The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-06
AROUND THE W%HISTTABLE.
,,oc OF "THE SUM- TEN
THOUSAND HIND&"
, rev Card, sthi ou'standlnr-Ths t.sss sna
. ~, sberts AEain-Tha PiaS Rpd everyday

rcd, stu, Outstar q Lsssa anc
a.. sberts AEain-Tha FlaS Hpd ovorplay
two Hands ProbieSa asa Notes.
r,, suy's 10000 deals are rspidly nearing
LEn,c,,on. and II those who still have unified
go on hand will he good enough to send
M IN the list OF contributors will be published
:. ,rIl and the analysis OF the whole series will
.oon be ready for publication.
e.. ,ersons have any idea OF the extent of
,,. unIertaking, tho magnitude OF which may
:. Inferred by a few comparisons. For instance.
~, tho cards that have SO far been recorded
-. snrcnd out side by side 1t would take an
,,d,nary person about seven hours to walk past
~, for they would mako a solid line about
.y,nty.one miles long. Tho blanks on which
,hsv are recorded make n pile about i've feet
hIub. and u they were pasted down close to-
ss,ber they would cover tho pavement for the
sntIre length and width OF ono OF our city
blocks.
THE LONGS AND II SHORTS.
Nothing Is moro amusing to tho average short
,uiter than TO listen to the learned discussions
~ tbose whose knowledge OF the common.sense
,,me IL limited to what they have heard from
o.rsons as ignorant as themselves. II all these
people tell you is to be believed. 1t should not DO
r.eessary TO play any kind OF game against q
chOft-HutN9T, Dut Jueb " ST. oIiii uhu ~ aim manu-
ron out tricks by the dozen.
One OF the principal f~allacies about the short
,pit game is that tho whole thing Is o guessing
match. and that neither partner knows what
the other holds or what he Is d driving at. Now.
n there is one thing above all others that short
.uitsrs avoid it Is guessing. There are. of
course. times at which one player may have
considerable difficulty In reading his partners
hand. but it will always be found that when
eneb ia the case the adversaries know still less.
when a short-suiter cannot figure out q situa-
tion he always has the consolation of knowing
that it must appear to BIO n fearful middle to
both adyersarics. II he cannot understand IL. It
IA quite beyond them; IL they can see through
n. 40 can he. 1t is chiefly because the informa-
tion the adversaries give each other is equally
valuable to him. and by the time he has added
what his partner tells him Is not the case to
what they tell him Is the case, he IL usually
pretty we'll informed.
! Howell, in a very interesting letter on tho
comparative merits OF the long and short suit
uystems OF play as developed in q match be-
tween the Howell and tho American whist
elubs of Boston, In which one of the local
trophies was won by the short.suiters. remarks
that the long.suiter's claim Of advantage. due
TO the confidence in the information conveyed
by the partner B opening lchub lTOu iOnH SulUSs
was not borne out by the play. Capt. Bouve had
picked out o pretty strong team to defend his
system and relied on the positive information
OF their openings. although tho knowledge so
gained was confined to one suit. Howell claims
that such leads show just as much to the adj
~yersaries and that the short-suit openings arc
lust as informatory. IL not more 90.
There is one point that both these gentlemen
forget to mention, and that Ii the fact that
shortsuiters have confidence in something moro
than the information given them by their part
ners. They have absolute faith In tho system,
asa system. and they are fully convinced that
II Is o winner. whether it gives information or
not. They will follow it under circumstances
that astonish persons not familiar with its
merits. because they believe that. although In
some cases 1t will lose tricks, in the long run 1t
will bring them out ahead, and all the losses
made BY short.suit players can usually DO traced
to departures from their W system.
As an example OF this firm belief in system,
take the following hand, played at the Knlcker-
booker Whist Club on Feb. %. In the face OF q
trump attack the short-suiters lead the very
suit which the trumps were led to protect, and
which Is absolutely established against the
~short.suit pair. They don't want to run 1t, and
never get q chance to do so. What they want
isto warn each other against it, and to show
that what they have in other suits would be
better If led up to.
On long-suit principles It Is considered folly to
open the weakest suit in The face Of Q trump
attack, especially when weak in tr jumps your
self; but short.suiters prefer to open suits In
which they can do nothing. when It is a choice
between that and leading suits which place
them at a disadvantag &c II led away from. 2
dealt and turned the heart 8. and the short
suffers wero ":
.uaz A