• Iax. G, 1882.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



215 



0ur Siaaftistt Column. 



Bv "Five of Clubs." 

 The LEAn. 



THE cnstomnry war o{ treating leads at Whist i.s found perplexing 

 bv beginners. A number of suits are considered, and the pro- 

 ih 1- leail from each is indicated, with perhaps the play second 

 :id ; until the learner wonders how much he is expected to 

 lu'inber of what appears to him a perfectly heterogeneous collec- 

 of rules. Thus, take Captain Campbell Walker's very useful 

 k, ''Tlie Correct Card." In this there are 36 cases of suits 

 l.d hv an Ace, with the play for each ; 18 cases of suits headed 

 King; 7 of suits headed by Queen; Oof suits headed by Knave ; 

 suits headed by 10 ; and two of suits headed by a small card. 

 ill, 7C cases are considered. The natural idea of the learner is 

 he ought to commit to memory all these 76 cases, with the 

 [itions noted in 19 notes, before he can le.ad properly; while, 

 'T that, he will have to leam an equally voluminous series of 

 . > for play second hand, third hand, and foui'th hand. He 

 11 aurally despairs of accomplishing this without giving much more 

 ; ime to the matter than the game, good though it is, seems worth. 

 But even when the learner has committed all these rules to 

 innry, he still finds that there is something — embodied, indeed, 

 i.'m, but notobviously expressed by them — which it is absolutely 

 utial that he should grasp. He requires to know not only what 

 liould lead from a given suit, but what each lead means. 

 \..w it does not seem to have been noticedjby writers on Whist, 

 : by beginning at this end they get rules much more easily re- 

 ihcrcd, because at once made practically available, and also 

 : li fewer in number. In point of fact, the rules which seem 

 '.out sj'stem have a system at the back of them, and this system 

 t once displayed when we reverse the usual method of present- 

 I lie rules for leading, and begin by asking what particular leads 

 -1 mean. Afterwards we may collect together a hundred or so 

 aoh rules and exceptions, as appear in Captain Walker's book, 

 ; hen each rule will be easily remembered as a necessary inference 

 I the principle on which the lead and the interpretation of the 

 1 alike depend. 

 i\ 1' begin then by considering, not the multitudinous leads from 

 > headed by an Ace, but from what suits containing an Ace, the 

 > should be led. It will be seen that there are only a few cases 

 ill which Ace is led, and these easily remembered ; and also that 

 :i^i^ we know when a!i Ace should be led, we know what the Ace 

 1 means — 



Vlicu, then, should an Ace be led? 



iriim long suits, and from suits of not less than three. Ace is only 

 led:— 



(1) from Ace and four or more others (not including King). 



(2) from Ace, Queen, Knave, with or without others. 



From suits of two cards (which it can hardly ever be right to 

 open — and never as an original lead), containing an Ace, Ace is 

 always led. 



From long suits, then, or suits of three, which only are in question 

 in ninety-nine cases oat of a hundred, there are only two cases to bo 

 considered. The play second round, supposing the Ace not tnimped, 

 will show from what sort of stiit the Ace was led. For, 



(1) If Ace is led from Ace, four or more, a small card is led 

 second round. 



(2) If Ace is led from Ace, Queen, Knave, and others, either the 

 Queen or the Knave is played second round — the Queen, if the 

 suit did not originally contain more than four cards, the Knave if 

 it did. 



Thus when your partner leads an Ace, you know at once that he 

 has not the King. If you have the Queen or the Knave, you know 

 he has not led from Ace, Queen, Knave, and therefore that he has 

 four more cards in the suit. 



If the lead is not an original lead, and the play has given reason 

 to believe that your partner has been driven to a forced lead, the 

 Ace may have been led from Ace and another. This can scarcely 

 ever happen, but when it does happen the previous circumstances 

 of the play and what follows the forced lead (together ivith the study 

 of your own hand) will almost always show you that the lead has 

 not been from strength. 



