Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-03

| always the best and the third best of the
! unplayed cards Of a suit; the ace and
| queen IL the suit has not been touched.
| The minor tenace" is the second and
| fourth best. the king and jack I'm an IN
! played suit When we speak Of the "dou-
/ ble' major tenace. the ace, queen, and ten
/ are always meant, but the cards COM
| posing the simple major and minor te-
naces may vary every time the suit is
/ played. If a suit has been led once or
I twice the queen and seven may become
the major tenace while the minor tenace
may be the nine and four. 1t is not ne
cessary to state exactly what the cards
were if you are explaining a position at
the whist-tab!e, the idea Of advantage
being distinctly conveyed by the state
ment that YOU held the major tenace
over a given player.
Potential tenaces" are combinations
that will become tenaces after certain
intermediate card falls The ace and jack
form a potential tenace. because they be-
come the major tenace If either the king
or queen falls The king and ten form
potential tenace becoming the minor II
the queen or jack falls; the major II ace
Jack or ace-queen fall.
The French players do not use the Word
tenace. but call all such combinations
fourchettes The word expresses the ldea
of a fork. the space between the pronss
representing the missing cards of the Sc
quence Englsh-speakng players make
quite a distinction between tenace ana
fourchette and insist that the tenace
must always be at the top of the suit,
whereas a fourchette is a combination in
one hand of the cards Immediately above
and below the one played by the right
hand adversary. If you hold ace-queen,
and the player on your right leads a
small card. you hold major tenace, but
not fourchette If ne leads the king you
hold fourchette, because the card he plays
fills the space between the prongs Of your
fork. FOurchettes may be of any rank
The eight and six are fourchette over the
seven AT any time. but they will not be
major tenace until all the cards in that
suit above the eight have been played.
Fourchettes are sometimes composed Of
cards widely separated. The queen and
seven, for instance, will be fourchette
over the jack if the eight, nine, and ten
have been played.
Imperfect fourchettes" are forks with
a prong missing. If the player on your
right leads a queen and you hold king
ten you have an Imperfect fOurchette,
because the jack is not in your hand.
The king and ten would not be an i'm
perfect fourchette over the jack, how
ever, because the higher card must be ihe
one Immediately above the one led by
the player on your right or it is not a
fourchette at all. Good players always
cover" with fourchettes, whether per-
feet or not.
Covering" is putting on higher card
than the one led or played. but not the
best of the suit. If the player on your
right leads a ten, and you hold ace
jack and deuce, you pass" if you play |
the deuce: you cover If you play the |
jack, and you "win' If you play the ace.
Many persons confuse the terms hon
ors" and court cards" Honors are |
the cards that rank highest in the game |
being played. In whist there are four |
honors-ace, king, queen, and jack; In |
bridge whist the ten is included. The |
court cards are the three in each suit '
that have pictures-the king, queen, AM !
Jack.
The ace is almost invariably an honor !
in card games, but is never court card.
When players count honors' at whist |
they refer to honors in the trump suit |
only. The ace is the best card OF any |
suit. but a player may speak OF having !
the hest of the suit without meaning the |
ace. He refers TO the best card winch is
still unplayed in that suit. The same Is |
true in speaking of the second best lot IL
does not matter whether the caro- was
the king or the four, the idea conveyed !
being simply that some player stu heia
a better card in that suit.
When a person speaks OF holding the
second best guarded he means thaI
even if the player with the best OF the |
suit were to lead It he could not eaten |
the second best, because 1t was accom-
named bv a smaller card. twice |
IL would take |
three leads TO catch it, a twice-guarded |
oueen cannot be caught if led up 10, be- |
cause the two guards can be played 10 the
ace and king. leaving the queen the pest
of the suit. If one player has the queen |
and his mariner the jack, and either OF |
those cards is twice guarded, the other
once only. it is impossible for the adj
versaries 10 catch them both, no matter
how they play.
The PLAYER left with the best card OF
any suit is said 10 command that SUIT
ma the French call such cards masters
but when the command Is against MN
ne is said 10 hold losing card. III
person tells you he had TWO losing
spades" he means that II ne got the ledu
,e wouId lose two spade tricks losing /
rump" Is one that will be caught II the
,dversaries get into the lead and draw H.
A s1ong trump" is the only one remain
NO unplayed. There are some special
eTms applied TO the trump suit. WEAK
rumps." for instance, mean that the
,laver has not enough Of them to JUSTIFY
,iu I'm refusing TO trump doubtful
ricks" Any trick is doubtful TO the Sc
.ond PLAYER when the care Is not me
,esf and ne does not know whether MS
,artner or the third hand Will win H.
,Strone trumps" are usually four or
nore. and such strength usually warrants
,asslng doubtful tricks and greater free
lom is finessing -
I'm addition TO these terms mere are
mite a number which refer chiefly TO the
'trateev Of the game, such as messing
..rufBng" forcing" 'underpiay' &C
.Finessing" is trying TO win trick WIN
,ut giving up the best card you hold IN
he suit. If your partner leads small
rd and YOU hold ace-queen and others
,o,i "anesse" when you play the queen
nd the card you inesse against Is the
ing which you hope is not on your leit,
vhsn a person illnesses deeply ne IS
messing against more than one caro-. 10
Law The ten with the ace In your hand
would be . deep fnesse, - there are !