The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-16

Alb get seven tricks.
This hand is piano for seven tricks no mat
ter how it ia opened or continued. At the other
table Wheeler opened the trumps and John I.
Mitchell won with tho lack and led his fourth
best diamond. Had he led the club Jack or the
spade four the result would have been the
same. At the end. AS eight OF spades won
trick, as IL will no matter what 4 leads after
winning the first round Of trumps. Neverthe
less. the hand is peculiarly interesting as being
the only one recorded in the official proceed
ings OF the American Whist League in which
player succeeded in bringing in a four-card
suit headed by a card smaller than the Jack.
Trick 3. The single-card call for trumps.
with nothing in his hand and the spades
against him. would strike the modern player
as rather curious whist
Trick 4. The nnesse is peculiar. but does not
lose anything. Even il 4 puts on the king and
leads his only remaining club. afterward max
ing his small trump. the result Is the same.
Trick 5 Even II ducks this trick, SO rs to
saves nothing The hand is mn absolute piano.
When a tour-card suit has nonors at the head
Of i the only reason for refusing to LEAD them
IL that they are not In sequence. What the
common-sense player wants to know is. what
shall he lead il he does not LEAD the b"s. suit
tenace. To answer this question requires us
to consider the disadvantages OF leading away
taC ,a' Of leading the suit which we propose
To- select in rrseiersncs to it. II we have
Comes oS are TsuabS for pmr r ss1' Of rentry
which alters the whole aspect of the case, 50
the consideration Of hands in which there Is no
plain suit OF more than four cards. because
they are not and cannot be considered az long
suit hands, In THE suns 10000 deals we
Ard the ioilowgg in%rGstinE facts in conn 1o
deans MIN Which fs o the q or H eader holds
major tenace and no other, plain suit Of moro
than four cards In sixty,eight q these he
PIP he holds the major tenace only. 40,
Now the value OF a tenace consists in having
y s1 but any hans one 5hs adj On
versaries to play before you do. so that you
ei hs only card can sss
against is the king. and as that card should be
1y Ss Se9 b as By ths Gf Of
1t will make no difference one-third OF the
time whether you nnesse or not. When tho
will win every time whether made as second or
third hand, but when the king is on, your left
one-third OF the time the finesse will lose.
Upon counting up the exact number Of times
these various positopS were occupied by the
anf in % w s"S on he left q the MAJOR mes oR
ace; in g it was with the partner, and in l02 i
the right, There is NO rSaoin why it
each position. but tho facts ara given rs they
Apparently tho worst position of the king Is
on the left. because then the hncsso must fall.
Leaving out the double major tenace suits.
A . TO- from which one Of the high cards Is
usually played second hand. we have seventy,
four denis in which the four-cnrd suit is headed
by A, . only and the king is in the most unf9-
vorable position. on the left. All these deals
have bcen carefully Analysed with view OF
ascertaipinG the best onenlnG from such hands,
the position being admittedly unfavorahle.
because even i some other suit Is opened, p:sr-
ing will be gained by the preservation OF the
| tenaco, as the tinesso for which It Is chiefly
valuable Will not gain anything. the king being
on the lett.
In this analysis three kinds Of leads were
tried: the tenace suit ITSELF beginning with
small card the trump opening, regardless Of
number or the turn-up card any other plain
suit OF four cards that the hand might contain,
or any good supporting cards IN short suits
| when there was no four-card suit hut that OF
| the tenaco For the benefit 81 those who may
wish to make annyses ot their own tho method
| adopted by THE Sun may be briefly described,
| us II ia great time saver. and without it the
| examination Of largo number Of deals would
be impossible.
In the first place the, deals must be recorded
| on blanks 40 arranged that the leader shall
always be in one position. and the trump suit
| must always be the ono first given. 1t is quite
unnecessary to give the names OF the suits ex-
| cept for reference. The diagram Of a deal
Gbnul1 ha n q fDllOwa.