The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-04
FOR LOVERSOF WHIST
Reorganization and q Talk on
'the High Card" Game.
THE COMBINATIONS EXPLAINED.

Fundamental Principles Recalled-A Mean
Kind OF ategy-Responsibility That
Rests on Partner--when He Should Call
For Trumps.
In the former articles of this series
have scarcely more than. hinted at the orig
inal lead of short suits, or ''the gambit,"
as this sort of lead is called in whist
Openings."
The trump attack I have treated In
some detail, outlining the classes of hands
from which trumps ought to be led orig
inally. These, of course, arc the strongest
hands.
Next came the hands-still strong, but
not SO strong as those demanding the
trump attack-from which the proper
opening was small card from q long, un-
established plain suit These hands, too,
attempted to classify.
There follows closely after the foregoing
that great mass of hands which, being not
good enough for the trump attack, nor
possessing those characteristics which jus.
tify the small card opening, necessitate re.
sort to the gambit. Before we proceed to
the consideration of short suit openings In
extenso, however, we must pause to glance
at that class of hands which belong to
"the high card" game
Let us recall the fundamental principle
of the new game: "Given long suit not
headed by sequence Of two. or more high
cards, and not accompanied by such
strength in trumps and tho other plain
suits that, with reasonable assistance from
partner, you can establish and bring Ii In,
you will he more likely to win tricks In
the suit il somebody else opens it than II
you open 1t yourself" ("Whist Openings"
page 81. To quote again: "What 1 have
said about the original opening of a suit
not headed by a sequence does not apply,
Of course, to very strong suit, either vir-
tually established 0ike A, K, Q and 9TH
ers), or In such q condition that 1t can be
speedily cleared without assistance from
partner like X, q, j and others). With
such suit your reason for opening short
is gone. If it is backed by sufficient trump
strength and courage, lead trumps; if not,
make what you can out of 1t while you
have the opportunity. The latter method
Is what one Of my short suit friends calls
the brute game 1t is a mean kind of
strategy, like hitting man with a club,
and am glad to say it Is not often neccs-
sary. But 1t demands respectful consider
ation'' (pages 10 and 18).
Such is the high card game It Ia I'm
portant, but relatively uninteresting. A
suit like A, X, Q and others you cannot
venture to open with a small card. Con-
sequently, although the rest Of the hand
may be fairly in the category Of long suit
strength, you cannot 40 inform partner as
you can by the original lead Of small
card from your long suit that Is not headed
by sequence. If, in brief, your trump
strength or all round strength is not great
enough to warrant the trump attack, you
must resignedly open your high sequence
and run the risk of its being trumped on
the first round, or before you know when
to stop leading it.
The chief responsibility in the high card
game rests with the partner of the original
leader. 1t is the partner who must call
for trumps, or refrain from SO doing, ac-
cordingly as he thinks the high card suit
can be brought in or not, and his judg-
ment must be based solely on the suit led
and his own hand, since he learns nothing
from the opening about the leaders trump
and re-entry strength.
The high card combinations that should
be opened in preference to any weaker suits
are these:
!. Ace, king, queen and one or more
others. Lead the king, without regard to
number in suit, and go on with queen.
2. Ace, king and at least three small
ones. Lead the king and then the ace.
8. King, queen, jack and one or more
others. Lead the king, and If 1t wins, then
usually the jack.
4. Queen, jack; 10 and one or more 9TH
ers. Lead the queen.
In regard to 2, do not include ace,
king and only two others, because my ex-
perience is that with these cards it Is bet
ter to open with the gambit when the rest
of the hand is tolerably good and to re-
serve the ace-king suit for favorable op-
portunity. AS tho suit Is not very long,
there Is not much danger Of the winning
cards being trumped II you wait, and by
parting with them at the outset you are
really moro likely to establish the suit for
the adversary than for yourself With i've
cards In suit, the case il different Even
with only the four, 1t Is best to open them
when the rest Of the hand IL quite weak or
worthless. This Is what some players call
running what tricks you can
early and then getting out of the game"
In regard to 8, strongly advise not
opening with king, queen and small ones
mot including the jack), II you have q
good short suit lead, or unless the suit is
very long, say, six cards or more, and you
cannot reasonably hope for more than one
trick in It, Many tricks are sacrificed by
opening king, queen and two small, which
might be saved by resort to the gambit
If the ace Is against you land the odds are
. to that 1t is), you are quite unlikely to
win more than single trick in the suit
after giving away the king, and 1t is not
improbable that you may win two tricks
with both king and quecn), IL you let the
adversary do the opening.
Ace, queen, jack and others are by some
players considered high card combina.
ton that ought to be classed with those
given above, but short suffers generally
dislike to abandon the tenace possibilities
Of the suit, unless, indeed, as I'm the case
Of ace-king and king-qucen combinations,
II is so long that Fabian policy may re-
suit in your taking home' the ace.
For the guidance Of the partner Of the
-tfxin al nj he l..