* 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
 
 Chap£§Sf Copyright NclcTt 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
Short- Suit Whist 
 
 BY 
 
 VAL. W. STARNES 
 
 'Individually, every card is more valuable when 
 led up to than when led" 
 
 0CT24^S96 
 BRENTANO'S h 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO WASHINGTON 
 
 1896 
 
 (All rights reserved) 
 
&V/.2-- , 
 
 Copyright, i8g6 t 
 
 BY 
 
 BRENTANO'S 
 
TO 
 
 R. F. FOSTER, 
 
 WHOSE WRITINGS ON WHIST 
 
 HAVE ENCOURAGED AND MATERIALLY ASSISTED 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
 THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 IS 
 
 GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TT it is sincerely hoped that the whist-reading public 
 will receive the following pages in the spirit in 
 which they were written. Merely to add another 
 work to the literature of the game was not the author's 
 purpose in preparing them. Nor was he actuated by 
 any groundless antagonism to established methods as a 
 whole, since the scheme of play recommended is only 
 intended to supplement, and not to supplant. This 
 book is simply the natural outcome of a strong convic- 
 tion of the theoretical soundness of Short-Suit Whist; 
 the author's faith in short-suit doctrines having 
 prompted him to reduce the leading principles to a 
 definite system, so that their practical efficacy might 
 be put to the test. 
 
 The author found nothing but pleasure in the 
 writing. He will be content if the student derives an 
 equal amount of profit from the reading. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, vii 
 
 Preliminary Remarks, - 9 
 
 Technical Terms, - 21 
 
 Tenace, - - ■ 26 
 
 Finesse, -------- 52 
 
 Cross-Ruffing, - 63 
 
 Conventional Leads, - - - - - 70 
 
 Short-Suit Leads, ----- 85 
 
 Detecting Short-Suit Leads, - - - 92 
 
 The Short-Suit Game, - - - - 104 
 
 The Lkader, - - - -•--"- - 109 
 
 The Third Hand, - - - - 136 
 
 Table of Third Hand Play, - - - 142 
 
 The Second Hand, - - - 148 
 
 Illustrative Games, - - - - - 153 
 
 The Bath Coup, - - - - - 168 
 
 Opponent of the Short-Suit Player, - 175 
 
 Suggestions, - - - 180 
 
 Conclusion, - 184 
 
 Laws of Whist, 187 
 
 Index, - - 197 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 Nowhere, perhaps, is there record of any one game 
 of cards having taken such a hold upon public fancy 
 as Duplicate whist has in America. There was a time, 
 it is true, a century and a half ago, when the playing 
 of Quadrille constituted the serious business, and the 
 making of wars and treaties the lighter occupation of 
 the European courts. But quadrille was limited to the 
 nobility, and I doubt if the game was even known 
 among the middle classes. Duplicate whist, however, 
 has more than doubled the field of fascination, and 
 during the past few years, in which this form of the 
 game has become the rage, it has permeated all circles 
 of society, the Four Hundred and the Four Million 
 alike ; and all sections of the country, from Maine to 
 Matamoras, and from St. Augustine to Seattle. Within 
 our national borders at least, it holds the boards, meta- 
 phorically and literally, and one must play it or fail 
 repeatedly in responding to the demands of social in- 
 tercourse. 
 
 That extremes are to be avoided in everything is a 
 
10 SHORT-STOT WHIST. 
 
 platitude as ancient as the first copy book ; but when 
 partaken of in moderation, Duplicate whist offers a 
 pleasant relaxation from the toils and frets of the day, 
 and the American people need not be in the least 
 ashamed of its present universal prevalence. On the 
 contrary, we should rather congratulate ourselves upon 
 having established an intellectual pastime from which 
 the element of chance has been greatly eliminated ; a 
 game attractive for itself alone ; its reward the satisfac- 
 tion of winning a skilfully conducted contest, and not, 
 as is the case with the shilling points of our English 
 cousins and of our own progressive euchre parties, the 
 more or less substantial returns of the gaming-table. 
 
 But it is not my purpose to enter into an argument 
 in defense of whist, a service that the game does not 
 require from any champion. Their majesties of Hearts, 
 Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds have too many staunch 
 adherents throughout the land to render such pleading 
 necessary; and even if it were, the duty would fall 
 more fitly on some one of the numerous contempora- 
 neous writers whose pens have dealt so ably and ex- 
 haustively with all the elements of the subject — save 
 one. It is the object of this work to call attention to 
 that one, which has been granted such scant considera- 
 tion by others. 
 
 The whist-players of America may be divided into 
 three classes : The first is limited to the expert old- 
 stagers and champions of the clubs, who are too thor- 
 oughly posted to need any teaching. The second, 
 likewise small, is composed of those who regard the 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. II 
 
 game simply as an adjunct to their social duties, and 
 who do not care about being taught at all. The third 
 embraces the large mass of moderate players, and those 
 who really wish to learn ; the result of the desire being 
 that such of them as are ' ' natural-born whist-players' ' 
 soon become worthy of a place in the first-class. But 
 natural-born whist-players are few ; to the majority 
 there eventually comes a time when the summit of 
 their proficiency is reached, and they find themselves, 
 though with the best intentions in the world, sitting 
 down to the table each evening to play no better than 
 they did a week before. It is chiefly for these that the 
 following pages have been compiled, and if the sug- 
 gestions they contain will enable a few of the number 
 to win, instead of losing, an occasional game, the 
 author will feel that he has not labored in vain. 
 
 But the reader will naturally wish to know how, 
 otherwise than by becoming an all-round fine whist- 
 player one may attain to this end. 
 
 I simply answer ; by playing the Short-Suit Game. 
 
 It is customary with most writers on whist merely to 
 touch upon the original lead from a short suit ; a lead 
 which they regard as being resorted to only under 
 compulsion, as is evidenced by their classification of it 
 as "forced." To take it as an initial step, and to 
 evolve from it a regular scheme of play that can be set 
 down in black and white, seems never to have occurred 
 to them. That they leave for the master players, each 
 after his own fashion, to do for himself. 
 
 But I can see no reason for conceding such a prerog- 
 
12 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 ative to the experts alone, nor why some one should 
 not undertake for the short-suit game what so many 
 have done for the long ; that is, to disintegrate and 
 analyze its requirements, and to build up therefrom a 
 connected system of play that is to some extent amen- 
 able to rules, so that even an average player, without 
 any excessive expenditure of time and study, could 
 gather enough of its principles to warrant him in 
 attempting to play it. 
 
 Briefly to carry out this purpose is the writer's 
 aim. 
 
 Before the advent of ' ' Cavendish ' ' and Pole it was 
 the custom of all writers on whist to lay great stress on 
 the value of tenace suits, and to insist that such suits 
 should not be led from originally, and that suits that 
 became tenaces should be discontinued. They also 
 paid great attention to ruffing', and freely recommended 
 the leads of singletons and two-card suits. Mathews, 
 Major A, Admiral Burney, Cam, and Cselebs all rec- 
 ommended leading strengthening cards, and warned 
 the player against attempting to establish long suits 
 with weak hands. But during the past thirty years all 
 writers on whist, with the exception of " Pembridge " 
 and Foster, have advocated the long-suit game to the 
 exclusion of all other forms of strategy. Procftor, Clay, 
 Drayson, "Cavendish," G. W. P., Ames, Hamilton, 
 Coffin, Work, and Street have based their theories 
 entirely upon those of Dr. Pole, and have insisted that 
 the original lead, except under abnormal or " forced " 
 circumstances, must always be from the longest-strong- 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 1 3 
 
 est suit. This doctrine has been so widely spread by 
 writers, and so exclusively followed by teachers that 
 the ordinary player never dreams of following any 
 other system. With him the play of the long suit is 
 synonymous with playing whist. 
 
 In the face of such weighty and almost unanimous 
 authority in favor of the long-suit game, it is venturing 
 upon a bold assertion for anyone to deny the advis- 
 ability of this orthodox opening. Its general adoption 
 is perhaps the strongest argument in its favor. When 
 called upon, as many of us frequently are, to pair with 
 a different partner in each successive game, the advan- 
 tages of a uniform system are manifest and patent. Its 
 code of original leads are so universally understood that 
 the partners are placed somewhat in touch at once, and 
 so are enabled to play the two hands to a certain extent 
 as one. It must be confessed that the short-suit game 
 does not so readily lend itself to rule of thumb, but it 
 can be systematized to a much greater extent than is 
 generally supposed, and many definite directions can be 
 given which will enable the partners easily to read each 
 others' hands. When both of them have some acquaint- 
 ance with this method of play I very much question the 
 wisdom of the original lead from the long suit under all 
 circumstances. 
 
 To go to the opposite extreme, and insist upon the 
 universal adoption of the short-suit lead would be tak- 
 ing a still bolder step, and would be almost as great a 
 mistake as the invariable lead from the long suit. But 
 if compelled to make a choice I am not at all sure that 
 
14 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 it would not be the wiser course to select the short-suit 
 lead with a reliable partner. 
 
 This sounds iconoclastic enough, no doubt, but the 
 following experiment made a great impression on me, 
 and is largely responsible for my opinion. 
 
 I recently gathered one hundred deals from various 
 sources, taking them just as they came, and throwing 
 out only such as presented no possibility of an original 
 short-suit lead from either side ; short suits being con- 
 sidered those of three cards or less, not headed by either 
 ace or king. These I carefully played over, originally 
 and in duplicate, N-S following the long-suit system in 
 every instance, and B-W the short. Each side was 
 allowed the full advantage of every inference that a 
 player of moderate calibre might be expected to draw 
 from the fall of the cards. The result was in the nature 
 of a surprise, even to one predisposed to the short-suit 
 theory. 
 
 In twenty-seven cases the result was a tie, neither 
 system gaining a trick. In the remaining seventy- 
 three, the long-suit players, N-S, made a gain of one 
 or more tricks on twenty-four hands, while the short- 
 suit players, B-W, gained one or more tricks on forty- 
 nine hands. The greatest number of tricks gained on 
 any one hand by the long-suit players was four, and by 
 the short-suit players six. The total number of tricks 
 gained by the short-suit play was more than three 
 times the number gained by their opponents. 
 
 These figures are interesting, and worthy of some 
 consideration, though I make no claim that they are 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 1 5 
 
 conclusive. Were I inclined to do so, many arguments 
 might be advanced in support of the probability that 
 the results so obtained were about the true averages of 
 gain. 
 
 It is a pretty and pleasant performance boldly to 
 lead out and exhaust the trumps, and then to bring in 
 an established long suit, taking trick after trick with 
 fours, threes, and deuces, while aces and kings of other 
 suits fall from the adversaries. But this consummation, 
 though devoutly to be wished, is a much rarer one 
 than the general run of players will admit, and when 
 it fails to come off, the very means adopted for bring- 
 ing it about result not only in no gain, but almost 
 inevitably in direct loss. The average player, in his 
 efforts to bring in his long suit, is apt to consider the 
 trumps held by his opponents as so many impediments 
 l;o the end he has in view, and to devote those in his 
 own and his partner's hand to clearing these obstruc- 
 tions from his path. The short-suit player, on the 
 contrary, regards each of his trumps as a potential 
 trick-maker, and strives to justify his opinion of them 
 by playing them with the same care that he does his 
 plain-suit cards. Add to the gain from these methods 
 the tricks frequently gathered in a few moments by the 
 deadly cross-ruff, and those saved by not leading from 
 a single or double tenace, and most, if not all, the dif- 
 ference in the results of the systems played by N-S 
 and E-W in the experimental hundred hands is ac- 
 counted for. Aces and kings are pretty sure to count 
 for the side to which they are dealt ; but the ad van- 
 
1 6 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 tages of the short-suit system more than offset the 
 occasionally established small cards of the long suits. 
 
 The chief points of difference between the long and 
 the short-suit game may be stated as follows : 
 
 The Long-suit game counts on obtaining for cards a 
 trick-making value to which they are not originally 
 entitled, by securing the lead when 3 T our opponents' 
 trumps and their master holdings in the suit have 
 been exhausted. 
 
 The Short-suit game contemplates the endowment of 
 the intermediate cards of all suits, trumps included, 
 with winning properties, by taking advantage of their 
 position in tenace, by underplay, and by strengthening 
 leads which shall be judiciously finessed by the partner. 
 It also prefers making your own and 3-our partner's 
 trumps separately on the master cards of the enemy, 
 when the opportunity occurs, instead of having them 
 fall together. 
 
 Each of these schemes of play has at times so much 
 to recommend it that it would seem absolutely absurd 
 to waste words in arguing for or against the pre- 
 emptory adoption of either. I insist that even the 
 moderate player, if he will give the least thought to 
 the matter, is fully capable of discriminating between 
 the two, instead of blindly following cut and dried 
 precepts for no other reason than that the consensus of 
 anthority has hitherto been wholly in that direction. 
 
 Give me^AKQj2;4AKQJio; A ; + 
 Q J, and I will ignore the short-suit game as utterly 
 as if it had never been thought of 5 although the hand 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 1 7 
 
 contains one of its strongest leads. But such a royal 
 assemblage of strong cards seldom falls to the lot of 
 any player. 
 
 Far more frequently I pick up a problem of this kind : 
 ^?J2; 4*97643; 1084; #J5- There is not 
 a certain trick in this hand; not a certain card of re-en- 
 try, even though the lead and return of a spade should 
 bring down the five outstanding cards superior to the 9. 
 Surely it does not require a great amount of discern- 
 ment to perceive that the best chance lies in leading 
 the ♦ J, and not, as " Cavendish," G. W. P., Ames, 
 Hamilton, and most other writers will tell you, the 
 
 ♦ 4. 
 
 Take this pretty fair hand: ^6432; 4Jk 1043; 
 AQ7; ♦ AQ10. Here the conventional lead is 
 the fourth-best trump, the ^ 2. Or if you are not tied 
 down strictly to rule, you might prefer to open the 
 strongest of the three plain suits, the clubs. Do either 
 at Duplicate whist, and take my word for it that if your 
 opponent leads the 4)^ IO on the overplay, you will dis- 
 cover that you have lost on that hand at least three 
 times out of five. 
 
 Trusting that these preliminary remarks have brought 
 the reader to the point of being willing to add the short- 
 suit weapon to the arms he already carries in the shape 
 of his knowledge of the game, we are prepared to enter 
 into the practical part of the subject more definitely. 
 The reader is in no way called upon to discard estab- 
 lished methods, but simply to lay them aside under 
 certain circumstances, and to take up the less familiar 
 
1 8 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 style of play ; a change from which I can assure him 
 he will reap undoubted benefit. 
 
 I take it for granted that my readers already know 
 how to play a fair game of the standard long-suit pat- 
 tern, and are conversant with most of the technical 
 terms that comprise the vocabulary of whist. As a 
 matter of convenience, however, some expressions fre- 
 quently used in the following pages may be given: 
 
TECHNICAL TERMS. 
 
 Bring In. — To bring in a suit is to make all the cards 
 of it that you hold, after the adverse trumps have 
 been exhausted. 
 
 Call. — To call, or ask for trumps, is to play an unnec- 
 essarily high card, and then a lower one of the 
 same suit ; it being evident that you are not trying 
 to win the trick. The discard of any card higher 
 than a 7 is also a call. 
 
 Command. — You are said to have command of a suit 
 when it is evident that unless some player holds a 
 very unusual number you can take every trick in 
 it, no matter who leads it. You may have com- 
 mand from the start, or may acquire it through the 
 fall of the cards. 
 
