The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12
AROUND THE WHIST TABLE
PREPARING o. TINE CONGRESS TO
BE HELD IN BOSTON IN JULY.

new the Teaus Used to ne Chssen ana lHow
Thsy Are Chosen N~sw-Csnamon sense and
ReFve the QpAIities Needed IN match
WInnert-AuhIgsss OF annsss-CIub notes.
These are busy days among the whist players,
when every one OF them Ia doing his level best
In order TO attract the attsntion OF the whist
committee and get a place on tho team that will
90 TO the congress In Boston next month. Teams
are not selected. as they used to DO, on account
Of their loyalty TO some particular system or
their personal pull with the President Of the
club. The modern scheme is to pick out o good
captain or q good pair and to allow them to ex.
pertinent with other individuals or pairs until
they get four men who can pull together and do
good steady work as a team.
The system is not much OF n factor those days,
and the chief thing required in q match player is
common sense and nerve. 1t Is quito a common
thing for tho four memberso OF n team to differ
from one another as to details. yet to agree upon
essentials. One likes to echo with three trumps
exactly; another with three or moro. One docs
not think much Of numbsr.sho wing loads, while
another insist upon them, at least in trumps.
One likes the idea Of the Street attachment"
while another prefers the Don't force me-"
and 90 on. With the thousand and one conven-
tionalities that have entered the game within
the past year or two 1t is almost impossible to
get four mon together who will agree upon
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adopt ono OF two courses: Force the players to
abandon their own ideas and play the system
laid down by the captain. or let each player on
the team make allowances for the idiosyncrasies
Of the man he is paired with for the timo being.
But while the players may differ on minor
matters, they must agree on tho general princi.
pies OF strategy. or 1t will be impossible for
them to pull together successfully. As a very
clever captain in one OF our local clubs puts It:
"IheV NAV NAV what ayRfam thoy nlAaae an
that they play whist" The day has gone by
when four men with no further knowledge of
whist than the leads. returns, secondhand
plays, &c, can sit down and win matches. Those
things are common knowledge to-day, and in
order to achieve success a man must have some
thing moro; he must have been through a post
graduate course in strategy, and must have
mastered the great principle Of war, bringing
tho strongest part OF your forces to bear upon
the weakest spot in the cnemy's position.
While there 10 undoubtedly q strong leaning
toward opening short suits and supporting
cards. the player always has his eye on his long
suit, II he has one; or keeps a bright lookout for
such q suit In his partners hand. Such suits
may not be opened originally, but every chance
to make them Is carefully considered as the
hand proceeds. This system of not leading such
quits. but still studying tho chances for bring
ing them in, has done moro to educate modern
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game than was ever dreamed of in the good old
days whom nothing but long suits was thought
OF. The idea then was to make the suit simply
by leading 1t and by sticking to it. but the condi-
tions essential to success were nevertheless
very imperfectly understood. As we play to-
day. q person must make the best use of his
perceptivo powers in order to select the proper
moment for bringing his suit into play. and
great nicely of judgment is often necessary In
AAtnNrotpin~ vvhich nP fyn channna 70 falya Il
difficult situations.
One OF the principal points In modern strategy,
which is not even mentioned in any Of the text
books, is keeping control Of the suit until the
third round. To lead a suit headed by q king.
ind partner with the ace and make both ace
and king, leaving tho queen against you on tho
third round. is not the long-suit game according
to present notions, although 1t passed for such
few years ago. Any ono can make those two
tricks, and II that is all there 10 in the suit It's
length does not enter into the matter, at. all. be-
cause king and one small In tho leaders hand
with ace and ono small In the partners would
bring about results equally AZ satisfactory as II
tho modern school will open a long suit in which
they cannot look forward to a hnesSe on
the second round. SO as to hold com.
they are strong enough to win both the second
and third rounds without the nnesse. The
probability Of their hayinG to make such a
taken into consideration before the. suit ia
opened at all; and having determined to take
the chance the plan must be conscientiously fol.
cess 10 improbable or impossible.
Az an example of this principle of retaining
command until the third round, take the follow,
ing hand. which WAS played In the match be.
tween Taylor and ElWell. and Otis and Aymar,
z dealt and turned the heart 8.