196 



♦ KNO^A^LEDGE ♦ 



[July 1, 188?. 



WRWt Columm 



By W. Montagu Gattie. 



A^IEMCAN LEADS. 

 {Conlinued from page 175.) 

 E Imve already hinted that the sj'stem of leads 

 which we described in tlie May number of Know- 

 LBIXJE has been the subject of considerable con- 

 troversy in whist circles. To many players, and 

 particularly, no doubt, to those of mathematical 

 tastes, there is something very attractive in the 

 establishment of a code which marshals in scien- 

 titic order and invests with a uniform meaning 

 the various conventions as to leading from long 

 suits that have, one by one, grown gradually into use, as experience 

 in actual play has suggested them. Thus, in the last edition of 

 "Cavendish," we find the author enthusiastically remarking: — 

 " The more the American system is (xamined, the more thorough 

 and perfect it will be found." 



On the other hand, the system is objected to by some strong 

 players, p.irtly on the ground that it adds to the technicalities of 

 tlie game, and so increases the difficulties of beginners, but more 

 especially because they oppose on principle the growing tendency 

 to formulate e.^act methods of play, urging with some force that the 

 undue multiplication of such formulaj is apt to crush the life out 

 of a game which, after all, depends on powers of ready inference 

 and adroit strategy rather than on the rigorous observance of 

 delinite laws. 



As regards the first objection, we have already said that the 

 student may very well acquire sufficient knowledge of whist to 

 enable him to play an intelligent rubber without troubling himself 

 at all with American leads ; and he would, in our opinion, do wisely 

 to reserve their consideration until he bas thoroughly grasped the 

 main principles of the game. But to these who have already 

 become fairly proficient, and whose faculty of observation is suffi- 

 ciently trained for them to derive benefit from penultimate and 

 antepenultimate leads and other recognised openings from suits of 

 five or more cards, the new cede is, as we believe, of great service, 

 not only because it s}"stematises, as already explained, the existing 

 conventions, but also becavse it affords in many cases an easy 

 means of obtaining information which would otherwise be beyond 

 the reach of any but the finest players. 



For example, A leads, as his original lead, the 7 of spades ; T 

 follows with the 4 ; B (A's partner), holding queen knave only, 

 plays knave ; and Z plays 8. B can at once place king, 10, 9, of 

 spades in A's hand, imless both the adversaries are calling for 

 trumps. For, except in that case, A must have either deuce or 

 trey of spades, and therefore has led from a suit of five cards at 

 least, so that he does not hold the ace ; and, as he must have three 

 cards higher than the 7, they must be king, 10, 9. Hence it follows 

 that Z is either asking for trumps or void of spades, and that Y 

 has the ace. Now let us suppose that from a suit consisting of 

 king, 10, 9, 7, 3, 2, A had led the lowest instead of the fourth best. 

 It is clear that B would have been able to gather none of the 

 valuable information we have mentioned ; and, although he might 

 by carefully observing the fall of the cards have arrived ultimately 

 at the same conclusions, he could not have done so nearly as 

 easily or as certainly as if A had followed the American rule. 



To take one other instance. From king, queen, 8, 6, 4, A leads 

 king, Y plays 7, B (holding ace, 9, .S) puts on the 3, and Z plays2. A 

 continues with the 6, Y plays 10, B plays ace, and Z plays 5. The 

 queen of course would have been marked in A's hand whether he 

 bad led the 6 or the 4 ; but, by continuing with the original fourth- 

 best, he shows B in addition (1) that he has the 4 (for no one else 

 can hold it), and therefore that his suit consisted of five cards, and 

 (2) that his other high card is the 8, for he must have two cards 

 higher than the 6, one of them is the queen, and the other, since A 

 has continued the suit with a small card, cannot be the knave, and 

 must therefore be the 8. 



The second of the arguments to which we have referred has much 

 more weight. It is contended that the necessity of conforming to 

 a stringent system of conventions tends to deaden the imagination, 

 and furthermore to limit the scope for strategy and artifice. It 

 must be conceded that the appearance of one or two false cards in 

 the course of a band may seriously interfere with the calculations 

 of a player who always proceeds on strictly scientific principles ; 

 while, on the other hand, the man who is too intent on watching 

 for refinements of leads is liable to overlook opportunities for a 

 bold stroke or a successful ruse. 