 Conventionality. — Any generally recommended and 
 accepted form of play is conventional. 
 
 Cover. — To play a card higher than the one put down 
 by the previous player is to cover. 
 
 Deal. — Each successive play of thirteen tricks is a deal. 
 
 Established Suit. — A suit is established when it is 
 capable of being brought in, and all the cards you 
 hold in it are trick-winners, bar trumping. 
 
 Echo. — In response to partner's trump call or signal, 
 you echo by repeating the call when you have 
 four or more trumps, but cannot at once get the 
 
20 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 lead. When you have four or more trumps, and 
 your partner leads them, you echo in the same way 
 if you do not try to take the trick. Many players 
 echo with three trumps. For the plain-suit echo, 
 see " Unblocking." 
 
 Finesse. — See the chapter on that subject. 
 
 Follow. — The second hand follows the first ; the 
 third the second, etc. To follow suit is to play a 
 card of the same suit as the one led. 
 
 Force. — You force an adversary by leading the master 
 card of a suit of which he is void. You force your 
 partner by leading a suit which the adversary will 
 win if he does not trump it. 
 
 Forced L,ead. — The original lead from a suit of three 
 cards or less is regarded by long-suit players as 
 forced. 
 
 Great Suit. — A suit of more than four cards, and all 
 of them very strong, is called a great suit. 
 
 Guarded. — A high card is said to be guarded when 
 you have with it one or more small ones to throw 
 off in case higher cards than your best should be 
 played. 
 
 Hand. — The thirteen cards dealt to each player con- 
 stitute his hand. 
 
 High Cards. — The ace, king, queen, jack, ten and 
 nine are reckoned as high cards. 
 
 Honors. — Since honors are no longer counted in 
 America, the term may be applied to all face cards, 
 which are the AKQ and J. The ten is some- 
 times included. 
 
TECHNICAL TERMS. 21 
 
 Lead. — The first card played in every trick is the lead* 
 
 The original lead is the first card played after the 
 
 cards are dealt. It is sometimes applied to the 
 
 first lead made by each player. 
 Led Through. — The second hand in every trick is 
 
 led through by his right-hand adversary. 
 Led Up To. — You are led up to when you are third or 
 
 fourth player on any trick. 
 Long Suit. — A suit of four or more cards is nominally 
 
 a long suit, as distinguished from a short suit, 
 
 which is three cards or less. 
 Master Card. — The highest card remaining in any 
 
 suit is called the master card. 
 Medium Cards. — Cards between the king and the 
 
 eight. 
 Opening. — The first lead made by a player is called 
 
 his opening, or opening lead. 
 Original Play. — At Duplicate whist the first play of 
 
 each board or deal is called the original play, or 
 
 simply the original. 
 Overplay. — All subsequent playing of the boards at 
 
 Duplicate whist is called overplay. 
 Pass. — You pass when you make no effort to win the 
 
 trick, although you might do so. You pass when 
 
 you finesse the card led by your partner. 
 Plain Suit. — The three suits which are not trumps in 
 
 any deal are called plain suits. In the following 
 
 pages the spades, diamonds, and clubs will always 
 
 be plain suits. 
 Re-Entry. — A card of Re-entry is a winning card 
 
22 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 which can be utilized to obtain the lead in some 
 suit other than your long one. 
 
 Renounce. — To renounce is to play a card of a differ- 
 ent suit from the one led. Renege is another name 
 for it, and both are covered by the term "discard- 
 ing." 
 
 Revoke. — A player revokes when he fails to follow 
 suit, though able to do so, or when he refuses to 
 comply with a performable penalty. The term is 
 generally confined to trumping a suit of which the 
 player still holds one or more cards. 
 
 Round. — The same as trick. 
 
 Ruffing. — The same as trumping. Cross-ruffing will 
 be explained in a separate chapter. 
 
 Sequence. — Two or more cards next in value to 
 each other are said to be in sequence, such as K 
 Q, or Q J 10. Three cards in sequence are called 
 a tierce ; four, a quart. If the highest cards 
 held in a suit are in sequence, they are called a 
 head sequence. 
 
 Short Suit. — A suit of three cards or less is short. 
 In the following pages a short suit is preferably 
 one of two cards only. 
 
 Singleton. — The original holding of one card of a 
 suit is called a singleton ; sometimes a " sneak," 
 a term which confounds the card with the act of 
 leading it, which is by some considered ' 'sneaking. ' ' 
 
 Signal. — The same as calling for trumps. 
 
 Small Cards. — All cards below the nine are small. 
 
 Strengthening. — A strengthening lead is the play of 
 
TECHNICAL TERMS. 23 
 
 a Q J 10 or 9, which is not led from any regular 
 high card combination. The hope is that the 
 fourth hand may be forced to play a much higher 
 card in order to win the trick, and that any inter- 
 mediate or lower cards in the hand of the leader's 
 partner may be strengthened. This strengthen- 
 ing play is one of the principal features of the 
 short-suit game. 
 
 Strong Suit. — The same as a great suit. 
 
 Tenace. — A separate chapter will be devoted to this. 
 
 Throwing the L,EAd. — Playing a card that some other 
 player must win, so that the player who throws 
 the lead may be led up to, instead of leading 
 again himself. 
 
 Trumping in. — Ruffing a suit in a trick in which you 
 are not last player ; usually applied to second- 
 hand trumping a doubtful trick. 
 
 Unblocking. — If a player holds exactly four cards in 
 his partner's suit, and does not try to win the 
 trick, he unblocks, or makes a plain-suit echo, by 
 retaining his lowest card, and playing his third- 
 best. On the second round the lowest card is still 
 retained, whether any attempt is made to win the 
 trick or not. This preserves in the third hand a 
 low card, which the original leader can always 
 take if led to him, or which will not block his 
 long suit if he is in the lead himself. If the 
 highest card is kept until the last, it may prevent 
 the original leader from bringing in several smaller 
 cards, which he may have established. The orig- 
 
24 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 inal leader can usually detect the unblocking, and 
 for that reason it is called a plain-suit echo, for it 
 shows him that his partner has four cards of the 
 suit. The echo is usually considered more im- 
 portant than the unblocking. 
 
 Undkrpi.ay. — Playing a small card, when holding a 
 higher, is usually resorted to when there is some 
 strategic purpose in view, and is called under- 
 playing. 
 
 Void. — When a player has no card of a suit dealt to 
 him, he is void. When he has played or dis- 
 carded all that were dealt to him, he is exhausted. 
 
 Permanent Trump Suit. — For the sake of conve- 
 nience all games and diagrams in the following 
 pages will be supposed to be played at Duplicate 
 whist, with the heart suit declared trumps, but no 
 trump card turned up. 
 
 Signs. — In illustrating various holdings, the plus sign 
 + will be made use of to indicate one or more 
 small cards, the face value of which is unimport- 
 ant. When the exact number, but not the value, is 
 of moment, an ' ' x " will represent each one of such 
 cards. For instance : A K + will mean ace king 
 and any number of small cards. Q x x x will 
 mean queen and exactly three small cards. K x 
 x + will mean king and at least two others, though 
 more than two would make no difference to the 
 point under consideration. 
 
 We may now turn our attention to the practice of 
 
TECHNICAL TERMS. 25 
 
 the short-suit game, the principal elements of which 
 are : A strict regard for the value of tenace ; deep 
 finesse; and cross-ruffing. 
 
TBNACB. 
 
 It is really astonishing how universally medium 
 players are lacking in information with regard to the 
 important combination of the cards upon which the 
 name of tenace has been bestowed. A young lady who 
 is conceded to be the best player in her set asked me 
 ingenuously what was meant by tenace, and wherein 
 lay the especial advantage of holding an ace and a 
 ten. To those who are informed, this query may seem 
 ridiculous, since the books tell us that tenace is de- 
 rived from the Latin tenax, tenacious, holding ; mean- 
 ing that you hold back, instead of leading from, the 
 tenace suit. I am by no means satisfied with the cor- 
 rectness of the accepted definition ; it might well be that 
 the term actually originated from ' ' ten ' ' and ' ' ace, ' ' 
 as my fair young friend supposed, for these two cards 
 constitute an excellent tenace when any two of the 
 three remaining honors fall on the first trick. The ten 
 and ace may have been the first representative of the 
 tenace species noticed by whist naturalists ; or perhaps 
 the word may have been coined to indicate the double 
 tenace, first, last, all-embracing, ten-queen-ace. 
 
 However that may be, a single major tenace consists 
 of the best and third-best of the unplayed cards of any 
 suit ; and the single minor tenace is the second and 
 fourth-best. If the A K Q J and 10 of a suit have 
 
TKNACE. 27 
 
 been played, the 9 and 7 form the major tenace ; the 
 8 and 6 the minor ; just as the A Q and the K J 
 formed these ten aces before the suit was opened. In 
 speaking of the major and minor tenaces in the ab- 
 stract, the A Q and the K J are always meant. 
 
 The double major tenace comprises the first, third, 
 and fifth best of a suit, as A Q 10 ; or the 975, when 
 all the higher cards have been played. The double 
 minor tenace is the K J 9 of an unplayed suit. 
 
 When one player is said to hold tenace over another, 
 it is understood that his hand contains the major ten- 
 ace; but it must not be supposed that the minor tenace 
 is merely a negative quantity. The same importance 
 that attaches to not leading from a suit containing a 
 major tenace applies with equal force to one containing 
 the minor. The latter is heir- apparent to the elder 
 brother. The moment the master card of a suit is 
 played the minor tenace becomes the major. 
 
 When you hold a single or double tenace, major or 
 minor, it is very important to avoid leading the suit, 
 if possible ; for it will be much more to your advantage 
 to have it led by some other player, unless you have 
 so many cards of the suit that it is unlikely to go 
 round more than once. For example: If you lead from 
 the single major tenace you are sure of only one trick. 
 If you wait for the lead to come from some other 
 player, you are likely to make two tricks. If the lead 
 comes from your left-hand adversary you are sure of 
 two tricks, bar trumping. If you lead from a double 
 major tenace, you are sure of but one trick. By wait- 
 
28 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 ing you may make three, and if the lead comes twice 
 from your left, nothing but trumping will prevent your 
 so doing. 
 
 When we consider how often a long suit contains a 
 single or double tenace, it is not difficult to realize the 
 possible loss involved by leading away from it. As 
 nearly as I can calculate the average, the original 
 leader will find his long suit headed by the single 
 major tenace once in every eight deals, and by the 
 double major tenace once in every twenty-two deals. 
 So that once in every eight hands, or twice in every 
 four boards, at least a point may be lost by leading 
 from a suit headed by a tenace. 
 
 The foregoing may appear simple enough, but when 
 I have attempted to explain the subject to players who 
 were above the average in other respects, I have invar- 
 iably been interrupted by a tossing of the hands, as if 
 in despair, and by protests of hopeless confusion. 
 Especially has this been the case with the gentler sex, 
 and to overcome their difficulties I have endeavored to 
 explain the matter by a simple form of comparative 
 illustration. 
 
 Let us strive to conceive a game in which you have 
 a handful of marbles, regularly graded in size from the 
 largest to the smallest, and I have a handful of small 
 cups or thimbles, each of which corresponds in its 
 dimensions to one of your marbles. Let us suppose 
 my object is to cover each one of your marbles with a 
 thimble, and that your aim is to prevent my doing 
 so. 
 
TKNACE. 
 
 2 9 
 
 ©Q ©/n 
 
 ©£ 
 
 Now, if you first place a marble on the table, say 
 No. 1 in the illustration, all I have to do is to select 
 the corresponding thimble and cover it. When you 
 put down No. 2 and No. 3, I will cover them in the 
 same manner. All your marbles will then be exactly 
 covered, thus : 
 
 But if I am to play first, and place No. 1 thimble on 
 the table, there is nothing to prevent you from placing 
 under it your very smallest marble, No. 3 for instance. 
 My thimble completely covers your marble, it is true, 
 but advantage has not been taken of its fullest capac- 
 ity. You now hold the advantage, and I must event- 
 ually be forced to put down a thimble which will not 
 cover your remaining marble, and you will win. 
 
30 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 It is easy to see that in a wildly exciting game of 
 this character, the last play would, be everything, and 
 the player who had the choice (as one always has with 
 a tenace suit) , and elected to play first, would be con- 
 sidered very stupid. It should be equally clear that 
 the only resource for the player who was compelled to 
 begin would be for him to play his smallest marble or 
 thimble first. 
 
 This is tenace in a nutshell ; or, rather, in a thimble. 
 
 Let us take the A Q 10 of hearts instead of the 
 thimbles, No. i, 2, 3 ; and the K J 9 instead of the 
 marbles. Now, if yon hold the minor tenace and play 
 first, all I have to do is just to cover the card you play, 
 and as long as you continue to play first, I can cover 
 anything you put down. On the other hand, if I be- 
 gin, and put down the ace, you will play your smallest 
 card, just as you put your smallest marble under my 
 largest thimble. The ace wins the trick, it is true, but 
 full advantage has not been taken of its capacity, for 
 though capable of capturing a king, it has been ex- 
 pended on a nine. If we each held six cards of a suit, 
 you having all the odd and I the even cards, you could 
 play the trey on my ace, and after that you could cover 
 every card I put down. 
 
 It will now readily be seen that any player holding 
 a tenace, and electing to lead from it, commits a 
 blunder. If he is forced to lead it, it should be equally 
 apparent that his best chance would be to play his 
 smallest card first. 
 
 That this comparison may.be considered common- 
 
TENACK. 
 
 31 
 
 place, or even childish, I am well aware, but it often 
 happens that just such homely illustrations prove the 
 most effective. I realize that the parallel cannot be 
 carried out to the end, but it is sufficiently exact to 
 serve our purpose. 
 
 Now let us return to the actual cards, and to some 
 of the simpler phases of tenace, premising that to avoid 
 complication in the following illustrations, trumping 
 by partner or opponents will not be taken into consid- 
 eration. 
 
 Let us assume that you are the original leader, A, 
 and that you hold three indifferent trumps, four small 
 spades, two medium diamonds, and that the clubs are 
 distributed as in this diagram : 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 + 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 4- * 
 
 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4» 
 
 4° 4» 
 
 4» 
 4, 4. 
 
 * * 
 
 B 
 
 * * * * 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 4» 
 
 a 
 
 4* . 4» 
 
 4. ' 4. 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 
 4. 
 
 _*_ 
 
 
32 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 According to the tenets of the long-suit game, you 
 must lead a club. If you do, you are sure to lose a 
 trick, perhaps more, no matter which you lead. You 
 lead the 3 ; Y plays the 4 ; B the 7 ; Z wins with the 
 9, and opens another suit. When you get into the 
 lead again, if you lead the ace, Y and B play small, 
 and Z drops the 2, leaving him not only in command 
 of the suit with the king, but with tenace over you. If 
 your second lead is not the ace, Z wins whatever you 
 play, and you have lost two tricks ; the ace being your 
 only hope for a trick in the suit. 
 
 Had you led the higher of your two diamonds, and 
 waited until some other player was forced to open the 
 club suit, you must have won two tricks. If, after 
 winning the first, you continued the diamonds, and 
 waited for clubs to be led again, you might have made 
 three tricks, or even four, in the club suit. 
 
 Suppose the lead finally comes from Y, who begins 
 with the 6 ; whatever Z plays you win, and then you 
 lead some other suit. Every time clubs are led, you lie 
 tenace over anything Z plays. The result would be 
 the same if any other player opened the suit ; you take 
 every trick, no matter who leads clubs, provided you 
 abstain from leading them yourself. 
 
