The Theory of the Modern Scientific Game of Whist

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Longmans, Green, 1873 - Whist - 144 pages
 

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Page 111 - ... the chief component of your hand ; And hence there is necessity the strongest That your first lead be from your suit that's longest. In this, with ace and king, lead king, then ace ; With king and queen, king also has first place; With ace, queen, knave, lead ace and then the queen; With ace, four small ones, ace should first be seen; With queen, knave, ten, you let the queen precede; In other cases, you the lowest lead. Ere you return your friend's, your own suit play; But trumps you must return...
Page 2 - It is a perfect microcosm — a complete miniature society in itself. Each player has one friend, to whom he is bound by the strongest ties of mutual interest and sympathy ; but he has twice the number of enemies, against whose machinations he is obliged to keep perpetual guard. He must give strict adherence to the established laws and the conventional courtesies of his social circle ; he is called on for candid and ingenuous...
Page 31 - ... trumping. 3. To aid in making your own or your partner's long suits or high cards. The theory we have enunciated points clearly to the third use of trumps as the highest and most scientific, and accordingly this application of them is always the most prominent in the scientific game. It is obvious that...
Page 31 - ... the advantage will be with that party who, having predominant strength in trumps, can succeed in drawing those of the adversaries. For this reason, whenever you have five trumps, whatever they are, or whatever the other components of your hand, you should lead them ; for the probability is that three, or at most four, rounds -will exhaust those of the adversaries, and you will still have one or two left to bring in your own or your partner's long suits, and to stop those of the enemy. And notice,...
Page 112 - With ace, queen, knave, lead ace and then the queen, With ace, four small ones, ace should first be seen; With queen, knave, ten, you let the queen precede; In other cases, you the lowest lead. Ere you return your friend's, your own suit play ; But trumps you must return without delay. When you return your partner's lead, take pains To lead him back the best your hand contains, If you received not more than three at first; If you had more, you may return the worst. But if you hold the master card,...
Page 29 - Pole incorporates it in what he terms the fundamental theory of the modern scientific game, which is — ' That the hands of the two partners shall not be played singly and independently, but shall be combined and treated as one. And that in order to carry out most effectually this principle of combination, each partner shall adopt the long-suit system as the general basis of his play.
Page 84 - THEORY OF WHIST. EXAMPLE II. In this the elder hand (A) has the same long suit as before, but the strength in trumps is now given to the adversaries. The example is intended to illustrate how a long suit, though" it may not be brought in, may be made useful in forcing the strong adverse trump hand.
Page 19 - Whist,* is understood to mean the combination, in the same hand, of the best and third best card for the time being of any suit ; as, for example, the ace and queen originally, or the king and ten when the ace and knave have been played. The advantage of this combination is that, if you are fourth player in the suit, you will certainly (bar trumping) make two tricks in it ; and it is therefore much to your interest that the suit should be led by your left-hand adversary. The word has nothing to do...
Page 59 - It is an old and well-known rule to " lead the highest of a sequence." But, like many other rules, when the reason of it is not comprehended, it is often totally misunderstood and misapplied. The object of doing this is to prevent your partner from putting on the next highest, if he has it ; but there are many cases where you ought to desire him to put it on, and where. consequently, the lowest ought to be played. Directions for these may be seen in
Page 4 - The only objection brought against Whist is that, being played for money, it may promote gambling. Apart from the consideration that it is very unfitted for gambling purposes, the objection is untrue in fact. Good players, generally, like to play for stakes high enough to define well the interest taken in the game ; but the idea of gain, which is the essential feature of gambling, enters as little into the mind of a Whist as of a Chess player. We have sometimes heard of what are called " professional...

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