524 



KNOWLEDGE 



[AraiL U, 1882. 



liI|t)ior honour anil are lonR in tho rait, yon pnm the triok, 

 cicwpt you hnvp Htroiig miuuin for doNirin^ n loud (nr wioh to Ntop ti 

 trump lond, but thiit <<a.<«<t brlon^H to play Norond han<l in triinipfi). 

 Whrn, liowi'vcr, you hold Aro, yiicon. nnd othorn m-cnnil Imml. n 

 ninnll rnrd Ix'itiK lod, your pliiy ia tinliico thnl whirh you would 

 ndopt ill londiiiK from aurh a liniid. Tliux, n-ith Aco, Qui>on, 

 KnaTo, with or without (jtlirrH, Aco in ivUvnyn lod, but with thoHo 

 cAnlii iiprond in hnnd, yon play tho Knavo (or lowest of Qupen 

 Knnro WMHicnct') ; from Aco, tjui'on. ton, Qucon ia to bo pluycd ; 

 for if third plnyor covi'm j-ou roiniiin with tho tonnco, ho 

 thnt unloM lod lhrouf(h n^nin, and Knnvo Hob with third 

 plnyor, you tiro iinro to mnko two tricka in tho Huit (apart from 

 rullin){). From Aro, (^uoon, nnd one or two nmnll ono», you 

 piny aorond hnnd n anmll ono on a small card led. From 

 Aco, Qncon, and thrro amall ones or more, you piny Quocn, 

 if woak in trumpa, amnllcat if atrong. 



Whon yon nro abort in tho suit lod, yon piny spcond-hnnd on 

 aomowhut tho anme principles as in tho case of tho forced load 

 fif a aiiif in tvkirh you have no roaiton to believe your partner atrnnj. 

 You play, of course, tho lowest instead of tho highest of aseijuence, 

 and you leave more to your partner, as ho is more favourably 

 placed. 



But if yon hold only two cards in the suit led, you reverse, as 

 second plnyor, the rule which holda, almost without exception, in 

 the unuRual case of a forced lead from a two-card suit. Thufl, if 

 yon hold King, or Queen, or Knave, and one small one, you play 

 tho small ono — not tho honour (in plain suits), unless you have 

 some special reason for desiring to obtain tho load, in which case 

 tho King may bo played, second hand from King one small one. 

 Many skilful players of their own hnnd maintain, with some 

 obstinacy, that Queen should bo played second hand from Queen 

 one small one, because tho chance of her falling is so great, 

 greater than that of King falling when you retain him second 

 in hand. Tlie chance of a singly guarded Queen making is 

 always much less than that for a singly guarded King ; but you do 

 not increase it by playing the Queen in snch a case. You know 

 certainly that either King or Ace lies with third and fourth players. 

 If third holds either, your Queen falls. It may be, third player 

 puts on King, and your partner takes the trick with the Ace, in 

 which case yon have the satisfaction of knomng that you have 

 thrown away your Queen. Of course, if your partner holds Ace, 

 and third ployer does not hold a King, you gain by putting on tho 

 Queen. But this is practically the only case in your favour. Tho 

 matter may be put thus : One of the following arrangements must 

 hold ; as it is certain, from the lead of a small one, that leader has 

 not both Ace and King : — 



By playing Qneen, 

 Y'ou throw her away 

 , Y'ou save a trick 

 , Y'ou throw her away 

 . Y'ou lose a trick 

 Y'ou throw her away 

 Yon gain a trick 

 Y'ou probably gain a trick. 



3rd holds Ace and King 



-tth 



3rd „ „ 4th holds King or not 



3rd holds King, 4th holds Ace 



M „ ,, not Aco 



3rd weak, 4th holds Ace 

 ,. „ King 



There is, yon observe, a balance in favour of the play of Qneen 

 second-hand turning out nnfavourablv- 



Cavendish gives a reason for playing tho small card, the force of 

 which some whist players seem not to recognise. He says that, 

 playing the Queen unnecessjuily exposes your weakness, and'enables 

 tho leader to finesse whon tho suit is returned. As the Queen is 

 tho proper card to piny if you hold King, Queen, and a small one, 

 yon expose your weakness to the player who holds King. If 

 this is tho leader, he can finesse tho ten if ho holds it or his 

 partner leads it, on the return of the snit, knowing you do not 

 hold the Knave. ITe may even finesse the nine if it suits him ; 

 a finesse against only one card. If the third player holds the King, 

 he pnta it on, and your weakness is exposed to both adversaries, who 

 can finesse under equally favourable conditions. Of course, if 

 fonrth player holds the King, you only disclose your weakness to 

 him ; bnt thnt is ono favourable case to two unfavourable cases. 

 Manifestly, tho play of Qneen second hand from Qucon one small 

 one ia nnsonnd. 



Next week wo shall give, with remarks, inferences on a game 

 smgnlarly well illnstmting the weakiicss of the lead from a singleton, 

 even when the object is to secure only the odd trick, so that there 

 i« no question of bringing in a long suit. 



G. TnoMlW)N.— Solution of Problem 2 quite right. 

 SoLTOoNs Of Probiksc 3. by 0. Xiolrov, Moleqne. D. JIaxwoll, 

 «. K. Flett, F. 1). Mackenzie, Wm. R. F.,J. Harvey, M. Purvis (or 



Prorii), J. Pocklington, P. R. M., oorroot. All others wrong. There 

 ia no way of making all tho tricka nnleaa tho Quoon and Knave of 

 .SpadoH in A'n hand are discarded. 



Cmtas.— Pole'a "Whist" publiahod by lyongmnna. CUy'a by 

 Du In Ituo & Co. Our Intcat edition of Cavondiah ia the twclth. 



.SOLUTION' OF PROBLEM 3. 



The lead of Spade Ace, and the discard of Queen and Knave, 

 aro the "points" of this problem. — Five of Clubs. 



(9uv CbfSs Column. 



GAME BY CORRESPONDEXCE.— (Continued /romp. 505.) 



Position after Black's 35tli move. 



R takes R. 



CHIEF EDITOR. 

 WUITH. 



CHESS EDITOB. 



36. Q takes QI5P 



37. K takes R 



38. Q takes Q 



39. K to B2 

 ■10. K to B3 



41. B to BI 



42. K takes P 

 •«. K to B5 

 4-1. P to KRi 

 15. B to Q5 

 46. K to Kt6 



36. R to K8ch 



37. Q to Ksq ch 



38. Kt takes Q 

 .39. Kt to B3 



40. Kt to Q4 



41. Kt takes P 



42. P to QR4 



43. Kt to Kt 8 



44. Kt to Q7 



45. Kt to B8 



46. Kt to K6 



• If Z here plays his C Aco, B'a C 10 is then best C, and he ]>lay.5 

 it before D 3, the result being the same. 