 The principle set forth in this illustration applies to 
 all stages of the play, and to any rank of the cards 
 when you can place them with sufficient certainty to 
 know that you lie tenace. 
 
 Suppose you are. Y on the first trick, and hold 
 these clubs : 
 
TKNACE. 
 
 33 
 
 4. * 
 *** 
 
 The play on the first two tricks is : 
 
 Trick 
 
 K I. 
 
 B 
 
 Trick 2. 
 
 B . 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 4.** 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 
 4* 4* 
 
 
 
 Z Y 
 
 -_>'\;D,' ,", 
 
 
 
 4. 4> 
 
 4. 4. 
 «8» * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 If A's second lead is his original fourth-best, you 
 know there are two higher clubs still in his hand, and 
 that they are the J and 8 ; because all others above the 
 seven have been played, or are held by you There- 
 fore you hold tenace over A in clubs, and you should 
 be on the alert to profit by it. 
 
 Suppose you hold these clubs second hand : 
 
 *m 4 
 
 4. 
 
 
 f^'-T'"'' 
 
 * 
 
 4 * 
 
 III 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 The first two tricks are ; — 
 
34 
 
 Trick 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Trick 2. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •!• + 
 
 *** 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 Z Y 
 
 4. 4- 
 
 
 
 *M> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 mm 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In this case A's original lead is his fourth-best, and 
 you know he holds three cards higher than the 5. The 
 fall and your own hand tell you these cards are the J 7 
 6. Therefor your Q 10 are tenace over his J 7. 
 
 When a tenace is thus established by the fall of the 
 cards, you should be prepared to take advantage of it, 
 but it does not always follow that you can do so. You 
 may get into the lead toward the end of the hand when 
 the trumps are out, but see no hope that your tenace 
 will be led up to. In the illustrations, B and Z are 
 both void of the suit, and A may not get into the lead 
 again. In such circumstances, it might be better to 
 make sure of a trick with the club king in diagram 1 , 
 or the club queen in diagram 2 , instead of running the 
 risk of getting none in the effort to make two. Deci- 
 sions in such cases must be based on the previous fall 
 of the cards, and much must be left to the discretion of 
 the player ; but it can be taken as a pretty safe rule 
 that with a tenace of this description you are not apt to 
 
TKNACK. 35 
 
 lose in the long run by waiting to have the suit led, 
 instead of leading it yourself. Still, the reader must 
 not forget that a tenace that is only developed on the 
 second round is not so valuable as one in hand before 
 the suit is opened. When there is no hope of getting 
 the tenace led up to, the one trick that the master card 
 assures should be made at once. This point of pausing 
 to consider the position, and to decide between the 
 probabilities for and against leading from this variety 
 of tenace, has been quite overlooked by most of the 
 standard writers on whist. 
 
 As the cards lie in diagram i , your gain is certain as 
 long as you do not lead the suit yourself. Even if the 
 minor tenace was not in one hand, no matter how the 
 cards composing it were distributed, no possible loss, 
 bar trumping, could result from waiting for some other 
 player to open the suit. 
 
 Let us suppose the minor tenace in the first illustra- 
 tion to be on your left. This is a very different, and 
 for you, less desirable state of affairs. It is an easy 
 matter to hold tenace over your right-hand adversary; 
 all that is needful being to refrain from leading the suit 
 yourself ; but to hold it effectually over the enemy on 
 your left is beyond }^our individual control. You may 
 refuse to lead the suit yourself, but if your partner or 
 your right-hand adversary does so, you are immediately 
 placed at a disadvantage, and the full possibility of your 
 holding in that suit cannot be realized, for you can only 
 count on one trick with certainty, — the ace. This 
 would be the position : 
 
36 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 * 
 
 **** 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 4» * 
 
 B 
 
 
 4 
 
 t 
 
 
 * 
 
 i 
 
 * * * 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 *• 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 If you are A, the only reasonable chance of securing 
 more than one trick in the suit is that Y will open it. This 
 will give you two tricks at least. That you will win all 
 the tricks is out of the question, but with a little patience 
 it is highly probable that you will win two. It is more 
 than probable that Y will lead the suit, as he is the only 
 player with sufficient strength in it to do so. 
 
 The reader will perceive that in general he is advised 
 to avoid leading suits that contain tenaces, unless the 
 suit is so long, seven or more cards, as to render it 
 unlikely that the minor tenace is against you, as well as 
 probable that the suit will be trumped on the second 
 round. If, for instance, you have major tenace at the 
 
TENACK. 37 
 
 head of a suit of eight cards, there are only five cards 
 among the three other players, which does not admit 
 of their having two apiece, and makes the odds very 
 much against either of your opponents holding the 
 minor tenace. It is also apparent that the suit will be 
 trumped on the second round at the latest. In such a case 
 I would lead the ace to show partner my suit, with the 
 chance of catching the king and establishing the suit 
 at once. If I was so fortunate, I should lead trumps 
 if I had a card of re-entry in another suit. 
 
 Your hand may be such that your only available lead 
 is fiom a suit of four, five, or six cards containing a 
 tenace, and for all you know to the contrary, your 
 partner may hold one of the minor tenace cards. With 
 Ihe four-card suit, the conventional play would be the 
 smallest, which is all right ; but with five or six cards 
 you should depart from the established rule, which is to 
 lead the ace, playing your fourth-best instead, so as to 
 avoid promoting the minor tenace if it should chance 
 to lie with the adversary. I have already spoken of 
 the conversion of the minor into the major tenace by 
 playing the master card, and you should be on your 
 guard against so promoting it, not only when you are 
 the original leader, but when the fall of the cards shows 
 that one of your opponents holds the second and fourth- 
 best of the suit. In such a case you win a trick by 
 leading the best card, it is true, but you also exchange 
 positions with your opponent, which may cost you two 
 tricks in the end. 
 
 Let us suppose you are A in the following diagram : 
 
38 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 * 4- 
 
 +** 
 
 4- 4- 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4- 
 
 4, 4, 
 
 You lead the 2, Y plays the 4, B the 9, Z the 3. B 
 opens his own suit, and we will suppose you regain the 
 lead. This position is an exception to the conventional 
 rule for playing the best card on the second round if 
 you hold it. If you lead the ace you at once promote 
 the minor tenace, which is marked in Y's hand. B 
 cannot have held either king or jack and played the 9, 
 and Z would not allow the 9 to win if he held either of 
 those cards, so they must both be with Y. If you play 
 ace, Y plays the 6, and his K J becomes major tenace 
 over your Q 10, giving him the last two tricks in the 
 suit. Your second lead should be the 10, which Y will 
 of course win with the jack, but your tenace is pre- 
 served, and if he is compelled to lead the suit you win 
 the last two tricks. 
 
TENAC3. 
 
 39 
 
 Take another case. You are A in this illustration, 
 and have exhausted the trumps, remaining with the 
 lead. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 4-^* 
 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 A 
 
 Z 
 
 
 
 
 * 4- * 
 
 L .J 
 
 ****! 
 * * 
 
 A' 4«| 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 *** +! 
 
 
 
 grffiW-x J 
 
 -*— -X— -5* 
 
 
 *?• 
 
 * * * 
 
 i 
 
 !* 4° + 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■"IffiJ 
 You lead the Q, Y plays the 2, B the 8. 
 
 4- * 
 
 Z the 3. 
 
 You continue with the K, Y plays J, B renounces, Z 
 drops the 5. If you go on with the ace you lose a 
 trick, for you should realize at once that Z holds minor 
 tenace, 10 7 to your A 9. If you play the ace, Z will 
 drop the 6, and lie tenace over you, winning the last 
 two tricks in the suit. But if you lead the 4, Z will be 
 forced to take it, and you will lie tenace over him, win- 
 ning the last two tricks in the suit. 
 
 This promotion of the minor tenace is a point often 
 overlooked by players who carefully preserve their ten- 
 aces up to a certain point. They avoid leading from 
 
4Q 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 tenace suits, but if forced to do so play their highest 
 card, when a low card would be the proper lead. 
 
 Another point suggests itself that is frequently 
 missed by players of more than average ability, and 
 which none of the standard writers that I have studied 
 have more than touched upon, and that is the location 
 of tenaces by the drop. 
 
 In diagram 3 we saw how A was able to locate the 
 minor tenace in Y's hand. There are many cases in 
 which the fourth hand is put in possession of informa- 
 tion as to the location of tenaces. 
 
 Suppose you are Z in this diagram : 
 
 No. 5. - 
 
 4. 4. 
 *.* 
 *** 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 
 
 1*'.* 
 
 4» 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4; 4m 4; 4; 
 
 •I* 4* 4< 4 1 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 A 
 
 Z 
 
 
 * * * * 
 * > 
 
 
 
 4. 4, 
 
 * 
 
 4. * 
 
 
 *_* 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 4, 4. 
 
 * 
 
TKNAC3. 4 1 
 
 A leads the 2, Y plays the 4, B the 7, you the 10. 
 This situation often arises, but too many players in Z's 
 place, on winning with the 10, content themselves by 
 remarking that it is a cheap trick, and with only a 
 vague impression that B is weak in that suit, turn their 
 attention to opening a fresh suit. A moment's atten- 
 tion to the fall of the cards and his own hand should 
 show Z that the four honors are divided between A 
 and Y, and in the relation of major and minor tenace. 
 This will become evident if the cards are placed. 
 
 A cannot have ace and king, or he would have led 
 one of them ; nor can he have ace, queen, jack ; or 
 king, queen, jack ; or king and queen. He might 
 have queen and jack, but in that event Y must have 
 ace and king, and would have played one second-hand. 
 If A holds ace, jack and two others, Y must have king 
 and queen, and would have played one of them. If A 
 held ace and three small, Y must have held king, 
 queen, jack, and would have played one of them. All 
 this goes to show that the only honors A can have 
 held when he led the 2, were the ace and queen, or the 
 king and jack ; and whichever combination he held, Y 
 must have held the other, since neither B nor Z hold 
 any card higher than the 10. 
 
 Most writers on whist discuss this situation so far, 
 and then leave it. Foster, in his usual concise and 
 comprehensive way of stating a rule in easily remem- 
 bered words, says : "If neither third nor fourth hand 
 has an honor in the suit led, the major and minor ten- 
 aces are divided between the first and second players." 
 
42 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 He then gives an example showing that if neither 
 third nor fourth hand has a card above the 9, the 10 is 
 the key to the position of the major tenace, showing A Q 
 10 must be with the leader, and K J with the second hand. 
 An examination of the position will show that this 
 must be so. If A holds king, jack, ten, deuce, and 
 follows the usual fashion, he will lead the ten, although 
 many players now lead the fourth-best from this com- 
 bination. If he holds king, jack, and two small cards, 
 Y having ace, queen, ten, and another, Y's play is a 
 high card second hand. Y will also play a high card 
 second hand if he holds either king, jack, ten, or ace, 
 queen, jack. So if the fourth hand wins with the 9, the 
 five honors can be distributed only as in the following 
 diagram ; 
 
 No. 6 
 
 ++* 
 
 4» 4» 
 
 4* 
 4-4- 
 
 4- 
 
 4, * 
 * * 
 
 B 
 Y Z 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 * .j. .j. £> 
 * 
 
 "?• "J* *i* **• 
 
 
 
 
 1 _ I 
 
 
 
 581111 
 
 
 *_J 
 
TENACE. 43 
 
 If Z knows that A holds the major tenace, what use 
 should he make of his knowledge? Obviously, he 
 should at once return the opponent's lead, unless he is 
 Jong in the suit himself. 
 
 If Z has any doubt as to the location of the major 
 tenace, as in diagram 5, and it should turn out that Y 
 has it, Z is still making the best lead possible for his 
 partner's hand ; while if it is with A, as in diagram 6, 
 the immediate return of the suit brings about the situ- 
 ation discussed some pages back, when it was shown 
 that with the minor tenace on the left, the major was 
 placed at a disadvantage. If Z returns the suit at once, 
 he forces A to give up the ace and the command, or to 
 sacrifice his queen to Y's king. 
 
 If Z is unable to win the first trick, B capturing it 
 with a 9 or 10, there is no certainty about the division 
 of the tenaces, for B may have played in from a se- 
 quence. But when the fourth hand wins the trick, and 
 holds no card higher than the 10, he knows the ten- 
 aces are divided between first and second players ; 
 and if he holds nothing higher than the 9, and wins 
 the trick, he knows the leader has the double major 
 tenace, and that second hand has king jack. In either 
 case his duty is to return the lead at once, unless he is 
 so long in the suit that B might trump. 
 
 From the foregoing we gather the following rule : 
 When the fourth player wins the first round 
 of a suit in which he holds no honor, he 
 should return the lead at once. 
 
 This is an opportunity that frequently presents itself 
 
44 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 to the wide-awake player, and if you will commit this 
 rule to memory and put it in practice when next you 
 play duplicate whist, it will not be the fault of that 
 play if you do not gain on the board. 
 
 Of course, it is understood that undue precedence 
 should not be given to this return lead if there is some- 
 thing clearly better in your hand. But the position 
 should be noted, and advantage taken of it later in the 
 hand. Unless it is very plain that you have a better 
 game, I should advise the immediate return of the suit, 
 for you must remember that in order to derive the full 
 benefit from the situation, you may have to return the 
 suit a second time. If you do not avail yourself of the 
 first opportunity, you may not be able to get into the 
 lead again ; or your right-hand adversary may discard 
 the suit in the meantime, and trump it when you re- 
 turn it. 
 
 As an objection to this rule it may be urged that the 
 immediate return of an opponent's suit is often taken 
 by the partner as an invitation to a force. But the 
 tenace in your partner's hand, and the fall of the cards 
 to the first trick should tell him the object of the 
 return, and he will not necessarily force you, unless 
 with the direct object of getting you to over-trump B. 
 
 If a player avoids leading from suits containing any 
 form of the major or minor ten aces, he should be pre- 
 pared to follow the same course with all suits that 
 contain what might be termed vice-tenaces. These 
 may be defined as combinations of cards that will be- 
 come tenaces if certain cards fall on the first round of 
 
TKNACE. 
 
 45 
 
 the suit. To this family belong all such combinations 
 as A J+, A io+, etc. If the player has a passably 
 good lead in any other suit, such combinations should 
 be avoided. 
 
 Let us suppose you are A in the following diagram : 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 I* ± 
 
 * * * 
 
 * * * 
 
 4. * 
 
 B 
 
 
 * 
 
 •5» •?■ 
 
 4. * * * 
 
 iV T* T* 
 + * * 
 
 * 
 
 If you lead the 5 from this suit, Y will play the 4, 
 B the 3, and Z the 7. If you lead the A on the second 
 round, you will win the trick, but Z will hold tenace with 
 his K 10 over your J 9. If your partner gets in before 
 you do, and returns the suit, you will have to put up 
 the ace to shut out the queen, leaving Z with tenace 
 over you as before. 
 
 Qn the other hand, if you wait until Z leads the suit, 
 
4 6 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 he will begin with the 2, and his partner will win with 
 the queen, leaving you with the double major tenaee 
 over the original leader, which must make the three 
 remaining tricks in the suit, bar trumping, no matter 
 who leads it, so that you avoid doing so. 
 
