October 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



287 



("The Seasons rictared," plate xxi.). She leaves Capricornus for 

 Aquarius at 6h. P.M. on the 25th, and Aquarius for Pisces at Dh. P.M. 

 on the 27th (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxii.). After this, as at 

 the beginning of the month, she is skirting the confines of Pisces 

 and Cetus, being sometimes in one constellation and sometimes in 

 the other, and it is not imtil 6h. p.m. on the 31st that she finally 

 enters Aries again ("The Seasons Pictured," plate xxiil.). She is, 

 of course, still in Aries at m idnight on that day. 



dBxir WiWt Column. 



By "Five of Club.s." 



MATHEWS ON WHIST. 

 Rearranged, partly rewritten, and occasionally corrected in accord- 

 ance with modern views. 

 Plat Third Hand — concluded. 

 E as careful what you throw away as of what }-ou 

 lead. It often leads to bad consequences to pla}' 

 a tray with a deuce in your hand Thus, sup- 

 pose your partner leads the four, your right-hand 

 adversary the five, and you put down the tray, 

 it ought then to be a certainty that you can ruff 

 the next trick in the suit. [If, however, you 

 hold the deuce, you not only cannot rutT, but as 

 you are utterly weak, the lead of the suit by 

 your partner is probably the worst thing he could have done.] If 

 your partner finds the deuce in your hand, and you frequently 

 deceive him in the same way, he loses all confidence in you, and is 

 prevented from playing his game on similar occasions. I wish to 

 inculcate to beginners special care in such points of whist play. 

 Every one can attain these minor qualifications. When once the 

 great advantage of correctness in such matters is recognised, the 

 weakest player should strive as constantly as the strongest to attain 

 it : attention only is necessary. 



Plav Foukth Hand. 

 With ace, knave, and another, do not win the king led by your 

 left hand adversary. By passing it you either force him to ex- 

 change his lead or to give you tenace in his own suit. [Of course, 

 if your right-hand adversary show signs of being short in the suit, 

 or if a single trick makes or saves the game or a point, you should 

 play the ace unhesitatingly. Cavendish considers it generally bad 

 play to hold up the ace ; but in the case considered by Mathews it 

 is sound policy. Either the leader has great length in the suit or 

 not : it he has, you have the greater reason to retain command over 

 the suit as long as possible; if he has not, the chance of being 

 ruffel on the second round is small] 



It frequently happens that by winning your partner's trick, when 

 you are last player, you give him the advantage of tenace over your 

 left-hand adversary. Thus A has king, knave (or any other second 

 and fourth best cards), with a small one of the suit, of which Y, your 

 partner, has the first and third and another. If A leads his small 

 card, and Y, your partner, wins it with his small card, you, as last 

 player, should win the trick if possible, though it is your partner's. 

 For you thus prevent A from making a trick in the suit, which he 

 must have done had you left the lead with Y. 



Return Lead and Forced Lead. 



With three, return the highest to your partner's lead. This answers 

 two purposes : it gives your partner an opportunity to finesse, and 

 it shows him that you held originally but three at most in the suit. 

 With four or more, you should return the lowest. 



If you win your partner's lead with the queen, do not return it 

 (except in trumps) ; it is evident the ace and king are both behind 

 you, and, since your partner certainly does not hold both, returning 

 his lead gives the adversary the tenace. 



It is generally right to return your partner's lead in trumps 

 unless he leads an equivocal card,* such as a nine or ten [in which 

 case, should you have reason to believe that the lead is from weak- 

 ness, you exercise your own judgment as to the propriety of going 

 on with trumps]. 



* So called because such a card may be led with propriety both 

 from a strong and from a weak suit. For instance, with a quint to 

 a king (that is, king, queen, knave, ten, nine), or with king, knave, 

 ten, nine, nine is led ; but nine is also led when it is the best of 

 two or three in a suit. [So also ten is led from king, knave, ten with 

 or without others, and from quart to king and one small card or 

 more ; but ten is led where it is the best of two or three.] 



Beginners find it difficult to distinguish between original leads 

 and forced leads. When a player changes his original suit, he 

 commonly plays the best card of another, to give his partner the 

 advantage of a finesse. To such a lead from your partner you 

 should play as if it were your own or the adversary's : keep the 

 commanding card, ten, ace, Sec, and do not return it, as if it was an 

 original lead. 



If the fourth player wins the adversary's lead, it is better to return 

 it than to open a new suit, unless you have such strength in this 

 suit that you can support your partner. [You put your partner in 

 a favourable position by returning the lead of the jjlayer on your 

 left under such circumstances, especially if you are yourself short 

 in the suit, and your right-hand adversary showed weakness in it. 

 Even if the suit is ruffed on your right, you probably gain.] 



When you have a moderate hand yourself, sacrifice it to your 

 partner; if he is a good player he will act in the same manner 

 towards you. 



The Discard. 



7/ tveak in trti mps, Iwcp guard on your adversary's suits : if strong, 

 throw airay from t/iroi. [In these two rules, and in sixteen words, 

 Mathews sums up the whole duty of the sound player in discard- 

 ing.] Discard as much as possible from your partner's strong suits 

 in either case. [Or rather, y.>u can usually discard safely from 

 your partner's strong suits, even at times throwing away command- 

 ing cards in it ; you should be careful, however, to retain the means 

 of leading to your partner in them, if necessary. In some cases 

 you can with advantage throw away every card in your partner's 

 best suit, obtaining thereby a chance of an effective ruff ; but until 

 you are sure he will be able to lead the suit himself, it is well to 

 keep a small card or so in it to lead to him with.] 



Observe carefully the original discard of each player, noting 

 whether the discard is to the lead of the partner or the adversary 

 of the player discarding. A discard to partner's lead is invariably 

 meant to direct him ; but a discard to a lead of an adversary is 

 frequently intended to deceive the adversary, and induce him to 

 lead his strong suit. 



If your partner, to your winning card, throws away the best card 

 of any suit, it shows he wishes j-ou to know he commands it. If he 

 throws away the second best, you may infer that he has no more. 



(!^ur CftesfS Column* 



By " Mephisto." 



ALTERNATION GAMES. 



HESE games are played by four players, every per- 

 son moving alternately, without consulting the 

 other, as in the game printed below. If played 

 quickly, these games sfford a great deal of amuse- 

 ment to the players. The parties watch each other's 

 play with a great deal of suppressed excitement, 

 quite unusu.dl in the ordinary game. Will my part- 

 ner see my idea and make the right move ? is always 

 vividly impressed upon the countenance of the 

 player who has just sacrificed a piece in a combination dependent 

 lor its success upon two or three subtle moves. The prohibition 

 against consultation at such supreme moments is calculated to try 

 the patience and shake the moral probity even of a saint. To stare 

 intensely on a certain square of the board, to wriggle about im- 

 patiently on the chair, to cough when the ally is about to make the 

 wrong move, and to communicate in all manner of ways to the 

 partner, that a decisive combination is on, are expedients adopted 

 by weaker mortals with not sufficient moral restraint. Such undig- 

 nified conduct is unfair to the opponents, and would be painful 

 if it were not comical. These visible and glaring attempts to in- 

 fringe the law against communicating with your partner are, of 

 course, unworthy of plaj'ers of unimpeachable moral conduct : but, 

 unfortunateh', there still remains the invisible and stealthy kick 

 under the table, to attract your partner's attention, and in certain 

 positions I think even a saint would take to kicking, gently or 

 viciously, as the occasion may require. 



These games are very useful when two strong players are opposed 

 to each other. The weaker partner will, in course of play, have 

 many opportunities to see and appreciate thoroughly the superior 

 ideas of his partner, and after the game he will have the advantage 

 of being shown where and how he failed to pursue the right course. 

 Having been engaged in thinking over the moves, he will be able to 

 understand any subsequent analysis, and derive much benefit and 

 instruction therefrom. 