Not very long ago the writer was triumphantly assured by a 



gentleman who has probably played as many rubbers as any uiau 

 living, and who is well versed in all that "the books" can leach, 

 that playing whist occasioned liim no mental effort whatever, but 

 was to him " mechanical, jjurely mechanical." Those who are 

 acquainted with this gentleman's style of play would scarcely be 

 prepared to combat his assertion ; and we fear that there are other 

 jiractised players who regard the conventions of whist as the 

 highest poetry of the game instead of being merely its alphabet. 

 Ind(^:d, it may be questioned whether the habit of playing 

 according to rule does not tend to produce even in the best players 

 some degree of insensibility to occasions when the rule may be 

 departed from with advantage. 



Thus, in the domain of whist, as in that of chess, we have an old 

 and a modern school, the one relying mainly on strategy and ready 

 wit, while the other aims at greater scientific accuracy, or, as some 

 critics irreverently call it, "pip-counting." But it must not be 

 forgotten that the objections which we have pointed out would, i£ 

 pushed to their logical conclusion, assail the whole of the beautiful 

 sj'stem of conventions which has raised whist to its present unique 

 position among games of chance. The player with a talent for 

 strategy will always stand on a higher level than the man who has 

 no idea beyond dull conformity with routine; but strategy must 

 have some facts to go upon, and for these it au^t look to "pip- 

 counting." 



Some of the leading opponents of the American code are men 

 who can generally reckon on discovering for themselves in the course 

 of the play nearly all that American leads can tell them ; and they 

 may not unnaturally view "with scornful, yet with jealous eyes," 

 tlie invention of simpler means of information. It is probable that 

 the "developments" introduced by the modern school are more 

 useful to an indifl'erent player than to a good one ; but the same 

 thing may be asserted of other conventions now gener.ally accepted, 

 and notably of the call for trumps. Before the institution of the 

 call, every one had to decide for himself whether a trump lead 

 would be likely to suit his partner's hand, and players with a genius 

 for the game bad a marked advantage in this respect; whereas 

 nowadays the information is generally open to any one who takes 

 the trouble to observe what cards his partner plays. .And, after all, 

 seeing how much every whist-player is doomed to suffer from 

 the shortcomings of an obtuse partner, is there any need to decry 

 methods by which people who would otherwise play very badly are 

 enabled to play tolerably well .' Nor do we think that the good 

 players have anything to fear from this levelling up, or that the 

 game itself has anything to lose by being reduced to scientific 

 piinciples. Opportunities for deep combinations, for brilliant 

 strokes of play, can scarcely be diminished, even if they be not 

 increased, by more precise indications as to the position of the 

 cards, and the best players must inevitably come to the top, iS 

 heretofore. As already observed, it often becomes a question 

 whether it is preferable to declare strength in a suit or to conceal 

 it ; and, while the necessity of deciding in certain cases whether to 

 adopt or to avoid an American lead affords fresh scope for the 

 exercise of judgment, we must depend on intuitive quickness of 

 perception to determine whether the card actually led under such 

 circumstances by partner or opponent is to be trusted or suspected. 



In our nest article we shall give a hand illustrating the American 

 system of leads, and we shall conclude our review with some ob- 

 servations as to the management of trumps. 



Contents of No. 44. 



Tigcr-Bectlee.— I. By E A.Butler 

 The X.ation's Purse. By Alex. B. 



JIacDonall. 3I.A 



An Invertebrate Eve in the Verte- 

 brate Skull. By W. Matter, 



Candles. By w! jiattieu Wiliiams 

 The Occurrence of Gold. By I). A. 



Louis. F.I.C.. F.C.P 



The .'Spectrum of the Orion Nebula 

 Photouraphs of Liehtning. By 



W. Marriott and A. C. Eanjard 



PAOI 



Total Solar Eclipse of 1889. Janu- 

 •iry 1. Pt A. C Ranvard 168 



Letters :- Prof. .1. C. Adams. Dr. 

 J. WestbyGibson, G. W. Nich- 

 olls, W. H. .S. Monck im 



Notices of Books 1^2 



Notes 1"3 



The Face of the Skv for June. 

 Bv Herbeit Sadler, F.R.A.8 173 



Whist Column. By W. Montagu 

 Oattie 1"4 



Chess ColumD 1<5 



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