 Trump tenaces are the most valuable, because if you 
 play properly you are sure of realizing all the advan- 
 tages of such combinations. Suppose trumps to be 
 your only four-card suit, and that you are A in the 
 following diagram : 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 B 
 
 [<?. <3 <3 <3l 
 |<3 <3 <3 <3| 
 
 i« 
 
 <3 
 
 <3 
 
 l<3 
 
 <3 
 
 <i\ 
 
 
 
 
 <3 
 
 <? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 9? 
 
 V 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 If you open the trump suit with the 5, Z will win 
 your partner's queen. If you lead the ace on recover- 
 ing the lead, or if your partner returns the suit and 
 
TBNACK. 47 
 
 forces you to play the ace to shut out the jack, you will 
 find tenace against you, and any other trick in the suit 
 impossible. 
 
 If you wait, and any other player leads trumps, you 
 and your partner take every trick in the trump suit. 
 If you signal, your partner will lead the queen ; if Z 
 signals his partner will lead the jack, which your 
 partner will cover ; if Z leads trumps, your partner's 
 queen will win the first round, and leave you with the 
 major tenace. 
 
 With the cards divided as in this diagram, nothing 
 can prevent your winning every trick in trumps, pro- 
 vided you do not lead them yourself. It furnishes an 
 excellent example of the difference between playing 
 your trumps simply as so many abstractors of other 
 trumps, and using them to make tricks in themselves. 
 If A, in this illustration, had led trumps to defend an 
 established suit, as so many do, he would have lost 
 three tricks in the trump suit alone ; a loss that it 
 would be very difficult to offset by the problematical 
 bringing in of a long suit, the higher cards of which 
 would probably win in any case. 
 
 I do not advise holding back a suit headed by A J, 
 or A 10, when there is no other available lead. A player 
 is not expected to follow any rule to the detriment of 
 his hand ; but if he has some other fairly good lead, I 
 think he should regard such combinations as A J, A 
 10, as belonging to the tenace family, and to be played 
 as such. Even if these do not develop into regular 
 tenaces, the player holding them back will probably get 
 
48 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 more for his money, so to speak, by waiting than by 
 leading them. If you lead a small card from either of 
 these combinations, the trick may be won fourth- hand 
 by a 6 or a 7. If you begin with the ace, you catch 
 nothing but small cards. If you wait to have the suit 
 led up to you, you either win with the jack or ten, or 
 capture a king or queen with your ace. In either case 
 the ace wins a trick ; but if it is led, advantage is not 
 taken of its full capacity, and its strength is expended 
 on capturing deuces and treys. If it is led up to, you 
 get the full benefit of its trick-making ability, at the 
 same time capturing an honor, the loss of which may 
 be deeply felt by the enemy. 
 
 The same argument applies, with limitations, to suits 
 headed by ace, king, j ack. If the suit is long, the king 
 must be led ; but if it contains only these three honors, 
 by all means wait. If you lead, the odds are against 
 your making more than two tricks. If the lead comes 
 from your left, you are sure of three, because you lie 
 tenace over the queen. 
 
 Of course the reader understands that he must not 
 expect to find in every hand such distributions of the 
 cards as are given in these diagrams. The principle is 
 the point, and the knowledge to take advantage of such 
 and similar situations when they do occur. 
 
 The use or neglect of tenace presents many more op- 
 portunities for loss or gain than would be imagined by 
 a player who had never given the subject much atten- 
 tion. Promptly recognizing and taking advantage of 
 such opportunities when they occur will often cause 
 
TENACK. 49 
 
 your opponents to remark: "Well, I cannot under- 
 stand how we lost on that board ; for I am sure I do 
 not see where we made any mistakes. ' ' That is just it. 
 They do not see the mistake. They make no striking 
 blunders, but they fail to make the most of their 
 hands. 
 
 When you have a suit containing the minor tenace, 
 king, and jack, it is even more important that you 
 should have it led up to, instead of leading away from 
 it, than it would be if it were the major tenace, ace 
 queen. The major tenace insures at least a trick, but 
 the minor tenace, if led away from, may not win a 
 trick in the suit. If the minor tenace is led up to it 
 will probably be good for two tricks, and it is certainly 
 good for one, bar trumping. As there is more chance 
 of loss with the minor tenace than with the major, it is 
 proportionately more important that it should be led up 
 to, and not away from. 
 
 If the player on your left leads up to the major ten- 
 ace in your hand, and you win with the queen, you are 
 left in command with the ace, and can make it at once, 
 or hold it up, as you see fit. Similarly, if you win with 
 ace over the king, and are left in command with the 
 queen. But with the minor tenace, even if you win 
 the first trick, you are not left in command. If third 
 hand plays 9 or 10, and you win with the jack, ace 
 queen are out over your king and others. If third- 
 hand plays queen, and you win with the king, the ace 
 ten are out against you. Your first consideration must 
 be to prevent these two cards from making against you, 
 
5° 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 and this you- can often accomplish by returning the lead 
 at once with a small card. If the original leader has 
 the ace he will probably put it on ; but if you allow the 
 suit to be led through you, you may lose your king if 
 the player on your left has a good finesse, or if his 
 partner leads him a finessing card. This gives us a 
 general rule that 
 
 When fourth-hand wins the first round 
 of a suit in which he holds minor tenace, 
 he should at once return the lead with his 
 smallest card, 
 
 L,et us suppose that you are Z and hold these trumps : 
 
 v ^ 
 <? 
 
 9 <? 
 
 If the cards fall in either of these ways on trick i, 
 your play would be to return the heart 3 at once. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 <v> <? 
 
 <? V 
 
 
 V 
 
 "<? 
 
 <? 
 
 <? 
 
 <s?_ 
 
 <? 
 
 <v> 9 
 
 <? <? 
 
 F 
 
 ~v 
 
 V 
 
 q? 
 
 V 
 
 9? 
 
TKNACB. 51 
 
 Although the trump suit is used in this example, the 
 reader must remember that it will sometimes be unwise 
 to return an adverse trump lead. In plain suits the 
 return may be regarded as imperative. 
 
 What I have written in this chapter should be enough 
 to impress the student with the importance of playing 
 tenaces to the best advantage. Constant practice and 
 observation will improve his tenace play, and we may 
 now turn our attention to finesse, which is very closely 
 allied to tenace, as it depends for its success on the same 
 principle of taking advantage of the position of the 
 cards. 
 
FINESSE. 
 
 Hamilton defines finesse as ' ' any form of strategy, 
 underplay, or artifice." Upon this liberal definition 
 many thousand pages might be written ; but with us 
 an outline of the principal features of finesse, as it is 
 generally understood, will suffice. 
 
 " G. W. P.," in his "American Whist Illustrated," 
 tells us that there are several varieties of finesse : The 
 returned finesse ; the finesse by trial ; the finesse on 
 the partner ; and the finesse by speculation. These 
 are nice distinctions that are very interesting to the 
 deep student, but of little value to the ordinary player. 
 The varieties of strategy to which the term ' ' finesse ' ' 
 is usually applied will be found to be covered by this 
 definition : 
 
 Any effort to make a subordinate card ac- 
 complish as much as a higher ; is a finesse. 
 
 A pla}^er may make this effort in various wa3 T s, as 
 for instance : By playing, as second or third hand, the 
 lower of two high cards not in sequence, in the hope 
 that no intermediate card lies with the opponent who 
 has 3 T et to play. By passing, instead of playing his 
 best card third hand on a medium high card led by his 
 partner. By adopting either of these methods, not 
 with much hope of winning the trick, but in the ex- 
 
FINESSE. 
 
 53 
 
 peculation that in order to secure the trick, the adver- 
 sary will have to play a higher card than any held by 
 the player who finesses. By adopting any of the fore- 
 going when the player knows he will lose the trick, 
 but can reasonably count on forcing a disproportion- 
 ately high card from the adversary. 
 
 These may be briefly reviewed, with examples. You 
 are B in the following diagram, with these cards : 
 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 The first trick is : 
 No. 10. 
 
 Your play is the queen, not the ace, which is a 
 finesse against the king being in Z's hand, the odds 
 against which are 2 to 1 , as either A or Y may have it. 
 This is the simplest form of the finesse, and is so gen- 
 erally recommended and followed that it has become an 
 imperative rule of play for the third hand. 
 
54 SHORT -SUIT WHIST. 
 
 You are Y and hold these cards : 
 
 4» 
 
 * 4» 
 
 4- 4- 
 
 4* 4» 
 4- 4- 
 
 * 4* 
 
 4- 4- 
 
 The first trick is 
 
 No. ii. 
 
 
 
 4« 4* 
 
 
 
 
 4» 
 
 
 *jfj 
 
 
 4- 4- 
 
 
 4» 
 
 
 
 
 t&mm 
 
 
 4- 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 _*_ 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Your finesse is the queen, in the hope that the king 
 may be with the leader, or with your partner. 
 You are B and hold : 
 
 4- 
 
 4-a 
 4* 
 
 4- * 
 
 4* 
 ±1± 
 
 4« 4- 
 
 4* 
 4- 4- 
 
FINESSE. 
 
 55 
 
 The first trick is : 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 
 * 4* 
 4- 
 
 
 
 4« 4* 
 4- * 
 4» 4- 
 
 
 4» 4» 
 
 
 4* 
 4- 
 
 
 §H 
 
 Instead of playing your best, you pass the card led 
 by your partner, in the hope that it may win the trick. 
 The situation is almost the same as if you held both 
 ace and queen yourself, and played the queen, but the 
 odds in favor of its success are not so great, as the 
 leader cannot have the king. 
 
 You are B and hold : 
 
 4* v 4* 
 
56 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 The first trick is : 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 IT 
 
 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 * 
 4. 4. 
 
 ill 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 You pass your partner's jack, in the hope that the 
 queen is on your right. This finesse is not usually 
 considered sound unless you are strong in trumps, for 
 you run the risk of an unguarded queen taking a trick 
 in a suit in which you have both ace and king. 
 
 You are B and hold : 
 
 * 
 
 4» *i l * 
 
FINESSE. 
 
 57 
 
 The first trick is : 
 
 No, 14. 
 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 4- 
 
 
 
 4. A, 
 
 ■5- * 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 111 this case there is no hope that the jack led will 
 win the trick, for the ace must be on your left ; but 
 there is a finesse against both ace and queen being in 
 one hand. By passing the jack, it may force the ace, 
 and leave you with tenace over the queen in Y's hand. 
 
 What appears to be a very risky or deep finesse is 
 sometimes called for by the condition of your hand, 
 which is the only guide after all. Suppose you hold 
 tenace in spades and diamonds, and in hearts only the 
 king and deuce. If your partner leads clubs, and you 
 hold ace ten and others, you may finesse the ten on the 
 first trick, thus :— 
 
58 
 No. 15. 
 
 SHORTSSUI? WHIST. 
 
 B 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4» 
 
 4^* 
 
 4» ' 4» 
 
 4« * 
 
 * 
 4» * 
 
 If the fourth hand wins the trick he must lead up to 
 your guarded king of trumps, or to your tenaces in 
 the other suits. 
 
 The obligatory finesse is usually the most puzzling to 
 the beginner. You are A and hold : — 
 
 4* • 4» 
 4» A 4» 
 
 4»*4- 
 
 4» 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4» 4- 
 
 4« * 
 
 * 
 4- 4- 
 
 The first two tricks are as follow : — 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 4» + 
 
 4« 4» 
 4- 
 
 *_* 
 A 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4, 
 4» 4* 
 
 
 4« * 
 
 *a* 
 *** 
 
 4» 4- 
 
 4.** 
 
 *** 
 
 
 
FINESSE. 
 
 59 
 
 The mere fact of your partner's queen winning the 
 first trick shows Z has not the ace, and your partner's 
 return of the six shows he does not hold it ; so it must 
 be with Y. You finesse the ten, in the hope that Y has 
 not the jack also. In this case you have no hope of 
 winning the trick, but trust to the ten to bring down 
 the ace, leaving you in command with the king. If Y 
 has both ace and jack, it does not matter what you 
 play ; but if you play your king, you are certain to 
 lose, no matter how the cards lie. 
 
 Suppose you are A and hold : — 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 4. * 
 
 4. 4* 
 
 * * 
 
 The first two tricks are : — 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 B 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 * * 
 *** 
 
 
 
 i'jfii 
 
 
 * * 
 
 
 *** 
 
 4, 4. 
 4^4. 
 
 • 'V 
 
 
 
 
 
 4, 4. 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4, 
 
 
 Your partner's 9 is evidently the higher of two 
 cards, the 9 and 3. The king must be with Y, for Z 
 
6o 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 would have played the best card on the second round 
 if he held it. By passing the 9, you finesse against the 
 king and jack being both in Y's hand ; just as you 
 finessed against A J. 
 
 There is another variety of this finesse, in which you 
 cannot so positively mark the high card in fourth hand 
 but know it is better than any you hold. 
 
 You are B and hold : 
 
 
 * * * * 
 
 V j* *I * 4* 
 
 The first trick is : — 
 No. 18. 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 * * 
 
 
 4, 4. 
 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4T 
 
 
 
 4» 
 4. 4. 
 
 4, 4. 
 
 If the 7 is your partner's fourth-best, he must have 
 three higher cards in his hand, but he has not both ace 
 and king. As you have neither of these cards, it must 
 be one of them that is against him. You know there 
 is no other high card against him, and if Y holds it 
 the 7 will win the trick ; if Z holds it, he will have 
 to play it, so you can safely pass. 
 
FINKSSE. 6 1 
 
 This is generally known as finessing by the eleven 
 rule, and is given in " Foster's Whist Manual." The 
 principle is that if the spots on the card led are de- 
 ducted from eleven, the remainder is the number of 
 cards, higher than the one led, out against the leader. 
 In this example the 7 led shows four only against your 
 partner, of which you hold three, and the one other 
 must be the ace or the king. 
 
 Except in such cases as the foregoing, all finesses are 
 problematical, and success depends largely upon the 
 situation at the moment, and the judgment of the 
 player. For this reason most of our whist authorities 
 recommend but two forms of the finesse : That of the 
 queen from ace queen in any suit ; and the finesse of 
 the trump jack when holding ace king jack and others. 
 The latter is usually resorted to only when the player 
 holding this combination has led, and then changed to 
 a plain suit, so as to finesse on his partner's return of 
 the trump. The same manoeuvre may be used in plain 
 suits, if strong in trumps. 
 
 There is one exception to the first finesse, which is 
 when the third hand holds ace queen alone. It is usual 
 to play the ace, and it is imperative on the lead of a 
 ten. The object is to avoid blocking the suit. As a 
 general rule- finessing on your partner's suit is consid- 
 ered bad play in the long-suit game, because he wants 
 all the high cards out of his way as soon as possible. 
 But even at the risk of delaying the establishment of a 
 suit, I think the practice of finessing might be advan- 
 tageously carried much further than it is at present. 
 
62 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 In the short-suit game, finessing on partner's lead 
 is one of the principal features, because he more fre- 
 quently leads from weakness than from strength. If he 
 leads the highest card of a weak suit, you give it a 
 clear path, to accomplish what it can, retaining any 
 higher cards you may hold in the suit, in the hope that 
 they may win tricks later on. Just what cards should 
 be passed in this manner will be considered when we 
 come to the practical playing of the short-suit game. 
 
 To the ambitious student I may repeat the advice 
 given in connection with tenace. Practice continually, 
 and note carefully in actual play the instances of loss 
 or gain that occur from finessing. The gain of a point 
 or two in every third or fourth hand in an evening's 
 play at duplicate whist is not an unreasonable expecta- 
 tion, if the adversaries are orthodox long-suit players. 
 Little more will be required than an occasional judi- 
 cious finesse of partner's moderately high cards, orig- 
 inally led. 
 
