370 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Feb. 24, 1882, 



0ur WBliiit Column. 



\'.\ •■ FlVK OK ClA ll.-<." 



DEAH " l''IVK," — The piicloBpil letter from our ontocmod Wliiiit 

 (•orri-|K)n<lont, " Mo)fiil," just received. Aftorwlint I linve 

 told yon nlioiit deiiinnda on H|>ace, ynn will nee thnt it in cjuito im- 

 poMible to lind roon) for it (it would take more than n column). 

 But it iH not c|uite fair to nnHwer a letter wliirh Inm not ajipearod. 

 I aliould l>e ),'lad if you conid write a fihort note, putting thingn 

 right, without unfoirnoss tu our corrc8]iondont. — Yours faithrully, 



KniTOK. 

 Deab Kiutob,— (1.) '■ JlofrnI" is rifihl in roKnrdin;? ns " ]>roven " 

 ray approval of Z's play from strength in the driit round of tnmips 

 (game No. 13). There was little chance of V utilising the informa- 

 tion ; but it was bettor, I think, to give it. I hasten to correct 

 impression, which ho thinks readers might entertain, that' dealer 

 should aluatis give information in tliis way. (2.) " Mognl " is in 

 doubt how far 1 think the principle of playing a straightforward 

 game should he carried, saying that apparently J admit of no excep- 

 tion but in the "closing rounds." That was rather an illustration 

 than an exception. I may say that I do not go farther than that 

 groat whist •master. Clay ; scarce so far. Clay's abhorrence of false 

 cards was, 1 think, tant soil peu exaggerated. Clay, Cavendish, 

 and Polo are all pretty much nt one, however. (.3.) When I speak 

 of modern scientific whist, I do not mean that the older method 

 was unscientific, but (as the grammar of the phrase implies) 

 I distinguish the modern from the older scientific games. 

 Rules have come into vogue now which were not formerly 

 adopted ; and whether they ore good or bad, running counter 

 to them means more than declining to give partner information; 

 it means deceiving him. (I.) As to the game in Xo. 13, I gave it as 

 actually played, faults included. " Mogul," in his published letter, 

 pointed out objections to Y's play, and I showed theti, what seemed 

 to me unnecessary before, how 1' could tell that Z (i) must have five 

 Clubs, and (ii) must know that he, Y, hud four. " The length of vay 

 explanation is," Mogul says, " its condemnation." I am disposed 

 to agree with him. All that is there explained at length should 

 have been obvious : but " Mogul " did not seem to find it so. I 

 agree with '" Mogul" that Z should have led the Queen instead of 

 the King; (as you know, I am not in this harder on Z than Z would 

 think fair). 5. With all that " Mogul " saj's in his concluding para- 

 graph I thoroughly agree, except, of course, in his persistent 

 mistake that I am of a contraiy opinion. If you will allow me I 

 will quote what I take to be most excellent in this part of " Mogul's " 

 letter. [We i)refer not ; " Mogul " would probably not think it fair to 

 quote tho excellent rules he gives without those passages in which he 

 implies that '' Five of Clubs " teaches the opposite ; for when these 

 passages are omitted, "Mogul" seems to teach precisely what 

 "Five of Clubs" has been teaching. — Ed.] There is only 

 ono small addition I would make to his rule, " When strong, tell 

 your partner ; when weak, don't tell your adversaries," viz., this, 

 even when weak, do not unnecessarily deceive your partner, — Yours 

 truly. Five of Cubs. 



Pr,AV Second Haxd. 

 There are few points which distinguish more thoroughly the good 

 from the inferior whist player, than the play second hand. Wo are 

 not, of course, referring to players so inexperienced as to know- 

 no other rule than " second hand play low." Nor are the 

 rules for play second hand, at least in the opening rounds of a 

 game, less definite than those for leading. But somehow it 

 happens that many players who veiy seldom lead unwisely, who 

 know well when to play highest and when to finesse third in hand, 

 and when it is essential to success to win partner's trick fourth 

 hand, are apt to trust, second hand, to chances which are de- 

 monstrably against them. Given, for instance, an original lead 

 of a small card (plain suit), second player with Queen and a 

 small one (and no special reason for risking something to get a 

 lead), how often do we see tho Queen played, though it is known 

 that, in tho greater number of cases, the card is thus thrown away. 

