♦ KNOVS^LEDGE 



callyno; tlu ,, . :,i ,., , i, 

 attacks on n-l]i.N(.u m ilic m 

 careful to show wliat v<ju 

 religions ; / liope to show w 

 You see we differ widely.— 

 really a shower of snails, 

 just that view of Mr. Si^. i - 

 I certainly agree wiili > 

 notion which would In t 

 mouse. Try makinfrliii : . 



t about thc- 

 lie adverse 



MMi.pstogm- 

 ..Illy ruff opCH 

 .u board when 

 hand leading 



Last of Weekly Knowledge ('• I'ui 

 you will perceive that with serial ii 

 with letters pouring in bj' the busli. 

 of yours still in hand — I fear thi- 

 1 the sense of appearing, I have 1 



ch thanks ! "), 

 i.it be closed ; 

 md a number 

 out of hand 

 a quantity of 



matter. I certainly don't propose to publish a supplementary 

 number for outstanding letters, of the class which killed Cock 

 Robin. ?,. The cbnrdi idea won't hold : inconsistent with kno' 



opa, 



:. pri 



t, to (h 



Icauic energy ? 



no sense or degree explains its non-i' i : ii m i i - i' 



Kail was wron?. But, for myself, I il.. ■ •, , 



how a man calls his stars. There is enougl. ;i;:. :.i , i ,i i, w. i.; 

 without bringing the poor stars in. Of cour.^e witli tlieiilamts wc 

 must be more' careful. Fortunately there is only one planet over 

 which one can go wrong fas ninety-nine out of a Inindred do, — 

 saying Uranus inst-ead of tJrSnus) ; for no one I suppose will speak 

 of Jew Peter. — E. B. V. Our column for queries of that sort long 

 since closed.— QuosQUE Tandem. Permit me to explain that my 

 bad writing, causing some one looking up, or partially recalling 

 (imperfectly it would seem) the passage, led to the very remarkable 

 Latinity of my reply to you. 



#ur WBWt Column. 



By "Five of Clubs." 



OK WHIST STRATEGY.* 

 (_C(mtimiedfromj>. 27Q}. 



THE third class of cases to be considered is when the suits are 

 unequally divided in length, and \ictory or safety depends on 

 success in either ruffing from one hand while partner's hand retains 

 defensive trump strength, or in establishing a cross-ruff. A contest 

 of this kind is interesting and instructive. Nearly always we find 

 that the hasty attempt to make tricks by ruffing through the early 

 lead of a singleton or from a suit of two defeats itself. The enemy 

 see their danger early, and by leading trumps put an end to your 

 ruffing tactics. A cross-ruff can scarcely ever be secured by over- 

 hasty leads from short suits. Where there is a fair chance of a 

 cross-ruff, it is quite commonly lost though a singleton lead. 



The third and fourth of our doubly-played hands illustrate the play 

 of hands in which the suits are irregularly distributed. In the 

 former four tricks are lost by tlie lead from a singleton, while by 

 correct play only the odd trick is lost. In the latter, a cross-ruff is 

 on the cards for A B, and if they secure it by correct play they win 

 four by cards : but A leading over hastily to secure a ruff, the cross- 

 ruff is missed, and A B lose two by cards. 



It often happens that two suits are equally distributed between 

 the hands, one hand only having more than three cards, while the 

 other two suits are irregularly distributed. Again it often happens 

 that, while the hands of two players, partners or otherwise, are 

 very unevenly distributed, those of the two others are hands of 

 three-card suits and one four-card suit. Success in securing 

 victory or safety often depends on the early recognition of such 

 peculiarities of arrangement. 



..led a 







.liich one of 



-_..!,' I : . -■ ^ ,.i!i;. i. 1 iM . .1.11.1 best card must maVie 

 tin- Miit, but will fall if tin- third best is led througVi 

 1 the left of the best, it will only fall if led from. 

 a noting where the strength lies in the various suits. 

 ■ly in the game, yon can judge 



it: if it 



Beca 

 By retaining the inferences ii 

 which cards to retain an.l v,li: 

 King-card in a suit wbi. '; ■ 

 see such a card held, ai,. i i . w n awsy in another suit 



of which that small c:. 1.1 ■ • .1 protection. To take a 



very simple illustration. Mill.. :-. ''■'" ^'li.i trumps arc all out the 

 cards arranged as follows, X knowing where the Spades lie and 

 that all the Diamonds are out except his Ace:— 



i? holds: Spades-9, 5; Hearts— K. 



I" holds .? holds 



Hearts— Q, Kn, 10. Spades— S, 2 ; Diamonds— A. 



^ holds: Hcarts-4, 3, 2. 



A leads a Heart, B winning with tlie King ; if now Z discards 

 his Diamond Ace he must make a trick in Spades ; but if he discards 

 the Deuce of Spades both the remaining tricks go to B. 



A winning card or an extra trump which if retained will compel 

 you to win a trick and then lead from a tenace or up to the enemy's 

 tenace should if possible be got rid of. Suppose for instance the 

 following arrangement (Hearts trumps) : — 



Bi hand: Hearts— d ; Spades— Q, 9, 3. 



I's hand : Zs hand : 



Hearts— 3 ; Hearts— 10, 8 ; 



Spades — 5 ; Spades — 7 ; 



Clubs— A, 4. Clubs— 9. 



A'& hand : Hearts — Kn, 9, 2 ; Spades — 10. 



1' leads Club ace, B trumps with the four, if plays Club nine ; if 

 now A discards the Spade Ten, he must win the next trick, and lead 

 from his tenace, losing one trick in trumps. But if A discards the 

 small trump, B wins the next trick with the Spade Queen, and A 

 makes both the remaining tricks, Z'f. minor tenace being led 

 through. Observe that a trick is gained in this way, even though 

 Z hold the major tenace and A the minor. If for instance 

 k holds Queen' Ten, instead of Ten Eight, then by discord- 

 ing the Spade, A is obliged to take the next trick and lead 

 up to Z's major tenace, losing both the remaining tricks; but if 

 he discards the trump Two, undertrumjiiiig his partner, B makes 

 the next trick with the Spade Queen, and leading through Z's 

 major tenace, A makes one more trick. If instead of holding thi. 

 above hand, A held Knave and Ten of Hearts and Spade King and 

 Ten, his proper play to the first round would be Spade King, so that 

 B would win the next trick with the Spade Queen. 



Throwing away thus a winning card is called playing the Grand 

 Coup. It is akin in principle to the lead of the losing card from 

 the major tenace guarded (best, third best, and small card). 