 The student should bear in mind, as a good standard 
 to go by, that whenever the success of a finesse means 
 the gain of several tricks, and its failure the loss of only 
 one, the finesse should be made ; but if the loss may 
 outweigh the gain, it should not be attempted. Never 
 forget how much depends on the cards in your hand at 
 the time, and on those that have fallen. If a finesse, 
 even if unsuccessful, will place the lead to your advan- 
 tage, make it by all means. And last of all ; if you 
 consider yourself a lucky man, finesse boldly ; if you 
 are a ' ' Jonah ' ' you must be more careful. 
 
CROSS-R UFFING. 
 
 The third especial reliance of the short-suit player, 
 cross-ruffing, although the least important, is at times 
 the most effective. A cross-ruff is established when 
 you and your partner are each void of a different suit, 
 and you lead such suits to each other to trump. Under 
 such circumstances the adversaries are usually power- 
 less to help themselves until they can over-trump and, 
 if strong enough, exhaust the remaining trumps. In 
 the meantime the cross-ruffers have used their small 
 trumps to the utmost advantage, since they could not 
 be spent more economically than one at a time, nor 
 more advantageously than upon the enemy's master 
 cards. 
 
 This method of trick-making is so fascinating to 
 some players that they try for it from the start. But 
 it is far too adventitious to be brought about by sys- 
 tematic play ; the most a player can do is to seize such 
 opportunities as offer during the regular course of 
 play. The short-suit game, however, from the very 
 nature of its original lead, constantly tends to cross- 
 ruffing. 
 
 It is difficult to give definite directions for cross- 
 ruffing. The player can only watch the fall of the 
 
6 4 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 cards, and if he has a singleton, be on the alert for any 
 indications that his partner is void of some other suit. 
 Kven then he may not establish the cross-ruff, but he 
 has good grounds for attempting it. 
 Suppose you are Y and hold : 
 
 The first trick is : 
 No. 19. 
 
 4. A 
 A. A 
 *** 
 
 A A 
 
 A * 
 A 
 
 A A 
 
 A 
 A 
 
 Wm 
 
 
 *A* 
 A*A 
 
 + jl* 
 A*A 
 
 A A 
 A A 
 
 
 
 Leaving out of consideration the trump signal, which 
 renders all inference uncertain, your partner, Z, has 
 no more of the suit. B will probably not return it, and 
 should you get into the lead and find yourself with a 
 singleton in another suit, it will be better for you to 
 lead that first, in order to establish a cross-ruff. 
 
 Suppose you are A and hold : 
 
 A . A 
 
 A 4 A 
 
 A*A 
 
CROSS-RUFFING. 
 
 65 
 
 The first trick is : 
 No, 20. 
 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 
 ♦ 4* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 4. * 4. 
 
 *.* 
 *** 
 
 Your partner, B, has evidently no more of the suit, 
 but you should not force him if you have a singleton in 
 another suit to lead, for that may establish a cross-ruff. 
 
 I am well aware that this advice to lead singletons, 
 even with a cross-ruff in view, is apt to meet with 
 emphatic protest from staunch long-suiters ; but I do 
 not believe such strong objections would be made if 
 they gave the subject more attention. I think this at- 
 tention might be granted, but for the odium that 
 attaches to leading a "sneak." The name has killed 
 the play, like the dog that was hung. Had the proper 
 title of ' ' singleton ' ' always been applied to the one- 
 card lead, I am positive it would never have acquired 
 such disfavor. In these Jin de Steele day?, I am san- 
 guine enough to believe that the time is not far distant 
 when a player will lead a singleton deuce from a ruff- 
 ing hand as readily as he now leads a trump from A K 
 Q J 10. The object of all whist play is to win the 
 game, and if a singleton lead appears to be the most 
 
66 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 likely way, it should be adopted, despite the fa<5t that 
 G. W. P. tells us : " The result is nothing, the proper 
 management of the cards everything ; " as if it were 
 possible to divorce the one from the other. 
 
 As an example of playing for a cross-ruff, let us take 
 a hand I once held at duplicate whist. I was the 
 dealer, hearts trumps, and held these cards : 
 
 * •?• 
 
 v 
 
 * * 
 
 ^ 9? 
 VjT * 
 
 I*""* 
 
 * * 
 
 ♦> 
 *1* 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 4. * 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 The first two tricks were 
 
 No. 21. 
 
 15 
 
CROSS-RUFFING. 67 
 
 The fall of the cards marks B with the jack or no 
 more clubs; and Y as void of spades. For the third 
 trick I submit that the singleton diamond is Z's best 
 lead, for in that suit alone is it possible for Y to win a 
 trick, and if he returns a small diamond, the cross-ruff 
 in diamonds and. spades is established. 
 
 Unfortunately, the player who held my cards on the 
 original play did not remember just how he had played 
 it ; but as he had been taught to eschew ' ' sneak ' ' 
 leads it is almost certain that he led the small club at 
 the third trick. I led the diamond 8, Y won with the 
 ace, the cross-ruff followed as I expected, and. we gained, 
 three tricks on the board. 
 
 It is only by means of singleton leads that any effort 
 can be made to get a cross-ruff going ; but such leads 
 have been so roundly abused by most of the writers on 
 whist that it would be a rash apprentice who would lift 
 his feeble voice in opposition to the masters. Still I 
 cannot refrain from placing on record a "sneaking " 
 whisper in favor of the singleton lead, when the occa- 
 sion seems to favor its success in establishing a cross- 
 ruff. 
 
 The usual objections to the singleton are: 1. That 
 it deceives the partner, who cannot tell a singleton from 
 a strong suit. 2. That it exposes your own weakness. 
 3. That it may establish the suit in the hands of your 
 adversaries. 
 
 If your partner is a good short-suit pla3^er, and 
 knows you to be one, he will not often be deceived to 
 his hurt. The more the adversaries are deceived the 
 
68 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 better, whatever the modern school of American lead- 
 ers may preach to the contrary, and urge in favor ol 
 publishing general information. Kven if your partner 
 misunderstands your lead and returns it under the im- 
 pression that it is your long-suit, your objecl: is accom- 
 plished, and you get the ruff. The great danger is that 
 he will lead trumps. 
 
 With regard to exposing your weakness, the adver- 
 saries must be very strong to profit much by the know- 
 ledge of your weakness in a single suit. 
 
 As to the danger of establishing the suit in the hands 
 of the adversaries, your partner's possibilities reduce 
 this danger one-third, and if the singleton is never led 
 without some trump strength to back it up, there should 
 be no objection to the adversaries having an established 
 suit, provided you are prepared to trump it every time 
 it is led. I do not recommend the original lead of a 
 singleton without some strength in trumps ; but later 
 in the hand the lead of such a card may be the only 
 chance, regardless of the trump strength, as in diagram 
 No 21. If your opponents are very strong in trumps 
 they will probably lead them, whether you have begun 
 with a singleton or not ; but if you can get in a small 
 trump before this happens,. it may gain a point other- 
 wise impossible. 
 
 After carefully studying the subject from every point 
 of view, I cannot see how the lead of a singleton can 
 work damage in the long run, if it is always accom- 
 panied by moderate strength in trumps, such as four 
 fairly good ones. In making this assertion I do not 
 
CROSS-RUFFING. 69 
 
 wish to be understood as championing the hap-hazard 
 leading of singletons merely to make one or two little 
 trumps. I urge it only when you have strength in 
 trumps, or see a clear chance for a cross-ruff, or in 
 preference to leading from suits of not more than four 
 cards, headed by a tenace. 
 
 The lead must be governed by the hand before you 
 at the moment, or by the fall of the cards. When you 
 can make some other lead only by breaking tenace 
 suits, or when you see a probability of a cross-ruff, do 
 not be afraid of leading a singleton, if you have one, 
 simply because anathema maranatha has hitherto been 
 thundered upon its devoted head. 
 
 Dashing, eccentric play, by itself, is sure to be defeated 
 by orthodox conventionality; but if boldness is sup- 
 ported by a knowledge of the game , it will win against 
 cautious science every time. Place at a table four 
 players of equal theoretical skill, and the bolder, more 
 self-reliant, less hampered-by-rule-when-the-situation- 
 shows-that-to-follow-rule-will-be-ruinous pair of the 
 two will invariably carry off the victory. 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 
 
 By taking the conventional long-suit leads as a stan- 
 dard we are enabled to detect the short-suit leads by the 
 difference between the two. If, as your partner, I lead 
 a card that by general consent is led only when ac- 
 companied by a certain other card, and you know that 
 I do not hold that other card, you also know that I 
 have not made a conventional lead. This is negative 
 evidence that I have made a short-suit lead. 
 
 I take it for granted that my readers are more or less 
 familiar with some method of leading from long suits; 
 but the ability to detect short-suit leads is so dependent 
 on thoroughly understanding and following some one 
 system that a brief summary of the leads upon which 
 the inferences in the following pages are based is abso- 
 lutely necessary. 
 
 A schism exists among whist players on the subject 
 of original leads. One party loyally sustains what are 
 known as the " old-style " leads; while the other pins 
 its faith to the ' ' new, " or ' 'American. ' ' Between these 
 two in the abstract, it is not for me to decide. Which- 
 ever way the weight of published testimony may lean, 
 the more conclusive practical proofs seem to be with the 
 " old-style " men. I believe that whenever the ques- 
 tion has been put to a practical test, they have invari- 
 ably been victorious. 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 7 I 
 
 The new, or American leads, are at times wonder- 
 fully effective in assisting a player to read his partner's 
 hand; but there are times when they leave him utterly 
 in the dark on the all-important first round, and do not 
 give as much information as the old leads would under 
 the same circumstances. 
 
 The old system is especially adapted to our purpose 
 on account of the definite nature of the queen lead. 
 Upon this card the short-suit player relies for his most 
 effective lead; but under the " American " system the 
 partner can never tell with certainty from what combi- 
 nation a queen is led. It may be from any one of 
 four widely different holdings: A K Q x x; K Q 
 x x x; Q J 10 -f ; or Q J 10 alone, and it may be im- 
 possible for partner to tell which, on the first round. 
 
 The same difficulty arises with the jack. In Amer- 
 ican leads this card is lead from AK Q J x; K Q J 
 x x ; and J x x. Foster suggested in Whist for 
 July, 1895, that the queen should be led from the first 
 of these, so that the jack might always deny the ace, 
 and that has since come to be the common practice, so 
 that the jack has the same meaning in both systems of 
 leading. 
 
 While the short-suit game may be effectively added 
 to the repertoire of those who prefer the American 
 leads, I prefer the old style, on account of its greater 
 simplicity, and in the following pages all discussion and 
 analysis will be based on the use of that system. 
 
 In "Foster's Whist Manual" these leads will be 
 found set forth in a brief, ingenious and attractive form, 
 
7 2 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 so that they fix themselves in the memory almost with- 
 out effort on the student's part. As a knowledge of 
 these leads is such a necessary preliminary to any ex- 
 position of the short-suit game, I shall give a brief 
 synopsis of them here. 
 
 The numerals placed under the cards are to show the 
 first and second leads; the latter will merely be indi- 
 cated, without entering into explanations. 
 
 THE ACM. — Holding Ace and any four, or 
 more, except the King ; that is, at least five 
 cards in all, you lead the Ace. 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 4» * 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 With so many of the suit you cannot run the risk of 
 your adversary winning the first trick with a small 
 card, and your ace being trumped on the second round. 
 The ace led originally may also catch a high card in 
 the enemy's hand. Your second lead is the original 
 fourth-best. 
 
 If in addition to the Ace, you hold both 
 Queen and Jack, but not the King, you lead 
 the Ace, irrespective of the number of cards 
 in the suit. 
 
 — * 
 
 * 
 
CONVENTION AI, LEADS. 
 
 73 
 
 The second lead from this combination is the queen 
 if there are only three or four cards in the suit; the 
 Jack if there are more than four. 
 
 £V*"'; 
 
 * * 
 
 4. A 
 4. 4. 
 
 To the partner, the ace shows at least five cards in 
 the suit, or the presence of both queen and jack. 
 
 Unless it is trumped, the card following it will show 
 what combination the ace was led from. The lead of 
 an ace always denies the king. 
 
 THE KING. Holding the King, accom- 
 panied by both the cards next in value 
 above and below, or by either of them, you 
 lead the King. The second lead varies with the 
 combination held. 
 
 * * 
 
 4» «fr 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 From this the second lead is the ace, in conformity 
 with the rule to play the best card of the suit on the 
 second round, if you hold it. 
 
74 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 
 4- * * 
 
 From this, if the king wins, the fourth-best is led 
 on the second round, as partner may be counted for 
 the ace. 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 From this the second lead is the queen. Partner 
 knows you have the ace if your king wins. 
 
 
 From this the Jack is led on the second round, to 
 show partner it is as good as the ace, which he knows 
 you have. 
 
 Holding three honors other than the ace, but only 
 four cards in suit, the kina: is led. 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 
 
 75 
 
 
 If the king wins, it should be followed by the jack if 
 there are four cards in the suit, by the queen if there 
 are only three. Many players assume partner to have 
 ace, and follow the king with a small card. This is 
 condemned by every writer on the game. 
 
 If the ace wins the king, partner knows you have 
 led from king, queen; or king, queen, jack. The same 
 is true if he has the ace himself when you lead a king. 
 If he has not the ace, the card with which you follow 
 the king will tell him what combination you hold. 
 
 The king is the most frequently led of the high 
 cards; the ace next. 
 
 We come now to the leads of the queen and jack, 
 which require particular attention, since it is very im- 
 portant to decide whether they are led from long or 
 short suits. 
 
 THE Q VEEN. When your suit is headed 
 by the Queen and the two cards next in 
 value below it, the Jack and Ten, you lead 
 the Queen. 
 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
7 6 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 4. ' 4. 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4, * 
 
 + _* 
 
 If the queen wins, partner should have the ace r he 
 may even have both ace and king; but the king may 
 be on your left and the ace beyond. In either case 
 your next lead is the jack if you have only four cards 
 in the suit; the ten if you have five or more. If you 
 follow the queen with a small card, your partner's ace 
 is forced, and if the king is in second hand, it is freed. 
 If the second player held up the ace, and your partner 
 has the king, your second lead makes no difference, 
 but you should follow a uniform system. 
 
 The lead of the queen shows partner both jack and 
 ten, and denies both ace and king. 
 
 THE JACK. Holding the Jack, and the 
 next two cards in value above it, the King 
 and Queen, with five or more in suit, you 
 lead the Jack. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4, 4. 
 4. 4» 
 
 4. 4* 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 
 
 77 
 
 Whether the jack wins or loses, your second lead is 
 the king, if you hold exactly five cards in the suit; the 
 queen if six or more. Thejackisled from this com- 
 bination instead of the king, because its numerical 
 strength is such that it is important that partner should 
 not block the suit. The beginner is apt to find this 
 distinction a little confusing. In Foster's " Whist 
 Manual," my indebtedness to which I gladly acknow- 
 ledge, an ingenious method is given for remembering 
 which card to lead. When you hold this particular 
 combination, king-queen-jack, and just enough cards 
 in the suit to spell the word K-I-N-G, you lead the 
 king. When you hold enough, or more than enough 
 to spell the word K-N- A-V-K you lead the knave. 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 V 
 
 E 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 The lead of the jack shows the partner that you 
 have both king and queen, and at least five cards in 
 the suit. It absolutely denies the ace, which is im- 
 portant, 
 
78 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 THB TBN.— Holding the minor tenace, 
 King, Jack, accompanied by the Ten, you 
 lead the Ten. 
 
