Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-25

| by most long suit players dubbed the ''short
suit game" The following is a complete
| synopsis Of the invitation game, known
as The modified" There seems to be a
serious Misrepresentation in the minds Of
| some prominent writers and players in re-
gard to the modified system Of whist. The
criticism was made recently by a promi-
nent writer that the modified game con-
| fessed weakness by leading the 6. Z, 8 or ..
and this confession of weakness was a
| serious defect in that system.
Should the lead Of one Of these cards
confess weakness such a confession would
be a serious defect in the modified game.
but this lead does not confess weakness.
1t does confess that the hand has not
that rare degree Of strength necessary FOR
an invitation lead; it does confess that
the suit Is not one to be opened with an
honor; 1t does confess that the leader has
not trump strength to begin a trump at
LESSONS of weakness; rather are they the
confession that the hand Is one OF the
great majority. neither unusually strong or
especially weak.
confessions those of weakness, then any
lead which does not On its face imply great
trump strength or a desire to exhaust
trumps Is confession of weakness. rms
| must hold true of the ordinary lead OF an
ace. a king, or a queen in THAT 1t implies
that the leader cannot afford to lead
trumps; so. too. with the lead OF
Strengthening card. There is no interme-
date ground, and all hands can be at once
classified strong ir weak.
Just what the plain suit leads in the mod
| flied game mean follows: The lead of an
honor or the 10 or 8 shows a laudable de-
sire to win a trick, clear the suit or help
ones partner The lead of the 2, or 4
| marks a hand of superior strength, and is
practically a call for trumps. The lead of
the 5. @, or shows simply long suit.
1oI to- 1Rfo D1A fa flNv
the lead that the long suit player makes
when he opens his suit with a fourth-best
card-that bulwark of the conservatives.
The division of Ii by results in and a
fraction. Roughly, then, three is the aver
age number of tricks to which each hand
| is entitled. and inability to capture that
| many would constitute weakness. Look
over the following three hands; in each
diamonds are trumps, and the correct lead
| according to the modified game would be
the 6 of spades in each:
-. DD.AA.5 s.K;1os9.2 H.A.Q7,a. C.s2:
g.: Bias B.Aoe s sassts HIS H;k7S G ca
Can these hands properly be called
weak? are they incapable of taking three
| tricks each? Would the opponent who
weak? Are they incapable of taking three
them as such, meet with entire success?'
asks the Boston Herald.
The modified game is quite popular in
Boston at present, the Pyramid Club, of
which William Donald. formerly Of Brook
lyn, Is one of the stars. being it's chief ex-
ponent. The club has scored several de-
cided successes against the best teams in
New England. Among it's players are
found such well-known experts as c. NJ.
Clay. Fletcher and Knowles. They make
the lead of the lowest card of a suit a
positive demand for trumps from partner,
and when they do not wish partner to
lead trumps, except on his own RESPONSE
bility, and yet wish to open their long suit.
they play an intermediate card instead of
the lowest The
card can infer the suit to be long, but the
hand not strong enough to justify the lead
of trumps. Baker of Brooklyn comment
ing on the above. says: This may work
very we'll as long the adversary does
not understand its significance. 1t is like
street attachment the famous ALBANY
lead and other special devices. They all
proved Killers until they were found ont
Wnen they proved to be 'boomerang' and
are seldom resorted to among Well-posted
players"
When the lowest of a long suit is not
opened as In the above examples by Mr.
Street, the partner is frequently puzzled
10 know whether the suit opened is long or
Short and to adopt the above ideas would
appear to be giving up the advantages of
! opening short suit. headed by no higher
caro- than a six or seven which frequently
presents itself. Then, too many hands oc-
cur when the low card of long suit is the
only logical opening from a hand, and the
| too great readiness under the invitation
cases such frequent disaster that the
writer in his practice has abandoned it.
/ intermediate cards are dangerous and
| should be avoided. and 1t is believed that
the safest and best practice is to let the
Plead Of the low card mean to partner
! simply that the suit is not established, and
| that it is safer for MIN to return the suit
| opened than to be too ready to rush to
! trumDs.
Baker is the whist editor of the Daily
Standard Union. and is one of the strong
| est common sense" players in the country
He was captain of the Greater New York
| team that made such creditable showing
at the seventh congress, and was winner
| of several pair prizes. There is not as
| much attention paid to the character of
| the player one is called upon to oppose if
| he has the reputation of a strong player
| He can be gagged accordingly Every de-
! parture from the recognized play has
significance which must be interpreted cor
rectly to counterpart the intention of the
player. With knowingly weak players as
| opponents, any play out of the ordinary
has no significance, and one is not called
upon to use all the whist strategy of which
one is capable.
Any player who adheres strictly to one
| style of play is trick loser in the long
run.
The only correct whist is to get the most
| out of the hands you are called upon to
| play. If the hand is a long suit hand, play
| an aggressive game. If you find the trumps
banked against you, abandon your plan, as
the hand requires, and do not go on with
a losing line of play. Your intuition as a
whist player must help you to size up the
different situations constantly confronting
| you, and it is your individual resources you
are thrown upon. You have no time to
consult the books on any difficult plays
you are in doubt about. 1t is here where
| the knowledge of the style of play of diff
ferent players is of the greatest benefit.
If your partner indicates by the play of
| low cards on two or three plays that he is
| not q. factor in the game, then you can do
| little harm by false carding playing
your hand as you please, regardless Of his.
A wide-awake partner is seldom deceived
| by an unusual play Of a partner with
whose play he is familiar.
NO DEALS UNDER WAY.