The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
QUEER TERMS IN WHIST.
N0MENCLATURE THAT rs PUSZLING
To a BEGINNER.

n Great Charge from the Coed Ola DAyo Q
''sscosd Hnnd Lew, Third Haud miEho q
the Times or "GuerF uins.r "Potentin
Tennces.n ana .'Tvvice Guarded Jacks ~
what Nc Ali Mesus-A lexicon OF whist
The continual spread ard growth in popu
iarlty of whist during the last few years hai
been remarkable in many respects, and tn,
changes that have taken place In the tactics o.
the gamo have amounted almost TO q revolu
ton. The good old days when such simple
maxims as second hand low, third hand
high" wero sufficient for tho average player
have passed away, and a person now requires
months Of careful training before he can acqult
himself deccntly, even in n social game.
In 1889 there were only two teachers in this
country and the only paper that ever referred
to tho game was the Bottom Herald. To-day
there are several teachers in every large city
and no Tower than forty.two newspapers have
regular whist departments edited by some skill
full player or well.known author. A quiet
rubber in the home circle or at the club was
then the extent Of the players ambition, but
now teams of experts travel hundreds Of miles
just TO play a single match of forty-eight
deals against q rival club. All the large cities
have annual tournaments to decide the SUI.
premacy of the local clubs; State associations
have been formed all over tho country and
valuable trophies arc played for ovory week;
the American Whist League holds its annual
COnRre9b LOT tue ulbCuhsiOh' u II laws III tno
play for championship honors. This organiza-
ton has upon its lists nearly 10000 members
and publishes an official organ devoted ex-
clusively to the interests of the game.
The increase and concentration of attention
upon any subject naturally tend to develop it
in various ways, and among other things to In
crease and 'complcato its nomenclature. The
technical terms in uso at the whist table ten
years ago were few and casily understood, but
NNJ.v tI,av - M pupnapppu that nnna hpt thu
expert understands them all. THE SUN con-
tinually receives letters like the following.
asking for. an explanation of certain phrases
which are used in competition with the published
analyses of illustrative hands:
To THE EDITOR OF THE SCN-Sfr: While I
have played whist for a number of years and
have become very much interested in Around
tho Whist Table as published in THE SUN,
there are many words applied to the game of
which 1 do not comprehend tho meaning, and
beg to ask II you will kindly advise me what is
the technical meaning for 'fnesse,' GUERRILLA
'led.hi own singleton ruff, 'cross.ruff.' ten
ace and minor tenace,. potential tenace,'
force leading. spades to an honor twice |
guarded jack, top Of nothing &c.
''These expressions have a meaning incom-
prehensible to mo. and / acknowledge my ig-
norance in tho hope that you will be good
enough to explain them, as I am honestly en-
w cbehh AhS aShk " |
the fascinating game Of whist. VA. r.
RAILWAY, N. j."
The foregoing letter gives a long but far from |
complete list of the terms which confuse the
novice at the whist table. One of the most
common difficulties with the beginner iS to
grasp the meaning Of the terms used in describ-
ing particular combinations of cards. Even
experts arc not thoroughly familiar with many
of them. It should be observed that whenever
n numher Ia mentioned IL emhra cAs all tho carda |
in the suit spoken Of. whether any particulars
are added or not. A few OF the more common
forms Of such expressions are: Ace nth in
diamonds" 'Queen:jack to four clubs" In
S o,mbs Of Il these rasas t b ,t figure STf, expresses ss.t the total
that the ace was the fifth spade. Ace to Ave"
does not mean that the player held the ace and
The, combination Of Ave cards Is in The heart suit
king third means that there were three dia-
% wsss an II T fdar eI tnS king ins, wSs th fb best sse.n There .ns
20 an honor. he means that one Of his spades
did not hold two q, those cards. -"
Combinations Of high cards, when spoken of
are divided into two classes. sequences and ten,
aces. and these again are further DISTINGUISHED
speaking, a sequence must be composed of u
series Of at least three things next IN value to
only. such as king and queen, because there is
r. word in any langgagethat expresses the
Auoa VI w tulHBb ucAb 10 cuCu Otutr II rank.
Zines Hsaa ca sisd'f the = .ti tns sf na t1rF' q TSe . sSmst
mf Il the Is Sequence sea aGs; ki is 81 fuiG nfor} Iset rank, it is
named, after the highest card. "A tierce to the
There ore also "~intermediate sequences. such tuahi
as Jack, ten, nine In a suit, which also contains
are sometimes spoken Of as indifferent cards"
because one Is as good as the other for trick
sasi inai PFsrRSs's Card Many Is ypd Rsaso oi i th MEANS we one
OF no value. Cards of equal value, If not
'best" cards. II the ace of spades has been
Played Ia and E yo t,d hold the king; queen, jack, you
.'Tenaces'' are a continual stumbling block to
slthough many persons imagine 50, The major
Of the nnplayed cards Of a suit; the ace and
queen II the sgit has not been touched. The
We Y speak Of ' the Ado an %gPin %aior 't tenace %h tRo
ttssnaoes may vary every time nc suit i played.
and seven may become the major tenaee. while j
the minor tenace may be the nine and four. 1t l
SSis. table. the, idea Of advantage GSsa' Sein az d ihs ,
held tho major tenace over a given player. 1
Potential tenaces" are combinations that c
diate card falls; The ace and Jack form a po- ,
tential tenece, because they become the major 1
king and ten form a potential tenace, becom-
Ing, the minor II tho queen or jack falls; the I
major IL acc-jack or ace-queen fall. q
The FRENCH players do not use the word ten. b
ace, but call allasuch combinations Jourcheitcs. @
Tho word expresses the idea OF q fork, tho space o
between the prongs representing the missing 8
cards OF the sequence. English.speaking play o
ors. make quite a distinction between tenace I
and Jourchette, and insist that the tenace must
be at the top of the suit, whereas a Jour c
Ghetto 10 a combination in one hand of tho cards z
Immediately above and below the one played j
by the riRht.hand adversary. If you hold ace G
queen and the player on your right leads A
small card. -you hold major tenace, but not y
fouychette. II he leads the king you hold four. g
between the prongs OF your fork. FourcReftes =
may be OF any rank. The eight and six arc II
fouTchefte over the seven at any time, but they
not DO major tenacc until all the cards in 4
that suit above The eight have been PLAYED. a
arc sometimes composed OF cards i.
widely separated; The queen and seven. for b