 
 *4.* 
 
 4. * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 There is so little likelihood of the ten winning, that 
 the second lead must depend on the fall of the cards to 
 the first round. 
 
 This lead is gradually falling into disuse, the fourth- 
 best being led from this combination. This is owing 
 to the fact that the second hand holding ace, queen, 
 can finesse with certainty, and that the position of the 
 minor tenace is so clearly exposed to the adversaries. 
 
 The Ten shows partner that the leader holds both 
 king and jack. 
 
 THB NINE.— The 
 
 combinations only. 
 
 Nine is led from two 
 
 4. 
 
 is 
 
 4* . 4* 
 
 4. * 4» 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 «?■ . 4» 
 
 *** 
 4. 4> 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 *jpfi 
 
 *' +1 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 *** 
 4. 4. 
 
 If another card is added to either of these, they be- 
 come ace leads, owinsr to the number in suit. 
 
CONVENTIONAL I^ADS. 
 
 79 
 
 A short-suit player avoids leading from these com- 
 binations, because they contain the major and a vice- 
 tenace. 
 
 THH FOVRTH-BBST.—AU other leads 
 are usually classed under one head; the lead 
 of the original Fourth- best, when there is no 
 high- card combination in the suit. 
 
 For instance : — ■ 
 
 The foregoing constitute the conventional leads in 
 plain suits that are best adapted to our purpose. The 
 system here given is that followed by nine-tenths of 
 the general run of players, as well as by many of the 
 most expert. It is of the greatest importance that 
 anyone about to take up the short-suit game should 
 thoroughly understand this system of leading, and 
 
8o 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 should practice it exclusively. Upon this condition 
 depends his partner's ability to detect any departure 
 from it as a short-suit lead. 
 
 So important is this that I give in groups the vari- 
 ous combinations of high cards, from which certain 
 high cards should be led. The exacft denomination 
 of the small cards is unimportant. 
 
 From 
 
 Lead the 
 KING. 
 
 From 
 
 4* 4* 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 
 + 
 
 I^ead 
 
 the 
 
 ACK. 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 
 
 81 
 
 From 
 
 From 
 
 From 
 
 Lead the QUEEN. 
 
 Eead the 
 JACK. 
 
 Eead the TEN. 
 
 From 
 
 \ 
 
 * 
 
 | 
 
 * 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 "5* 4» 
 
 rJ \ 
 
 **tl 
 
 ♦ ^ A 
 
 
 Eead the NINE. 
 
 From all other combinations lead the FOURTH- 
 BEST. 
 
 The leads from high-card combinations apply to 
 three-card suits as well as to suits of four or more. If 
 a suit of three cards contains no high-card combination, 
 it is usual to lead the highest card, unless it is an ace, 
 king, or queen. If it contains one of these cards, lead 
 lowest of the suit. 
 
 Trump J^eads, — Although short-suit leads are 
 never made in trumps, the system of leading trumps 
 should be thoroughly understood, as it varies some- 
 what from plain-suit leads. 
 
82 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 With a winning sequence, the lowest of it is usually 
 led, as it is needless to inform the opponents whether 
 you or your partner holds the higher cards. The 
 second lead is the next higher of the sequence. 
 
 When you have only the ace and king to lead as 
 winning cards, your lead must be determined by your 
 object. If you want to insure two or three rounds of 
 trumps, begin with the king ; otherwise you may lead 
 your fourth -best, and give your partner a chance to 
 win the first round. It is often an advantage to win 
 the third round 3 T ourself, which you must do if you 
 lead the fourth-best. 
 
 WTK 
 
 <? <? 
 
 
 <? <? 
 
 
 <? 
 
 <? 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 <? 9 
 
 
 9 <? 
 
 
 <? 
 
CONVENTIONAL LEADS. 
 
 83 
 
 The fourth-best should always be led from this 
 combination : — 
 
 9? 9? 
 v 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 9? 
 
 9 9? 
 9? 9? 
 
 It is useless to waste your king forcing out the ace, 
 because you run no risk of losing your high cards, as 
 you would if this were a plain suit. 
 
 An exception is made when you have also the ten ; 
 
 <? 9? 
 <?„9? 
 
 Is? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 k? 9 
 
 
 is? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 To prevent both ace and jack, or even ace and nine 
 winning against you, it is best to lead the king. If it 
 forces the ace, the fall of the cards may direct you 
 whether or not to finesse against the jack. 
 
 Another variation in the trump leads is this combi- 
 nation: — 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 97 
 
 9?^9? 
 9 9? 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 The jack is lead from this sequence, instead of the 
 fourth-best. The object is to coax second hand to 
 cover, and the hope is that partner can kill the covering 
 
84 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 card. If this occurs, the command of the trump suit 
 is left in your hands on the third round. 
 
 From all other combinations, trumps are led the 
 same as plain suits. 
 
 In the chapter on ' ' Suggestions ' ' will be found 
 some opinions of my own on the -subject of leading 
 trump singletons, which would be out of place here. 
 
 We may now turn our attention to the departures 
 from the regular long-suit system of leading, and ex- 
 amine in detail the S3^stem of leading from short-suits. 
 
SHORT- SUIT l^ ADS. 
 
 Technically speaking, a long suit is one of four or 
 more cards ; a short suit is one of three cards or less. 
 From the point of view taken in these pages, a short 
 suit par excellence is one of two cards only. 
 
 We have seen that when a three-card suit contains 
 one of the regular combinations, the orthodox long-suit 
 lead is made. If forced to open a suit from which no 
 conventional lead can be made, it should be treated as 
 a short suit, and led from as such. We will first dis- 
 cuss the various short-suit leads separately, and then 
 give them in tabulated form. 
 
 Ace king alone. — With these two cards it is 
 evident that nothing is to be gained by leading either 
 of them. As both would probably win, you would 
 have to decide upon some other suit for the third 
 round. It is therefore better to begin with another 
 suit, keeping the ace-king suit for purposes of re-entry, 
 in which capacity it may prove of inestimable value if 
 you find yourself later in the hand with two or three 
 cards that at the start were comparatively worthless, 
 but have been established by the fall of other cards. 
 Irrespective of that important consideration, it is always 
 desirable to retain command of the long suits of your 
 opponents as long as possible, and this ace and king 
 
86 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 may prove to command their suit. Hence, do not lead 
 from ace-king alone. 
 
 Ace queen alone. — These cards forming the 
 major tenace, you will, of course, lead neither of them. 
 
 Ace jack alone. — These cards, and ace ten, are 
 best led up to ; so that with such combinations you 
 should selecl: some other suit. If your hand is so con- 
 stituted that 3^ou cannot avoid playing one of these, as 
 when you hold tenace in all three of the other suits, 
 lead the lower card, the jack or ten ; not the ace. 
 
 Ace and one small. — With the ace and any 
 
 other card from the 9 to the 2, always lead the small 
 card if you must lead the suit at all. As already stated, 
 it is best to keep commanding cards. If you lead the 
 ace, your opponents will throw off their smallest cards ; 
 but if you wait for some one else to lead the suit you 
 will probably catch a king or queen, and so derive 
 full benefit from the purchasing power, so to speak, of 
 your ace. This last consideration I have emphasized 
 time and again as the keynote of tenace. 
 
 King queen alone. — With these, lead the king, 
 for with the royal couple you can afford to force 
 out the ace at the sacrifice of his majesty, since you are 
 left in command with the queen as a card of re-entry, 
 and at the same time have thrown the lead. 
 
 King and one small. — With these you should 
 lead some other suit in conformity with the prin- 
 ciple that with the second-best only once guarded it is 
 safer to let some one else lead the suit. To lead the 
 
SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 87 
 
 singly guarded king is simply to bid for his destruction, 
 since you expose him to the onslaught of both oppon- 
 ents, either of whom may have the ace. On the con- 
 trary, if your left-hand adversary opens the suit, you 
 are sure of making the king, and if either of the other 
 players leads the suit the danger to your king is at least 
 reduced one-half. If you cannot avoid leading the 
 suit, perhaps holding tenace in all the others, lead the 
 smaller card, just as with ace and one small. 
 
 In all other cases, lead the higher of two 
 
 cards. For instance : — 
 
 Queen and one other. — No matter what the 
 lower card may be, lead the queen. 
 
 Jack and one other — Lead the jack. 
 
 Ten and one other. — Lead the ten. 
 
 Nine and one other. — Lead the nine. 
 
 Two small cards. — With any two cards lower 
 than the nine, some other suit should be selected for the 
 opening lead, as partner will find it very difficult to 
 read the lead correctly. In desperate cases you may 
 go as low as a seven, or perhaps even a six, provided 
 3^ou adhere strictly to the rule of leading always the 
 higher card. It is for partner's benefit that you should 
 do this, for although there may seem no difference be- 
 tween the lead of a six and a seven, those being the 
 only cards in the suit, the lead of the higher may en- 
 able him to understand the situation ; the lead of the 
 lower card would render it impossible for him to do so. 
 
88 
 
 SHORT-SUIl* whist. 
 
 Rules which will often enable him to detect that these 
 small cards are led from short suits will be given in the 
 next chapter. 
 
 To recapitulate : — 
 
 Holding 
 
 Holding 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 *w 
 
 \ 
 
 
 * 
 
 Wm 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *A* 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 Lead some other 
 suit. 
 
 Usually, lead some 
 other suit. If you 
 cannot, lead the 
 smaller card. 
 
SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 
 
 89 
 
 Holding 
 
 -* 
 
 * 4- \ 
 
 4«*4» 
 
 4- *] 
 
 4* 4» 
 
 4- * 
 
 * * / 
 
 Lead the small card if 
 you must lead the suit. 
 
 Holding 
 
 Risri 
 
 [* 4» 
 
 r^'- f' 
 
 4» . 4» 
 *** 
 
 '.;,'' 4' 
 
 liillsM 
 
 4* 4» 
 
 PJ 
 
 4-~# 
 
 H 
 
 *L_* 
 
 4* ^**.*y 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 
 iff 
 
 4». 4» 
 
 4» * 
 
 4* • 4* 
 
 4»*4» 
 
 *V 
 
 Lead the Higher of 
 the two cards, if 
 you must lead the 
 suit. 
 
90 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Holding 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 4» • 4» 
 
 4. '4« 
 *** 
 
 4. 4, 
 
 *** 
 4, 4, 
 
 
 
 4» . 4» 
 
 4. ' 4> 
 
 *** 
 4.** 
 
 4. 4, 
 
 * 
 4. * 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 *** 
 4, 4, 
 
 4- 
 
 
 
 4. 4* 
 
 * 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 L,ead the Higher of 
 the two cards, if 
 you must lead the 
 suit. 
 
 Singletons. — In considering the lead of single 
 cards the ace must be left out of the question, as it is 
 always best to hold it as a card of re-entry, and also 
 because another suit would have to be led immediately, 
 as the ace would almost invariably win the trick. The 
 chance of catching a king or queen by waiting is an- 
 other consideration. The king, as a general rule, I 
 would not lead, for the best chance of winning with a 
 lone king is when some one else leads the suit. This 
 advice, however, is far from being positive, for it must 
 be borne in mind that even when another player leads 
 the suit you are not sure of a trick with the king ; the 
 odds, in fact, being against it. But your hand may be 
 
SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 9 1 
 
 so constituted that it is better to set the king out of the 
 consideration at once, preferring to lose him and have 
 done with it, rather than break tenaces or lead trumps. 
 A solus, or only once guarded queen, on the other 
 hand, is more likely to win when led than when played 
 in following suit. Hence, having decided that a single- 
 ton is the proper play, you can lead any singleton 
 lower than a king. The whole question hinges 
 upon the advisability of making the lead at all. In de- 
 ciding upon it, some discrimination must be exercised ; 
 but if a singleton is to be led at all, the denomination 
 of it, so that it is lower than a king, does not matter. 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 
 
 Having indicated the various short-suit leads, it re- 
 mains as a final preliminary to the aclual study of the 
 play of the game, to investigate the means by which 
 the partner gathers the extremely important informa- 
 tion that the lead is from a short or weak suit, and not 
 from a long or strong one. In the first place, a thor- 
 ough familiarity with the conventional long-suit leads is 
 indispensable. In order to refresh the memory for this 
 part of the subject they may be briefly repeated here. 
 
 The ace is led from A Q J with or without smaller 
 cards, and from ace and four or more small cards. 
 
 The king is led from A KQJ ; AKQ; AK; and 
 K Q, at the head of any number of smaller cards ; and 
 from KQJ and only one small card. 
 
 The queen is led from Q J 10, with or without 
 small cards. 
 
 The jack is led from KQJ and at least two small 
 cards. 
 
 The ten is led from K J 10, with or without small 
 cards. 
 
 The nine is led only from A Q 10 9, or A J 10 9. 
 
 The original fourth-best is led in all other 
 cases. 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 
 
 93 
 
 It will be observed that the card led always proclaims 
 the presence in the leader's hand of certain other cards. 
 These will be fonnd in the chapter on Conventional 
 I^eads. When the partner sees that any one of these 
 cards, which should be in the leader's hand, is held by 
 another player, he will know that the lead is irregular, 
 and may safely assume that it is from a short suit. If 
 the partner is familiar with the conventional leads he 
 will derive the evidence of a short-suit lead from the fall 
 of the cards, instinctively, and without conscious effort. 
 A few examples of this may be examined with profit. 
 
 The ace, as we have seen, is never included in the 
 short-suit leads, and so does not concern us here. The 
 original lead of an ace should always announce a long 
 suit. 
 
 The king. — This card is the most frequently led 
 from long suits, and the least often from short. Hence, 
 with regard to it we reverse the process of reasoning 
 applied to all other leads, and argue from the short suit 
 to the long. The king is never led from a short suit 
 unless it is accompanied by the queen ; therefore : — 
 
 If partner leads a king, he has led from a long suit 
 if you hold the queen, or if either of the opponents play 
 it. For example : 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 and you hold 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 You know at once that the lead is from a long suit. 
 
94 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 When the king is led from a short suit, the second 
 lead is always the queen ; therefore : — ■ 
 
 If partner leads king, and on its winning follows 
 with any card other than the queen, if you hold the 
 ace, he has led from a long suit. For example : — 
 
 You hold :- 
 
 4- 
 
 4- , 4» 
 * V 4- 
 * * 
 
 4- 4- 
 4» 4» 
 4- 4- 
 
 The cards to the first two tricks fall :- 
 
 
 
 4- 4- 
 4* 4- 
 4» 4» 
 
 4^gr 
 A; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4- 
 
 
 4- 
 4- 
 * 
 
 
 
 4* 4* 
 4- 4» 
 
 Z Y 
 
 4. a 
 4.' 
 
 * 4- 
 4* 
 
 
 
 4* 4» 
 4. 4. 
 
 4«** 
 4. 4. 
 
 4* 4» 
 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 When partner continues with the 5, 3^ou know at 
 once that clubs is his long suit, because he follows the 
 king with the fourth-best, and not with the queen. 
 
 If you have neither ace nor queen, and the oppo- 
 nents win your partner's king, it may be some time be- 
 fore he gets another lead, and in the meantime you 
 cannot tell whether he led from a long or a short suit. 
 That need not deter you from returning the suit if you 
 wish to do so, for you know he has at least the cjueen. 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LKADS. 
 
