Evening star., 1909-03-07
DELIBERATE AND
SLOW WHIST PLAYER
Faults and Mannerisms That
Are Frequently Observed
at Clubs.

One of the chief faults at whist, and
one which is prevalent among all classes
of players, is narrowness of view. by
which is meant failure to realize the COM
ponent parts of hand in their relation
to each other. and its possibilities as
whole This is the result of too close ad-
herence TO some particular method. The
theory-bO player Is in a condition an
alogous to that of the muscle bound ath
lete His activity is restricted to certain
directions One will look for a long suit
with the thought only OF establishment;
another for a tenaCe. his mind intent
upon the prospective flnesse. and a third,
whose penChant is the crossruff, will scan
his cards with eye solely TO short suits.
IT goes without saying that under any of
these or similar circumstances. the full
value OF hand is seldom appreciated.
and It's best treatment seldom adopted.
In a recent trophy match good natural
player but one OF the tenaCe variety or
Cranks. held the following: Spades. X,
c.. 3; hearts, X. J., 9. !, D; clubs 0rumps),
S :. +. diamonds s, ;. The long-suiter
would have of course led heart and the
cross-ruff maniac diamond. The gen
t1eman IN question opened with spade,
overlooking the fact in his anxiety 10
make the most Of the minor teuace, that
he stood to ruin the chances for the da-
There is hut one logical lead from the
holding for the player who takes a broad,
impartial view of the entire hand, and II
is safe to say that had X contained the
queen IN place OF the king. the tenace
sDeCialist would have selected the dta-
mond suit for his opening. Extra cultiva-
ton Of particular plays and setting un-
due value upon certain combinations Will
make an otherwise good player an unde-
sirable partner
Be Deliberate.
A want of proper deliheration is respon-
sible for the loss OF many tricks, and is a
Characteristic fault Of many otherwise
good players. a veteran whist player or
our ACQUAINTANCE commonly plays at such
railroad speed that for the losses this en-
tails he IS prone TO acknowledge that he
'played too fast" or did not stop to
think" as though he expected his part
ner's pardon If he only made an honest
confession. But since Carelessness is al
ways unpardoEabe It would seem as II ne
were presuming too much III expecting
forgiveness.
The antipodes OF this gentleman Is an
other we know of-an analytical tempera-
rnent, whose gray matter works Ike the
mills of the gods: who. though he may
have but one possible card to play, In
variably takes an unconsc1onable time
to play It; delays so long. in fact. that
the minds OF the other players are dl-
on earth he can be thinking about. He
fiddles with his cards. takes one out and
balances it on the table. puts 1t back,
thinks some more. and not until the I'M
patience caused by his dilatorineSS is
fairly turned into resentment does his
card drop And these tactics are fol-
lowed whether the play be simple or com
pleX. His partner once declared seriously
that he took a nap While waiting for MIN
to play.
An amusing instance where one Of these
super deliberate gentlemen addicted to the
lingering habit came to grief was observ-
ed once in a match game. 1t was a ques-
ton OF whether or not to finesse. and
required due consideration. Mr.. Slowpoke
placed his cards face downward on the
table. rose from his chair and went to
the other end of the room to commune
with himself In about five minutes dt
seemed much longer) he returned and re-
voked! His partner rose at the end or
the deal and said with mock solelnnlty:
Gentlemen, this IS indeed a lesson we
would do we'll to learn-to take time
enough to consider before We play. Ny
partner YOU observe. is a man of deep
thought-I don't think.
Don't Be Slow.
Tt Is we'll to be deliberate, but not to
the extent OF arousing suspicion that
You have fallen into trance. There is
a medium between the hUrry-up table
thumper or the nervous busybody who
discharges his cards to the trick like
the missile from a catapult, and the af-
fected thoughtfulness and caution Of the
card -balancer who keeps the whole table
waiting beyond any reasonable limit for
him tn play.
quiet deliberate unaffected manner
OF play should be cultivated. 1t suggests
repose OF minds and reserve force; and
one word mOre-don't look your partner
out of countenance when you do play,
for the purpose OF ascertaining from his
expression whether or not 1t suits him.
What would You lead If you had the
opening OF the following hand, the club
deuce being turned? Clubs-Ace, king,
s, 6. t.: diamonds-kng. 4; spades-queen,
s. :. >: hearts-queen, Jack. There are
three plausible openings, for each Of
which good arguments may be advanced.
After you have made up your mind. look
at the diagrams below, and you will see
how the deal resulted when each of these
openings was made in of the spring
tournament games. Trump, OF clubs,
turned by L; leader, A.
The play at table !: