Part 13

Chapter 133,958 wordsPublic domain

A bad player distinguishes himself by not noticing such details as those given above, and then, by jumping at erroneous conclusions, comes to utter grief. A bad player would not perceive why a third round of spades was not led by his partner, and would almost to a certainty imagine that it must be because his partner held no more. At the very first opportunity, therefore, he would lead his king of spades, and then discover that the second player trumped with the two, and the fourth player discarded from another suit.

Now, how was this information obtained? It was obtained by the original leader starting from a {190} penultimate, or lowest card but one of a five suit. If this original leader had led the lowest card his partner could not have obtained the information described above.

To lead, therefore, the correct card, according to the number and strength of a suit, is one of the first and most important items connected with Whist.

In the most modern game of Whist the number of conventional leads has been considerably increased; and, although only a few of the more advanced players practise these at the present time, those who do so must be reckoned with. It is, therefore, necessary for a player to ascertain the amount of knowledge of the game possessed and practised by his partner, otherwise he may be giving information as to the cards in his hand which his partner fails to comprehend, but which is at once understood by the adversaries.

If the chance be offered, the game of the players who are playing should be watched, so as to ascertain whether they are modern or old-fashioned players. This fact can be discovered by noting the cards they lead. When joining a rubber with strangers, it is uncertain what style of game they play, and the first hand is played under great disadvantage. After two or three hands have been played, a partner's strength or weakness ought to be correctly estimated.

If you find that your partner does not understand the scientific game, it is worse than useless to attempt to play first-class Whist with him. He fails to perceive the information you give him, or draws erroneous conclusions from such information, and does the very thing he ought not to do. With a bad partner and {191} strong adversaries, it is more likely that success will be gained by playing incorrect cards than by playing those which, with a good partner, would have been played.

Having thus, we hope, established the importance of the lead, we proceed to discuss the subject in detail.

LEADS.

In selecting a card for a first and original lead, this card should be from the longest suit as a rule. _Numerical_ strength is the kind of strength which is most to be considered. Thus a suit of five, though headed by a ten, is a better suit than one containing ace, king, and one small card. When a suit is headed by high court cards, the leads are different from those which should be adopted when the highest card in the suit is a ten or a single court card (not the ace). In the case of a long suit not headed by the ace, and with only one court card, _the lead should be the fourth best card of the suit_, that is, the fourth card counting from the top downwards.

When the suit from which a lead has to be selected is of three cards only, the highest card of this suit should be led, unless such highest card be ace, king, or queen; then lead the smallest. It frequently happens that the leader holds four small trumps, and an honour, say king or ace, has been turned up to his right. The original leader cannot lead from his numerically strongest suit, which is trumps, up to this honour; he must therefore open a weak suit, and he should select that in which he is strongest.

One of the first principles in leads is to lead through {192} the strong up to the weak. At the first lead it is impossible to tell where the strength and where the weakness may be, except in trumps when an honour is turned up. After the first round of a suit, a fair idea may be formed as to the position of the strength and weakness.

When the original leader possesses two or more honours in a suit, the order in which these are led conveys important information to an intelligent partner. The second lead of the same suit will in some cases indicate the number of cards in the suit, from which the original card was played. For example, original leader plays knave of spades, which wins the trick. He follows with king of spades. The leader's partner now knows (see Table of Leads, _post_) that the original lead was from king, queen, knave, and at least two small spades; because leading knave, then king, shows five at least in the suit. If the leader held only four spades, he would have commenced with the king.

Another piece of valuable information may be gained by the lead of the knave from king, queen, knave, and two others, which is as follows. The leader's partner, if a good player, and holding the ace and one other spade only, will take his partner's knave with the ace, and will then return the small spade. He plays this ace to "unblock," or get out of the way of his partner. If, however, he does not play his ace on the knave, but does play it on the king, it may be assumed that he holds a third spade, and played his ace to prevent blocking his partner's suit. Only a very feeble player, with ace and one other, would fail to play this ace on the original lead of knave. {193}

The leader will now know whether either adversary holds another spade. If he led from six spades, neither adversary holds a spade. If he led from five, one adversary may hold a spade, unless his partner originally held four; and, from the cards that fell from his partner's hand, he can tell whether three or four were originally held. The partner knows that, as he held, say, three originally, and the original leader showed five, one of the adversaries, after two rounds of the suit, cannot hold a spade. This is one among numerous cases proving the advantage of informing a partner, by the lead, of the number of cards in the suit from which the original lead was made. When the accepted leads are known and practised, a game of Whist proceeds like a well-oiled machine, the intelligence being employed to take advantage of the information given. When the leads are not known, and incorrect cards are played, there are perpetual catastrophes, losses and surprises, which usually culminate in losing a rubber which ought to have been won.

After the Laws of the game have been learnt, the next proceeding is to learn the leads. No man can ever hope to be more than a very indifferent player who does not know the leads; yet, from a long Whist experience, it can be stated that at least one-third of those who have played the game of Whist, probably during twenty or more years, have never become familiar with them.

The following Table gives the original leads now adopted, and the second lead:[63]--

{194}

These leads give the majority of cases that occur; there are many other combinations of the cards, but the general principle will be understood from those which have been given. To deviate from these leads is to court disaster, since random leads tend {195} to puzzle a good partner, and to conceal from him the number and value of the cards in the leader's hand. These leads refer primarily to the first lead of the suit only. When a _second_ lead of that suit is adopted, the card to be played may depend on the cards which fell in the first round.

The first lead of a suit, and the card to lead, belong to the mere elementary routine of Whist. These leads require no skill and no reason. They may be learned as the alphabet is learned, and committed to memory. To know them renders Whist a much more easy game to play than if they are not known. A player whose turn it is to open the game with the lead ought to know at once what card to lead. If he has to consider whether he ought to commence with this, that, or the other card, he too often plays the game from beginning to end in opposition to the well-established principles, which have been proved to be those best adapted for gaining success.

RETURN LEADS.

When returning a partner's lead, the card to return him is the higher of two remaining, the lowest of three or more remaining. Thus, if you held originally ace, knave, and the three, and your partner led this suit, you should play the ace third in hand, and return the knave. If you held ace, knave, four, and three, you win with the ace, and return the three.

It does not follow that you should return your partner's lead _immediately_. You may wish him to abandon his suit, and to play for one of your own. {196} If so, the correct card of this suit should be led, so that your partner may be informed of the change of policy which you advocate. If he has confidence in you, he will then abandon his own suit and play for yours. To return your partner's lead at once means that you have no better game of your own.

Although, as a general rule, it is advisable to lead from a numerically strong suit, yet to continue this suit when the partner is found to hold no high card in it is not winning play. For example, a player holds six diamonds, headed by the nine; one trump, the five (clubs); three spades, headed by the queen; three hearts, headed by the knave. He leads the fourth best diamond; his partner, third in hand, plays knave; fourth hand wins with queen. The original leader may now feel confident that both the ace and king of diamonds are against him; if, therefore, he win a trick with the queen of spades, it would be useless to lead another diamond, unless he is anxious to force his partner, which, with one trump only, would not be sound play.

SECOND IN HAND.

After the lead, the card to play second in hand is the most important item in Whist. The card played second hand may be to protect your partner, or to inform him of the remaining cards of the suit in your hand. The play second hand in trumps is different from what is adopted with other suits, for the obvious reason that other suits may be trumped. The following Table shows the cards to be played second hand:-- {197}

When a card is led by the original leader, the second player ought at once to draw conclusions as to the other cards in the leader's hand. For example, original leader plays the two of clubs, spades being trumps. The first conclusion is, that the two is the lowest of a four suit. If it were a five suit, the lowest card would not have been led. It may be a three suit; if so, the leader probably holds four trumps, but considers he is not strong enough to lead these. If he held a four suit, not trumps, he would have commenced with the lowest of this four suit.

Judging from the lead, as to the value of the suit from which the original lead has been made, is the result first of observation, then of reason. {198}

In order to be able to derive all the advantages from observing the first card led, a player should practise sorting his cards rapidly, so as to have these ready before a card is led. Some players sort each suit separately, and thus "go over" their cards four times, and take more than twice as long to arrange their cards as would be required if the four suits were sorted simultaneously. In consequence of this delay, they are looking at the cards in their hand when they ought to be looking at those on the table; they are so much occupied with the sorting of their cards whilst the game is being played, that they cannot observe and draw conclusions from the cards which fall from each player's hand.

WHAT TO PLAY THIRD HAND.

The play of the third hand is much more simple than is that of the second. The third hand should play his best card, save under one or other of the three following conditions, viz.:--

1. That the second hand plays a card higher than any card held by the third hand; the lowest card is then played.

2. If a sequence be held, such as king, queen, knave; queen, knave; ace, king; &c., then play the lowest or lower card of the sequence.

3. When a finesse is considered desirable.

It is a remarkable fact, but no less a truth, that many persons who have played the game of Whist during several years do not seem to realise what a finesse is.

To finesse is to play a card, not the best in the hand, on the chance that the higher card which {199} might win the trick is on the right of the third player. To take the most simple example, we will assume that the king of spades is turned up to the right of the player A; B, who is A's partner, obtains the lead, and plays a spade. Z, who was the dealer, plays a small spade; A, third player, plays the queen, holding ace and queen of spades. If A did not _know_ that Z held the king, he ought yet to play the queen third in hand, on the chance that Z held the king; this would be _finessing_ the queen. If, however, the king had not been turned to A's right, and A led a small spade, which B, A's partner, won with the knave, then A would know that the king of this suit could not be in the hand of his right adversary; and if his partner returned this suit, A must play his ace, third in hand, not his queen. To play his queen would not be a finesse, but would be playing the queen to be taken by the king; when, perhaps, his ace, if the suit were other than trumps, might be trumped in the third round.

When it is known that a certain high card cannot be in the hand of the right-hand adversary, it is worse than useless to play as though it might be there.

Finesses are of two kinds, speculative and obligatory.

The finesse speculative is as follows:--You hold ace, queen; or ace, queen, knave of a suit, which your partner leads. Third in hand, you play the queen, if you hold ace, queen; or knave if you hold ace, queen, knave. This play is adopted on the chance that the king is to your right, and is therefore a speculation.

The finesse obligatory is as follows:--You hold king, ten, seven, and three of a suit, and you lead {200} the three; your partner plays the queen, and wins the trick, and returns a small card of the suit. From the fact of the queen winning, you know the ace is not held by your right-hand adversary; you also know your partner does not hold the knave. When your partner returns a small card of the suit, you know he does not hold the ace. If both the ace and knave are to your left, it matters not whether you play king or ten third in hand. If, however, the knave be to your right, your ten draws the ace, and you remain with the king, the best card of the suit. Hence you are obliged to play the ten third in hand in order to give yourself one chance--viz., that the knave is to your right; consequently, this is called the finesse obligatory.

Before a speculative finesse is attempted, the state of the score should be considered; if only one trick is required to win the game, and you hold ace, queen of a suit, the ace should be played, unless there is a certainty of this ace being trumped. Also a player should consider whether it is specially desirable that he obtain the lead, when he has the chance of a finesse. If the lead is important, the finesse should not be made; if the lead would be detrimental, it should generally be attempted.

What a finesse really is should now be comprehended. It is not merely playing the queen third in hand when holding ace, queen, but it is playing the queen on the chance that the king may be in the hand of the second player. If the second player hold none of the suit, no finesse can be made; the ace _must_ be played by the third player, if second hand has not trumped. It is curious how often bad players will commit the error of playing queen third {201} hand, holding ace, queen, when the second player has failed to follow suit, and has refused to trump.

THE PLAY OF THE FOURTH HAND.

The fourth player has to win the trick if he can, with the lowest card in his hand. If he cannot win the trick, he plays his most worthless card.

WHIST CONVENTIONS.

From an examination of the leads, it will be seen that one main object is to convey information to your partner. The king is led before the ace, so that your partner may fairly conclude that, if the king wins the trick, you hold the ace. If, after the king, the queen be led, he obtains an additional piece of information. The science of Whist is in great measure based on this principle of giving information to your partner by means of the cards you play.

Among the conventions now universally adopted, perhaps the most important is--

THE CALL FOR TRUMPS.

If a player be desirous to obtain a lead of trumps from his partner, he can intimate such desire by playing _an unnecessarily high card_ to a trick.

It must be distinctly understood that the play of an unnecessarily high card means a demand on the partner to lead a trump. What, then, is an unnecessarily high card?

If a player, second or fourth in hand, play, say a six, and on the second round of the same suit play a {202} two, three, four, or five, he has played an unnecessarily high card, and has called for trumps. If a player third in hand win with the ace, return the king, and then play a small card, he has intimated, by playing the ace, that he wishes his partner to lead a trump, the ace being an unnecessarily high card.

The play by the second hand of a high, then a low, card may not indicate that an _unnecessarily_ high card had been first played. For example, second hand holds queen, knave, and two of a suit; the three is led, second hand plays knave, and, on the return of the suit, plays the two. Some unreasoning partners would at once jump at the conclusion that this was a call for trumps, because a high, then a low, card was played by their partner. If the second player wished to call for trumps, he would play his queen, not the knave, under the above conditions.

Some partners are so dense in these matters that it is dangerous to play a protecting card second hand for fear they may assume this to be a call for trumps. If one holds knave, ten, and a small card, and the ten, which is the correct card to play second hand, be put on, a bad partner will conclude, when he sees the small card played in the next round, that his partner must have asked for trumps, because a ten, then a small card had been played. This erroneous conclusion is usually arrived at when the partner is only superficially acquainted with the card that ought to be played second hand.

The player who calls for trumps intimates to his partner that he is so strong that if trumps are led to him he is prepared to undertake all responsibility for the consequences. To ignore such a signal is unjustifiable. {203}

It is a serious step to call for trumps, even with five trumps and two honours, if the other suits are very weak. When, however, the player holds one or two queens, with such other cards in those suits as to render it probable that the queen may be trumped in the third round by one of the adversaries, then a "call" may be allowable.

When calling for trumps, the card selected with which to call should, if possible, be a middle card, so that, if necessary, the call may be temporarily concealed. For example, suppose one holds the six, five, and four of diamonds, and five or six trumps (clubs), and one is second player. Original leader starts with the diamond suit; second player, wishing to call, should play the five, not the six; third hand plays queen; partner drops ten. Ace of diamonds is returned; partner drops knave, and thus shows no more diamonds; original caller may now, with advantage, conceal his call by playing the six. When the original caller obtains the lead, he may play his four, thus allowing his partner to make a small trump, and, at the same time, showing that the five which he originally played was a call.

THE ECHO TO THE CALL.