 95 
 
 and can win the trick. Moreover, the instances are very 
 rare in which a king will be led from a short suit. 
 
 The queen. —The long-suit lead of a queen always 
 proclaims the presence of the jack and ten. (See Con- 
 ventional Leads, the queen.) Therefore : — - 
 
 If partner leads a queen he has led from a short 
 suit if you hold, or either of your opponents play, the 
 jack or the ten of the same suit. For example : — 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 4. * 
 
 You know the minute the queen touches the table that 
 it is a short-suit lead. Again : — 
 
 Partner 
 leads 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 4* • 4* 
 
 4* 4* 
 
 *A* 
 
 4» l 4» 
 
 4» * 
 4* 
 
 4* 4* 
 4* 4» 
 4- 4« 
 
 4. * 
 
 4- 4» 
 
 You know the queen is a short-suit lead. 
 If these two cards fall to the first trick 
 
 4.* 
 4-** 
 
 You know instantly, without looking at your own 
 hand that the queen has been led from a short suit. 
 
9 6 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 T/ie jack. — The long-suit lead of a jack proclaims 
 both king and queen. (See Conventionl I^eads, the 
 j ack . ) Therefore : — 
 
 If partner leads jack he has led from a short suit if 
 you hold, or your opponents play, either the king or 
 queen. For example : — ■ 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 I and you hold 
 
 
 You immediately know this to be a short-suit lead. 
 Again : 
 
 Partner leads I 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 4. 4. 
 
 4» 4. 
 
 * 
 4. 4. 
 
 4* 
 4» 4» 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 
 
 •j» 4* 
 
 In this case the queen, in your hand, proclaims the 
 jack to be a short-suit lead. 
 
 The first two cards fall thus : — 
 
 Without looking at your own hand, you know the 
 jack is a short-suit lead, 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LKADS. 
 
 97 
 
 You are B and hold 
 
 A ' A 
 A*A 
 
 A A 
 A A 
 A * 
 
 A A 
 
 The cards to the first trick fall 
 B 
 
 A A 
 
 * * 
 
 AF 
 
 '■'■"■'■ V" 
 2Ai 
 
 The fall of the king marks the lead as from a short 
 suit. 
 
 The ten. — The long-suit lead of the ten proclaims 
 both king and jack. (See Conventional I^eads, the 
 ten.) Therefore: — ■ 
 
 If partner leads a ten he has led from a short suit if 
 you hold, or your opponents play, either the king or 
 jack of that suit. For example : — 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 A . A 
 
 A * 
 A*A 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 A A 
 
 A 
 A A 
 
 A A 
 
 * 
 A 
 A 
 
 A 
 A 
 
 Holding the king, you know it is a short-suit lead. 
 
9 8 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 4. v 4« 
 
 and you hold 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 4«** 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 Here the jack in your hand marks the lead as from a 
 short suit. 
 
 The first two cards fall thus : — 
 
 
 The fall of the king from Y shows that A has led 
 from a short suit : 
 
 You hold 
 
 4. A 
 
 * 
 4. 4. 
 
 4-4* 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 and the cards fall 
 
 B 
 
 *4.* 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 *** 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 99 
 
 If the ten is a long-suit lead, the only card that can 
 take it is the ace, which would also take your queen. 
 If it is a short-suit lead, your best play is to hold your 
 still doubly guarded queen, playing the seven to un- 
 block, in case the suit is long. When Z wins with the 
 jack you know the ten has been led from a short suit, 
 and that, although both ace and king are against you, 
 your partner will probably trump the third round. 
 
 The Nine. — As the short-suit player is advised never 
 to lead from the double major tenace, or from the vice 
 tenace, ace jack, the lead of a nine may be assumed as 
 invariably from a short suit. 
 
 Small Cards. — When cards below the nine are 
 led it is sometimes very difficult to detect them as from 
 a short suit. Partner may have tenace in all the other 
 suits ; or he may have no strengthening cards to lead. 
 
 For such cases there are rules that may assist you in 
 deciding on the nature of the lead, even though the 
 card led is much below a nine. These rules are 
 founded on the fact that you cannot hold three cards 
 higher than the ten ; or three cards lower than the ace 
 and higher than the nine ; or three higher than the 
 nine and exclusive of the queen and jack, without hav- 
 ing a combination from which a conventional high- 
 card lead should be made. 
 
 Short-suit players are indebted to Dr. Bond Stowe 
 for these rules, which were first published in " Foster's 
 Whist Manual." The third rule, which is the least 
 important, I have ventured to change a little in the 
 wording, although the principle remains the same. 
 
TOO 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 J. — If you can locate all the cards from 
 the one led to the TUN inclusive, it is a short- 
 suit lead. Example: — 
 
 Partner 
 leads 
 
 Again 
 
 
 and you 
 
 hold 
 
 You are B and 
 hold 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 *** 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 The cards to the first trick fall: — 
 
 
 In each of these instances you are able to locate the 
 cards from the one led to the ten inclusive, and know 
 that they are both short-suit leads. 
 
 2. — If you can locate all the cards from 
 the one led to the NINB inclusive, and can 
 also account for the ACM, it is a short-suit lead. 
 
DETECTING SHORT-SUIT LEADS. 
 
 IOI 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 4, 4. 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 * 
 
 
 4. l 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 having in your own hand all the cards from 
 to the nine, inclusive, and also the ace, 
 that the seven must have been led from a 
 Again : — 
 
 the one led 
 you know 
 short suit. 
 
 You are B and hold 
 
 4. 4* 
 
 4. * 
 
 *4-* 
 
 4* 4* 
 
 4.^4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4, 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 and the cards to the first trick fall : — 
 
 
 
 4*7^ 
 
 
 
 4» 
 * * 
 
 
 W*MA 
 
 
 * 
 
 4, 4. 
 
 
 4. 4» 
 
 
 
 
 4* 
 
 
 
 
 ♦ * 
 
 
 
 You can detect the five as a short-suit lead. 
 
 3. — If yoa can locate all the cards from 
 the one led to the NINE inclusive, and can 
 also account for both queen and jack, it is a 
 
 short-suit lead. Example : — 
 
 Partner leads 
 
 4» 
 4. 4. 
 
 and you 
 hold 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 
[02 
 
 SHORT SUIT WHIST 
 
 Here you have in your own hand all the cards from the 
 
 one led t*> thf nine, and also tlu- (|uecu and jack, s«> tli.it 
 
 the s must have been led from a short suit. Again : — 
 
 MM 
 
 You are B and hold | "Ki\ || 
 
 fill 
 
 V 
 
 J,* A 
 
 -i- -:- 
 
 •I- * 
 A A 
 
 A A 
 
 A A 
 
 The cards to the first trick Fall:— 
 
 A A 
 
 *A* 
 
 A ' -T« 
 
 A r> u 
 
 A A 
 
 A A 
 A 
 
 Si / 
 
 it 
 
 All the cards from the seven to the nine, as well as 
 
 the queen and jack are accounted for ; so you know the 
 
 Seven is a short-suit had. 
 
 I introduce these rules for detecting the short suit 
 
 lead of small cards as a matter of couisc, since they be 
 
 long to the subject under discussion; but the player 
 must, be wide awake to employ them to advantage. 
 The difficulty increases as the face value of the card led 
 decreases, For instance: Yon will frequently be 
 
 able to recognize the 8 as short, while, except under 
 
DETECTING SHORT SUIT i,KAi>S. i<>^ 
 
 the most unusual circumstances, it will be impossible 
 to read correctly the Lead of a .| or 3 from a short suit. 
 i.c.uii the rules nevertheless, and always be prepared 
 to use them. The positive knowledge that partner's 
 Original lead of a six or n seven is from a short suit 
 may, on occasion, prove the salvation of your com- 
 bined hands, and result in ;i great game ; 1 1 1 < I ovei 
 whelming triumph, 
 
THE SHORT- SUIT GAME. 
 
 The long-suit whist player endeavors to bring about 
 the most effective of trick-taking situations by getting 
 out of his way all cards superior to those that he holds 
 in his longest suit, exhausting trumps, and then se- 
 curing the lead. He usually sacrifices everything to 
 this laudable end, without discrimination. With it in 
 view he commits himself to the lead of his strongest 
 suit, regardless of its tenace possibilities ; to the lead of 
 his longest suit, though it may be utterly lacking in 
 strength ; and to the blind leading of trumps, when 
 holding a given number, in the vague hope of finding 
 his partner with a long-suit which may eventually be 
 established and brought in. When he succeeds the 
 reward is ample ; but in the majority of cases I think 
 it will be found that he does not succeed, and failure 
 means more than the mere want of success ; it means 
 disaster. There are fifty-two cards in the pack, dis- 
 tributed among the players, and when one of these 
 players has removed the trumps and made the road 
 smooth and straight for the conquering march of estab- 
 lished plain suit cards, he may discover that his own 
 are not so established, and that he has simply placed 
 his opponents in the position that he hoped to occupy 
 himself. 
 
THE SHORT-SUIT GAME. IO5 
 
 The short-suit player, however, declines to be tied 
 down to one line of play. He fully realizes the value 
 of establishing a long suit, but does not vainly strive 
 for its accomplishment when there is little likelihood of 
 success. He preserves and profits by his tenaces, both 
 in plain suits and in trumps ; which, while recognizing 
 the special features of the trumps, enables him to util- 
 ize their trick-taking possibilities to the utmost, instead 
 of regarding them merely as ambushed highwaymen, 
 or devoting them to a sort of Kilkenny cat mutual ex- 
 termination!. Not that the short- suit player is opposed 
 to leading trumps when the occasion calls for it; for the 
 natural tendency of his game is to establish medium 
 cards that at the outset were comparatively valueless ; 
 and when such establishment has taken place, he is 
 quick enough to lead trumps, though from only one or 
 two. 
 
 The fundamental principle and ruling motive of the 
 short-suit game can be given in one sentence. I do 
 not find this principle embodied in any of the works on 
 whist that I have read, although it is the essence of all 
 whist. 
 
 Mvery card, individually, is more valu- 
 able when led up to than when led. 
 
 Ninety-nine times out of a hundred you get more for 
 your money by keeping this principle in view. When 
 you lead an ace, you gather in a crop of deuces and 
 treys ; when you play it fourth hand, you capture a 
 king or a queen. Of course there are occasions when 
 you have a group or sequence of high cards, and their 
 
io6 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 value lies in their being led ; but in such cases each 
 card partakes of the importance of the whole combina- 
 tion, which gives it an advantage not possessed by it 
 individually. With isolated high cards the above 
 maxim is strictly true, and if the reader will resolve 
 always to. bear it in mind, he will at once strengthen 
 his game at least ten per cent. 
 
 The long-suit player recognizes this principle as far 
 as tenace is concerned, perhaps ; but there he lets the 
 matter drop. The short-suit player applies it to all 
 phases of the game c 
 
 Let us take a simple illustration : — 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 Strictly speaking, this is a long suit, and contains a 
 conventional high-card lead. But the short-suit player 
 argues after this fashion : If I lead the king and force 
 the ace, I can afterwards lead the queen with the cer- 
 tainty of a trick, bar trumping. But that will be the 
 only trick I can count on, for the opponents may 
 hold jack and ten, in which case my nine and deuce 
 will be worthless. On the other hand, if I wait, and 
 the player on my left leads the suit, I am sure of two 
 tricks, bar trumping ; and if I continue to wait, and 
 others lead the suit, I may make my nine good by 
 catching the jack and ten ; making three tricks in the 
 suit, instead of one. 
 
THH SHORT-SUIT GAME. 
 
 107 
 
 The same reasoning may be applied to another high- 
 card long-suit lead. 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 If the ten is led, it may fall a victim to the queen, 
 lendering the lead of the jack or king necessary to force* 
 out the ace on the next round, leaving the leader but 
 one probable trick in the suit. If some other player 
 leads the suit, and the ace appears, the four can be 
 pla} r ed to the trick. The king may afterwards catch 
 the queen, leaving the jack and ten established. 
 
 It has lately become the practice among long-suit 
 players to lead the fourth-best from this combination, 
 on the chance that partner has an honor, and can win 
 the first trick, or establish the suit. 
 
 While it will be only once in three times that the 
 lead will come from your left-hand opponent, your 
 chances are still improved by not leading the suit at 
 all ; for whether your partner or your right-hand ad- 
 versary leads it, only one adversary plays after you, 
 and that makes your chances twice as good as when 
 both follow you. 
 
 These dilatory tactics must not be carried so far that 
 you may lose the opportunity to make one trick by 
 waiting to make three. Everything depends on the 
 hand, and the player must use his discretion. In the 
 beginning of the hand we may assume that the short- 
 
108 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 suit player's policy, with only moderate strength, is to 
 wait, which he does by leading from his weakest suit. 
 This will either win a trick with a medium card, or 
 will throw the lead. The cards that should be led 
 from such weak suits have already been indicated. 
 Our next step will be the consideration of the condi- 
 tions under which it is best to make these short-suit 
 leads, and I know of no better way than the discussion 
 of illustrated hands. 
 
THE LEADER. 
 
 Let us take a number of hands, casually selected 
 from a thousand or more recorded for the purpose, and 
 analyse them from the original leader's point of view. 
 Hearts are trumps in every instance. 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 s? 
 
 V 
 
 ~<? 
 
 r ? 
 
 <? 
 
 V 
 
 9 
 
 n 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *'* 
 
 
 * * 
 
 This is apparently so simple as hardly to require 
 notice. You hold major tenace in two suits, and 
 double tenace in the third, and cannot fail to be. more 
 benefited if they are led up to you than if you lead 
 away from them. The long-suit lead would be the 
 club 7; but you should not hesitate to lead the dia- 
 
no 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 mond J. As a general rule, this would not be re- 
 garded as a good short- suit lead, because there are 
 three cards in the suit, and therefore no hope for a ruff. 
 But with a hand like this you can only hope to have 
 your tenaces led up to by throwing the lead in the 
 short suit. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 
 
 <5> 9 
 
 I [*^~* |f~* |*~* 
 JHS1 ±z* k il » » 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Here you have two technically long suits, neither of 
 them intrinsically or numerically strong. One of them 
 contains the minor tenace, which we know is best led 
 up to. The long-suit lead would be the spade 6 or the 
 club 2 ; but I think there can be no question that the 
 diamond Q is better than either. 
 
the leader. 
 
 in 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 <v> 
 
 
 9? V 
 
 9 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 4. * 
 
 * 
 
 
 With this hand I would adopt the long-suit game, 
 leading the spade J to force the ace, and to show part- 
 ner the suit. On getting into the lead again, or if 
 the jack wins, the trump should be led. 
 
 No. 26. 
 
 
 *** 
 
 V 
 
 * * 
 
 a 4 
 
 ♦ * 
 
 * 
 
 ♦ 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
112 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Here the diamond suit is not very strong, but by 
 leading it you avoid any waste of medium cards in the 
 uncertain effort to increase the value of low ones, and 
 you give partner a chance to signal, if he wishes to do 
 so. If the ace and king both win, you can lead the 
 short suit if nothing better offers, thus utilizing both 
 systems. 
 
 No. 27. 
 