In our next we shall consider why Ace is only led from long suits, 

 under one or other of the circumstances stated above. We may 

 nete, indeed, in passing that on the Continent, Ace is led from Ace 

 and three others (not including King), though the laws of probability 

 point to the play as not the best. It is well to remember, however, 

 when playing with Continental players, that this is the rule with 

 them. 



(Bnv CftfSs Column. 



TWO KNIGHTS' DEFENCE (Continned.) 

 rF White on his 8th move should play B. to Q.R.I., Black will 

 - soon obtain the better game, e.fj.y 



P. to K .4. 



■ P. to K.t. 



Kt. to K.Kt.5. 



■ P. to Q.4. 

 P. takes P. 



., Kt. to K.B.3. 

 "■ Kt. to Q.B.3. 

 - P. takes P. 

 ^' Kt. to Q.R.4. 

 g B. to Q.R.4. 

 ■ P. to^TRlT 



3. 



B. to B.4. 

 Kt. to K.B.3. 

 g B. to Q.Kt.S.ch. 

 ■ P. to Q.B.3. 

 Kt. to K.B.3. 



P. takes P. 

 In reply White has no satisfactory move, e.g. 



,„ Kt. to Kt. so. ,,, Kt. to K.5. 



10. L or 10 or 



B. to Q.B.4., Q. to Q.5., 



P. to Q.B.3. _,_^ „ B. takes P.ch. 



9. 



or(a) 11. 



12. 



Kt. takes B. 

 Kt. takes Kt. 



11. 



P to K.5. 



Q . to K.2. 

 ■ B. to K.3. 

 Kt. to K.5. 



Q. to Q.B.4., 

 inning the Knight. 



Q. to K.R.5. 



•ith a winning game. 



^^] Kt . to Kt.sq. 



■Q.toQ.5..°'^(-^) 

 •1^2 B . takes Q.B.F.ch. 



Kt. takes B. 

 n„ Kt. takes Kt. 



" Q. to Q.B.4. 

 j,j Q. to Q.R.6 . 



B. toQ.sq. 

 15 P- to Q.Kt.4. 



Q. takes Q.B.P. 

 jg Q. to Q.Kt.5. 



Q. takes B.ch. 

 j^y K^to K.2. 

 Q. takes R. 

 with a winning superi- 

 ority. 



13 Q- t o Qsq. 

 ■ Q. to Q.Kt.3. 



J, IVtoQ.RS. 

 B. to Q.B.4. "" B. to Q.B.5. 



And Black has a fine game. 



In this variation an interesting novelty has recently been dis- 

 covered on White's 13th move, viz.. 



P. K^. 

 ■ JP.K.4. 

 Kt. to K.Kt.5. 



to K.3. 



11 



Kt^K^B.3. 



■ Kt. Q.B.S^ 

 P. takes P. 



■ Kt. to Q.R.4. 

 B. to Q.R.4. 

 P. to K.R.3. 

 Kt. to K.5. 

 Q. to Q.5. 



instead of the usual move 13. Kt. takes Kt., which, as we have 



shown, results to the advantage of Black. White can also play 

 13. Q. to Kt.5.,* out of which reply some interesting variations 



Position- of 13. Q. to Kt.5. 



Should Black now play the likely looking move of 13. B. to Q.2,, 



__ .^ 11-1 II Kt. takes Kt. , - Q. to K.S.eh. . . 



White would win by 14. 15. -* remaining 



Q. to Q.3. 

 with two Pawns ahead. The proper reply to 13. Q. to Kt.5. is 



,. , •,, • iA Q. takes Kt.ch. .,„,., 



which we will examine. 14. ^ White 



B. to Q.B.4.,+ K. to K.2. 



has now three moves at his disposal. 



• Plaj-ed at St. Petersburg, in a game between Prince Dadian, 

 of Mingrelia, and M. Liselle. 



+ This defence was discovered by Signer Constantini, one of the 

 strongest amateurs in Italv. 



