The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-26
AROUND THE WHIST TABLE.
THE ELEMENT OF LUCK PRESENT
IN DUPLICAT TIE WHIST.
No system That Will Make the Top Score
IN Ernrv Hnnd-.. AifL Tn~hlcA,I-Cnnt.

on Every Hand" Gift Tnblesr-Capt.
Ward of Boston Against the Use of
syNtems-The Rule Never to Finesse.
When investigating the merits OF any par
ticular system Of play. the final test is usually
duplicate whist. II a player makes eight tricks
on a hand in which others get ten and cannot
see that no lost any cold tricks. the only fur
Their explanation is that his system is wrong.
There seems TO be a popular fallacy to the effect
that a good system should be OF such a char
acter as to get all there is in every hand played.
apart from gifts, Of course. II such n system
could be found the best thing to do with IT.
would be to put a gold frame around It, n foot
wide and twelve inches deep, and then to stow
it away in "a museum, because the everyday
use of such a sure thing would soon kill all the
interest In tho game.
There never was a system that would make
the top score on every hand played at dupli-
cate whist. There never was u pair that got
all there was in every hand they played, The
enormous possibilities of duplicate were never
better illustrated than in the tifth round of the
intercity tournament, which was played at the
rooms of the Knickerbocker on Feb. lS. AL
most every modern system was tried on the
twenty-seven deals that went the rounds that
night, and the greatest variation in the scores
was on the n and $ han s. II plus and II
minus, or "a tricks. On the Il and W hands
the variations were . plus and 10 minus. or 10
tricks. The top scores we're 1913 and 10 re-
spectively. and those who made them probably
thought they were doing pretty well and had a
great system.
Now. let us suppose that some pair had had
a system which would have got them the top
score on every hand. so that no one could come
w to them after the game and say, as usual.
What did you get on board 1872" We got
eight on it," why. three pairs get twelve and
two get zen on it, Ne, Every ono knows how
the talk goes. A careful examination OF tho
score slips shows that had any pair made the
top score on every ~deal-that is. as much as
was actually made by more than one pair in
the game-they would have been 23l n and $.
or so tricks above the average. which was 1Sl.
Any + and W pair. by getting the top score on
every deal, could have made 2i9 tricks. or 40
above the average. which was 40. These
tricks we're actually taken by at least two pairs
in each case.
Had any team in the tournament been using
a systcm that would get them the top score on
every deal their n and $ and L and W pairs to-
gether would have made ninety-nine tricks
above the average as IA team. With the eXcep-
ton Of three or four teams that have lost
matches by more than six tricks. this score
would have won for them the first prize then
and there. because they would have won from
four to twelve tricks from every other team in
the room. u margin sufficient to win every
match that was previously either lost or tied.
and to clinch every other beyond the possibility
Of recovery. The actual swings were as follows:
Five deals had swing o. two tricks each ..........lo
Eight deals had II swing of three tricks each....-..24
Seven, deals had a wing of -four tricks earh..,".,.2 -
Five deals had Il swing OF nVc tricks elch.,......,.2 rs
Two deals had a swing Of SIX tricks each. ..........i2
Total swings on twenty.seven deals played. &c. 80
The largest plus actually made on these deals
was II. the average Plus being . only. on hands
words, there were ten times as many tricks
plus in the, hands as the best PLAYERS in the
country could get out ot them. Tnatthcre are
such possibilities in the. gnme certainly proves
one OF two things: that 1t is impossible for any
system to get all there is in the hands. because
the methods adopted are successful only in
some hands and must lose in others. or that
5ngN oy is stllI SO +. fbI ecau a if tGe1e 'n ar5 no % sy gnn1
gifts" distributed i'll. every duplicate game
that it is practically Impossible for any one
against their being at the righttable at Just the
right time to get these Gifts are so great that
consider Sc ii" That each ! and nd " pair arm moves %"' from
table to table il regular succession. and in or
der to get all the gifts that are going i would
be necessary for those gifts to be on hand at
SO that the same pair should hit them all. This
i mani[estly so improbable that it may saieIy
be said it viii meyer happen. but we occasion,
tot. In every game these gifts are undonbt-
times, and it would seem as if the luck
OF getting Il top score. depended entirely
The players were lucky enough to hit upon
at exactly the right time. 1t is matter OF COM
tb2nus s6Sp nn "y"n me i9r nn ,TD D,a E9o od PIi mSsf pe tT G2
game and, still make a very bad score; Why?
l BeG "a Rsr t ex1io SkiE i5@' T * TN IND 't tbcv F Iaat Ioh is
tricks on an apparently piano hand. They ask
how thHse Jour tricks were made and upon
no such chance as that
In the course OF time this element OF luck
should even up. of course. and that is one of
the reasons why all good players like to have u
match run over as large Il number, of deals or
in a progressive game is no test Of n players
ability. but on the average through the season
he Will probably come out anout where he be-
longs. The same is true of teams. and, as in
the intercity tournament each team will have
safe to say that those who come out at the top
probably belong there and would be found there
a IfTsy mnf 70 T fhnay SET Tfe m4fo H]Ssit T5fs a tns d H5s9 tG
their superior ability az whist, players more
tiham h to t thst t systems or w thGIr i% L 1t Is $ mo- mo-
iaeV' are al teams ans wHi CHI are (, com n ossae i" Of
men whose position, as tirst.class players has
is as follows:
KInick.' A. watson, crainer, Eliot, TIrreli. IS4 30
Bklyn 'A'-DGiIn,san' Hatch JosephSon. -
Nj. "A"-ots' Eagles, Aymar, Hirshacld II 40
The, New, York B" team leads all the other
"B's' and is also ahead Of four "A teams
from other clubs; With one exception all tIe
B teams lead all the &C." teams. which
would seem TO show that the club aptainS had
used pretty good Judgment in estimating the
capabilities of their players when they deter
mined the rank OF the various combinations
they entered.
THE COMING GAME.
Few whist players, are better known in this
country than II. II. Ward. captain of the Pyra-
mid team of the American Whist Club of BOs-
ton. which has won everything in sight during
the last two or three years. Capt, Ward has
had about the most successful career Of any
modern player, and what he has to say on the
subject OF n winning system should have some
weight. One would think that Il man who had
won n. the trophies in New England. both
for tours and pairs. and had taken the
challenge trophy away from all the crack
aJacks in the country at an annual
congress, 70 say, nothing OF winning small
prizes and matches innumcrhhie. had soma
pretty good system and was willing to swear
BY it. Strange to say. he thinks the system
which has Accomplished 50 much has been Il
hindrance rather than an aid. and he - not
only willing but anxious to throw 1t overheard,
giving AZ his ransom than ma pan MAY hotter