 Of course, the play often steals a trick. I'erhaps in five cases out 

 of eleven it may do so, but it is bad, because in a greater number 

 of cases it fails ; and in every case it suggests for a while to partner 

 that you held either the Queen alone, or King, Queen, and a small 

 one. So in other cases which might be cited. 



The rules for play second hand are in reality sufficiently simple, 

 though here, as in tho case of the lead, they seem multitudinous. 



Wo note, first, that in general a low card is to be ployed second 

 hand ; for, in the first jilaco, the suit is presumably your adverisaries', 

 and it is well to keep the commanding cards of their suit; and, in the 

 second place, yonr partner lies at an advantage over third player, 

 who ordinarily must play his highest, lest the trick should fall an 



easy proy to your purtuor. By playing high ««oond hand you waato 

 n good card, whether third hand take* tho trick or your partner; 

 you are rather worse off, loo, if, though you tuko tho trick, |Mirtner 

 could have won it ha<l you left it to him ; for when the suit ia 

 returned, the lead will be through your iMirtner's strength to your 

 lumd, weakened by the loss of its best card in the suit. You only 

 gain if it so chances that neither third hand nor your partner haa a 

 lictter card ; and it is nnwiso to play for only one among acvotml 

 chances. 



Yet, still supposing the suit your adversaries', and that you hare 

 originally not more than three cards, it may still happen that a 

 high card should Iks played. Thus, if you have Ace, King, one or 

 more small ones; King, Queen, and one or more small ones; Queen, 

 Knave, and one small one; Knave, ten, and one small one; or ten, 

 nine, and one small one ; play the lowest of the Ber|uenco. In the 

 first case, you win the trick and still have the commanding card of 

 the suit ; in tho others, if you do not win tho trick, you avoid the 

 risk of its being taken with a low card by third in hand, or yonr 

 [lartncr compelled to play a very high car<l. 



Again, if a high card is led, and you hold a higher curd and one 

 or two small ones, it is generally best to cover. If third in hand 

 take the trick, two good cards have fallen from the enemy to make 

 one trick. 



We leave to another occasion, however, the discussion of the play 

 second hand in detail. We shall endeavour (though tho task is not 

 BO easy as in the case of the lead) to reduce the play to system, 

 instead of presenting some forty or fifty rules, as has usually been 

 done. 



We propose next week to give a game made up from tlie account 

 given in Clay's "Short Whist," (see p. 170) of a case in which 

 evil results followed from unwise persistence in fonvard play. 



Maxim. — The best whi8t-]>layer is he who plays the game in the 

 simplest and most intelligible way. — Clay. 



G. TiiOMPso.v. — Whist iirobleni correctly solved in your second 

 letter. B played according to custom in such cases. Cavendish 

 (p. 50 of latest edition) and others touch on the question whether 

 it is well to lead from a long suit headed by Ace, Queen, and agree 

 that it pays better in the long run to do so than to wait for the 

 chance of being led up to. There is a good chance either of draw- 

 ing the King, or, if second player has it, of partner winning the 

 first trick. By waiting in such a c.ise, you deceive yonr partner as 

 to the chief constituent of your hand. 



Problem I. — " Mogul " and " Vacnol " point out that this 

 problem from the " Westminster Papers" is unsound, as Z may have 

 Heart King. The objection seems valid, as certainly with Ein^ 

 Knave, ten, three, second hand, ten would be the right card to play. 

 As third ])laycr holds only one Heart, the nine, there is a somewhat 

 greater probability that Z is strong in the suit, than that he is 

 weak, although it is A's long suit. The WTiter in the " Westminster 

 Papers" may have had some reason for considering that Z cannot 

 hold the King ; but we can detect none, certainly none which would 

 occur to B in ordinary play. " Mogid " adds that }' might have 

 been signalling for trumps holding Knave, two, for anght B can 

 know. This, however, appears to us incorrect. Playing Knave 

 second hand from Knave, two, would not be signalling for trumps, 

 but an attempt to take the trick. Clay, in his chapter on the sigiiali 

 discusses this point, and, as it seems to us, his opinion that then 

 would be no signal is correct. — Five of Clubs. 



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