OF
the two suits being about tho same, de
pends on the rest of the hand. No general
rule on this point can be formulated. a
detailed examination of various sorts ot
hands will be necessary to ~ correct under
standing Of the relative values of various