CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



game, and would only win two points. Long 

 whist is now seldom played. 



\\hist is a mixed game of chance and skill. 

 The chance resides in the holding honours, and 

 the fortune of having high cards dealt in the 

 hand. The skill consists in the application of 

 such knowledge as shall, in the long-run, turn the 

 chances of the cards in the player's favour. At 

 the commencement of the hand, the first lead 

 presents a problem of almost pure chance ; but 

 as the hand proceeds, observation of the fall of 

 the cards, inference therefrom, memory and judg- 

 ment come in, so that towards the end of the hand 

 we are often presented with a problem of almost 

 pure skill. It is these ever-varying gradations 

 of skill and chance that give the game its chief 

 interest as a scientific pastime. 



In order to become a skilful player, it is neces- 

 sary to bear in mind that the game is not one of 

 any given player's hand against the other three, 

 but a combination of two against two. In order 

 that two partners shall play their hands to the 

 best advantage, they must strive, as much as 

 possible, to play the two hands as though they 

 were one. To this end, it is advisable that they 

 should pursue some uniform system of play, in 

 order that each partner shall understand the 

 plans of the other, and so be placed in the most 

 favourable position to assist him in carrying them 

 out The experience of the last hundred years has 

 developed a system of play tending to this result. 

 Of this we proceed to give an epitome. 



The first, or, as it is commonly called, the 

 original lead should be from the player's strongest 

 suit. A strong suit is one that contains either a 

 large number of cards (four or more) or several 

 high cards. The suit containing the largest 

 number of cards (numerical strength) is the one 

 to be mostly preferred. The object aimed at in 

 openirfg with the strongest suit is to exhaust the 

 cards of that suit from the other hands. When 

 this object is accomplished, the cards of the suit 

 which remain in the leader's hand (called long cards) 

 obtain a value which does not intrinsically be- 

 long to them. They often become of great service, 

 for when led, they either compel the adversary to 

 trump, or they make tricks. And when trumps 

 are all out, the player who has the lead makes as 

 many tricks as he has long cards. 



On the other side, by opening weak suits, there 

 is considerable risk of sacrificing your partner's 

 strength, and of leaving long cards with the 

 opponents. 



Some players are prone to lead single cards, 

 but experience shews that weak leads, as a rule, 

 do more harm than good. Sometimes a trick or 

 two is made by playing a trumping game ; but 

 the chances are that such tactics sacrifice your 

 partner's hand, and clear the suit for the adver- 

 saries. 



The proper card of the strong suit to lead is, as 

 a rule, the lowest. The intention is for the third 

 player to play his highest, and so to assist in 

 clearing his partner's strong suit that is, in 

 giving him the command of that suit Moreover, 

 if the leader keeps the best cards of his suit in his 

 own hand, he has a fair chance of getting the lead 

 again when his suit is nearly or quite established. 

 But with ace and four or more small ones, it is 

 considered best to begin with the ace, lest the ace 

 be trumped, second round. Also, with a strong 



684 



sequence in the strong suit, it is best to lead one 

 of the sequence first, lest the adversaries win with 

 a very small card. The following are the prin- 

 cipal leads from sequences : 



From ace, king, queen lead king, then queen. 



From ace, king, and small lead king, then ace. 



From ace, queen, knave lead ace, then queen. 



From king, queen, knave, and more than one 

 small lead knave. 



From king, queen, knave, and one small lead 

 king. 



From king, queen, and small lead king. 



From king, knave, ten, nine, &c. lead nine. 



From king, knave, ten, and small lead ten. 



From queen, knave, ten, and small lead queen. 



From knave, ten, nine, and small lead knave. 



After the first trick, the lead may remain with 

 the first leader. His best play, as a rule, is to 

 continue his suit. If the lead falls to another 

 player, his play, as a rule, will be to open his best 

 suit ; and so on. If the lead falls to the first 

 player's partner, he has choice of two modes of 

 play. If he has a good strong suit of his own, as, 

 for instance, one of those in the list above, and 

 containing four or more cards, he would, as a rule, 

 open it ; if not, he would, as a rule, do well to 

 continue the suit his partner first led ; or, as it is 

 commonly called, to return his partner's suit 

 The object is to strengthen partner, by assisting 

 to clear his strong suit 



In returning a suit, if the player has only two 

 cards of it remaining in his hand, he should 

 return the highest ; if more than two, the lowest. 

 The exception is, if he has the winning card, he 

 should return that, irrespective of the number of 

 other cards in the suit The reason of this rule is 

 that, with but two cards of the suit remaining, the 

 player is weak in the suit, and he is therefore 

 bound to sacrifice his good card to support his 

 partner. But with three or more remaining after 

 the first round, he is strong, and is therefore 

 justified in calling on partner to support him. 



This rule of play is most important. It should 

 be carefully observed with even the smallest cards, 

 as it enables partner to count the situation of the 

 remaining cards. For example : A leads a suit 

 in which C (his partner) holds ace, three, and two. 

 In refurning A's suit, after winning with the ace, 

 C is bound to return the three, and not the two. 

 When C's two falls in the third round, A will 

 know that his partner has no more of the suit. 

 But suppose C's cards to be ace, four, three, and 

 two. In returning the suit, C is bound to choose 

 the two. Then after the third round, A will con- 

 clude with certainty that C has at least one more 

 card in the suit. 



Late in a hand, the considerations with regard 

 to the lead vary. If there is no indication to the 

 contrary, it is best for each side to continue the 

 suits originally opened by them. But the fall of 

 the cards may shew that it is disadvantageous to 

 persevere in the suits first led. In such cases, 

 the player must have recourse to other and 

 weaker suits. The general rules to be observed 

 here are to choose a suit in which there is reason 

 to infer that the right-hand adversary is weak ; or 

 but this is less favourable one in which the 

 left-hand adversary is strong. In either case, if 

 the suit chosen contains but three cards, none 

 higher than knave, or only two cards, it is ge 

 ally right to lead the highest 



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