 In the chapter on " Finesse," reference was made to 
 the A K J finesse. This hand offers an opportunity to 
 try it, making both the long and short-suit leads at 
 the same time. ' Lead the spade king, and follow it 
 with the diamond ten. The change of suit will show 
 partner that you have a finesse in spaides, and he will 
 lead the queen if he has it, or will lead trumps to 
 defend the established suit. If he returns a small 
 spade, the finesse is left to your judgment. The long- 
 
THK LKADKR. 113 
 
 suit plaj^er would begin with the small club, keeping 
 the spade suit for re-entry ; but the short-suiter would 
 prefer the line of play indicated, because the club suit 
 contains a vice tenace, which is better led up to. 
 
 The standard works on whist advise beginners 
 always to lead trumps from five or more ; but I can- 
 not subscribe to this, for I am convinced that such a 
 course brings about more loss than gain. I cannot see 
 why even a beginner should not give himself more 
 latitude, and say : " When I hold six or more trumps, 
 I will always lead them; but with five or less I will try 
 to exercise a little discretion, as I do with every card I 
 play." I quite appreciate the force of the argument 
 that partner must be considered, and that the fact that 
 you are weak in plain suits renders it likely that he is 
 strong ; but still I maintain that it is best to wait for 
 some indication from him that he is strong, instead of 
 taking it on trust. As the old darkey said of the 
 white folks, whist" is mighty unsartin," and it seems 
 to me that some discrimination might be allowed in 
 leading trumps from five. With six trumps, I think a 
 player is strong enough to lead them, regardless of 
 partner's holding in the plain suits. 
 
 The short-suit player fully recognizes the special 
 value of trumps, both for ruffing and for defending 
 long suits ; but in addition he tries to play them with 
 a view to taking as many tricks as possible in the 
 trump suit itself, instead of using the trumps merely as 
 so many corkscrews to draw their fellows, no matter 
 how, so that they are all taken out. 
 
ii 4 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 The A K J finesse in the trump suit is a case in 
 point, which is illustrated in the following diagram : — 
 
 No. 28. 
 
 9 9? 
 
 
 
 
 0^0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. * 4. 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 4, 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4, 4, 
 
 With this hand, to lead trumps for the sole purpose 
 of exhausting them could only result in loss as far as 
 the leader is concerned. It is true that partner may 
 be strong in the plain suits ; but you don't know that 
 he is ; and until assured of the fadl it might be better 
 to lead the short spade suit, even with no other object 
 than the probable ruff on the third round. But the 
 opportunity to gain an extra trick in the trump suit 
 itself is too promising to be ignored, and if you follow 
 the lead of the heart king by that of the spade 9, your 
 
*fHK LKADKR. 
 
 115 
 
 partner will know that ) t ou have a finesse in the trump 
 suit. The long-suit player would probably blaze away 
 with the aee and king of trumps, and after losing a 
 trick to the queen find that he has exhausted trumps 
 for the benefit of a powerful spade suit in the hands of 
 the adversaries. 
 
 No. 29. 
 
 0° 
 
 
 0% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 4. 4. 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 *_ 
 
 Here your long suit contains a quadruple tenace, but 
 you have no other strength in the hand, and are 
 offered a good short-suit lead with the spade jack. 
 Nevertheless, the diamond suit is so long that there is 
 
n6 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 little chance of your deriving any benefit from its 
 tenaces, as the suit may not go round more than once. 
 The best play is to lead the diamond ace, and if it is 
 not trumped, to follow it with the fourth-best. 
 
 No. 30. 
 
 9 V 
 
 
 
 
 4 * 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 ♦ 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 0°0 
 
 °0° 
 
 
 
 
 This is another simple hand. Neither of the four- 
 card suits can be called strong, although one contains a 
 minor and the other a vice tenace ; both of which are 
 combinations which are best led up to. The club 9 is 
 the best lead. If either adversary should hold K, Q, 
 and others in diamonds, and lead the suit, you will 
 
THE LEADER. 
 
 117 
 
 have an opportunity to play the Bath Coup, which will 
 be discussed later on. 
 
 No. 3: 
 
 
 
 I have said that the short-suit player should have 
 some additional reason for leading trumps from five 
 than the mere fact of holding them. He should lead 
 them boldly when the occasion calls for it, even if he 
 has only two or three. With such a strong hand as 
 the above it is best to exhaust the trumps as rapidly as 
 possible. Some players would lead the small trump, 
 
n8 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 so as to win the third round ; while others would he- 
 gin with the queen, hoping clubs or spades would be 
 led up to them. 
 
 Now, let us be independent enough to make the ac- 
 quaintance of the ostracised singleton lead. 
 
 No. 32. 
 
 9? 
 5> <J 
 
 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 *** 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 Here we have three long suits, and a singleton. 
 The average long- suiter would probably lead the 
 trump, as that is the strongest suit. Such a lead 
 would give partner no warning that it was your only 
 available lead, and he would naturally do all in his 
 power to exhaust the trumps immediately. 
 
the leader. 
 
 119 
 
 The chief objection to the singleton lead is that it is 
 liable to establish a great suit with the adversaries, 
 who will exhaust the trumps. With this hand you 
 are strong enough to run that risk, if risk it be. If the 
 adversaries' spades are so strong that one round will 
 establish them, they will probably play spades in any 
 case, and your original lead of trumps would only be 
 helping their game. I would recommend the singleton 
 lead from this hand. 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 9? <? 
 
 9? v 9? 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? 
 9? 
 
 9? 9? 
 
 9? V 
 9? 9? 
 
 7 
 
 9? 
 
 
 * * 
 
 
 4* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 4- 
 
 4» v * 
 
 *** 
 
 * 4- 
 4. 4. 
 
 4. 4* 
 4. 4. 
 4. 4. 
 
 4- 
 
 This it what is known asa" Yarborough," the odds 
 against which are 1827 to 1, so that it is hardly worth 
 
120 
 
 SHORT-SUlT WHIST. 
 
 while to discuss it. I give it as an example of such 
 weakness that you are warranted in taking any risks, 
 and I would advise the lead of the diamond 5. The 
 trumps are too weak to prevent the adversaries ex- 
 hausting them j but I still think the singleton the best 
 lead. 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 9 S? 
 
 V 9 
 
 
 » *1 
 
 V 
 
 * •* 
 
 
 
 
 
 o v o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 *** 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 In such a hand as this, when the trumps are both 
 numerically and intrinsically weak, I think the single- 
 ton is unsafe. The spade suit is the best defensive lead, 
 on account of its length, and there is a bare chance 
 
TH£ I^AD^R. 
 
 121 
 
 that your partner may put you in after the trumps are 
 gone. 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 
 9 9 
 9 9 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 
 
 0<>0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Quite a different reason prompts the singleton lead 
 from this hand. In the foregoing examples you were 
 so weak that the play for the ruff seemed your only 
 chance. Here your strength lies in the suits that you 
 want led up to, and the best chance to throw the lead 
 is to play the singleton. 
 
 I have already stated that short-suit leads do not 
 apply to trumps, because one of the principle reasons 
 for leading two-card suits, the hope of a ruff, cannot 
 
122 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 exist. But a short trump suit may be used for the 
 same purpose as the singleton in the last example, to 
 throw the lead when all the plain suits are better led 
 up to. 
 
 For example: — 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 9 <? 
 
 
 *** 
 
 
 <> 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 
 1*1* 
 
 4. 4, 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 With this hand it is better to lead a trump than to 
 break into the tenace suits. Under similar circum- 
 stances a trump singleton should be led, regardless of 
 its value, although the books say the ace is the only 
 permissible singleton lead in trumps. There are other 
 occasions in which a singleton trump is the best lead, 
 
THE LEADER. 
 
 123 
 
 but their discussion will be reserved for our chapter on 
 " Suggestions." 
 
 Some players urge that three tenace suits cannot all 
 be made, which is quite true ; but it is better not to 
 guess at the one to break, if it can be avoided. 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 [90 
 
 9 <? 
 
 
 _ ft *l ft 4>1 ft ft 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Here the spade suit is not strong, and the club suit 
 would be better led up to, but the diamonds are too 
 small for partner to understand such a lead. It is 
 practically a long-suit hand, and I would lead the ace 
 of spades, following with the fourth-best. 
 
124 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 No. 38. 
 
 9? <? 
 
 
 9 9? 
 
 ^<> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 „ 
 
 
 [o_<>] 
 
 
 4. . A 
 
 n* 
 
 4. 4 4. 
 
 
 *** 
 
 4- 
 
 In this band the short suit would be difficult for 
 partner to understand as such, but both the other plain 
 suits should be led up to, and you have trumps enough 
 to risk the spade lead. 
 
 No. 39. 
 
 9 o^ 
 
 s? s? 
 
 9 
 
 
 <? 9 
 
 
 
 gj_S? 
 
 9 9? 
 
 <? 
 
 
 FUCI 
 
 1* * 
 
 r*~^i 
 
 
 'W ; ;, 
 
 *** 
 
 
 
 mM 
 
 ♦__♦! 
 
 * * 
 
 
 <> 
 
 0% 
 
 o\ 
 
 0"0 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 
 o| 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wk 
 
 *iBtt 
 
 4. ' + 
 
 
 ffl 
 
 Ira 
 
 *** 
 
 
the deader. 125 
 
 In this hand the longest suit is hopeless, and the 
 doubly guaided queen stands a better chance if some 
 other player leads the suit. The hand offers a good 
 high-card lead with the club 10. If there was another 
 card in the suit it would be better led up to, but with 
 three only you have no small card to throw off on the 
 ace, and as you must lose the ten, you might as well 
 lead it. 
 
 But we cannot go on indefinitely giving examples. 
 It is equally impossible to settle upon a positive stand- 
 ard by which every hand may be judged. In the 
 prescription for the short-suit game; " Brains, quan- 
 tum suf." must replace the usual, " Rule of thumb, ad 
 lib." which is the principal ingredient in long-suit 
 whist. The following may be called recommenda- 
 tions, instead of rules, for the guidance of the short- 
 suit player. 
 
 First. — If you have a good short-suit lead, such 
 as a two-card suit headed by a Q, J, 10, or 9, you 
 should lead it unless your strongest suit is one of four 
 cards exactly, and contains both ace and king ; or 
 king, queen, jack ; or queen, jack, ten, nine ; and 
 is accompanied by a card of re-entry in another 
 suit. This card of re-entry is imperative in every in- 
 stance. 
 
 Second.— Lead your short suit if you have one, 
 unless your strong suit is one of five cards exactly, and 
 contains at least the ace, or some combination of two 
 
126 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 honors, counting the ten as one; in either case with a 
 card of re-entry in another suit. 
 
 Third. — Never lead from a suit of four cards or less 
 if it contains the major or the minor tenace. 
 
 Fourth. — Never lead from a suit of five cards if it 
 contains the double major tenace. If it contains the 
 single major tenace do not lead it if you have any good 
 short-suit lead. 
 
 Fifth.- — From any suit of six or more cards, make 
 the long-suit lead. 
 
 Sixth. — Do not lead from five trumps just because 
 you have so many; but lead from any number, even a 
 singleton, if j^ou have a reason for it; such as tenaces 
 or good cards in all the plain suits. 
 
 With the exception of the last, I do not pretend to 
 present these as imperative. They simply represent 
 an effort to aid the beginner in deciding between the 
 two schemes of play that are dependent on the original 
 lead. They are by no means radical, as they lean 
 rather to the long-suit game than to the short. Many 
 bold short-suit players would demand in almost every 
 instance greater strength than I have given as the 
 minimum before they would undertake to establish a 
 long suit. 
 
 Now let us see if the foregoing principles are of any 
 assistance in determining the proper lead from a few 
 hands dealt at random. 
 
No. 40. 
 
 THE LEADER. 
 
 127 
 
 * * 
 
 ♦ 
 4 * 
 
 
 
 
 *** 
 
 
 0^0 
 
 *** 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The long suit does not come up to the standard, the 
 ace, or two honors ; so you selecl: the short suit, and 
 lead the club queen. (See Rule 2.) 
 
 No. 41. 
 
 *** 
 
 * 
 
 <? S? 
 
 7 S? 
 
 <? 9? 
 
 
 9? <? 
 
 <? <5> 
 
 fib 
 
 (PHI* 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,~4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 4, 4. 
 
 4. 4. 
 *_4 
 
128 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 According to Rule 3, the diamonds are out of the 
 question, as they contain the major tenace. The spade 
 9 is a good short-suit lead. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 9? <P 
 
 
 
 V 
 * * 
 
 0~ 
 
 
 
 
 Here the club suit fulfils the conditions of Rule 1 , 
 and the re-entry card is in the spade suit. An addi- 
 tional reason for leading the king and ace of clubs, is 
 that there is not a good short-suit lead in the hand, 
 
THE LEADER. 
 
 129 
 
 No. 43. 
 
 0^° 
 0<>0 
 
 o<>o 
 o o 
 
 * 
 
 
 Neither of the four-card suits comes up to the pro- 
 visions of Rule 1 ; but the hand offers a good short-suit 
 lead in the diamond jack. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 
 
 A 
 0^0 
 
 o o 
 o o 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 
 4. 4. 
 •5* 
 
 4* * 
 
 
 
 0^0 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 0*0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ISO 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 This hand comes under rule 5. There are six cards 
 in the long suit, with a card of re-entry in spades, and 
 no good short-suit lead. The fourth-best diamond is 
 the best opening lead. 
 
 No. 45. m 
 
 
 
 
 4. 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 
 4- * 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 The long suit, four cards, does not fulfil the condi- 
 tions of Rule 1 , and there is no card of re-entry ; while 
 the spade j ack offers a good short-suit lead. 
 
TH£ LKADKR. 
 
 I3 1 
 
 No. 46. 
 
 The club suit fulfils the conditions of Rule 1, and 
 there are cards of re-entry in both the other plain suits. 
 Lead the club king. 
 
 No. 47. 
 
 s? 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 V 
 
 *--* 
 
 A A 
 
 
 
 4. * 
 
 * * 
 
 A * 
 
 *** 
 A** 
 
 A A 
 
 
 * * 
 
 A A 
 
 + * 
 
132 short-suit whist. 
 
 This hand is an instance of choosing the lesser of 
 two evils. The spades do not come up to the require- 
 ments of Rule 2 , as they do not contain either the ace 
 or two honors; but there is a good card of re-entry, 
 and there is not a good short-suit lead. These consid- 
 erations point to the lead of the fourth-best spade as 
 the best play. 
 
 I am well aware that these recommendations or rules 
 are far from per feci:, for it is impossible in a few words 
 to lay down definite directions that will cover every 
 hand. The foregoing are simply an effort to formulate 
 some sort of standard which will enable a player to de- 
 cide between the long and the short-suit systems in the 
 opening leads, which is something that no other writer, 
 to my knowledge, has ever attempted. 
 
 At the first glance these rules may appear somewhat 
 inconsistent in requiring so much more from suits of 
 four cards than from those of five. In reality such is 
 not the case, for the addition of the fifth card, however 
 small, makes the suit much more valuable. With a 
 four-card suit, the most favorable condition is to have 
 the suit go round three times ; but this leaves only 
 one established card in the leader's hand. With a 
 five-card suit, there is a good chance to establish two 
 cards, which is no small matter in a close game. 
 Therefore it naturally requires less intrinsic strength 
 to place a five-card suit on a par with a four-card suit. 
 
 So far we have discussed the question of the lead 
 only from the leader's point of view. But we must 
 not lose sight of the facl: that when you are not the 
 
THE LEADER. 
 
 133 
 
 original leader the fall of the cards before your first 
 lead may change the aspect of affairs to such an extent 
 that a hand which would have called for a long-suit 
 lead originally may no longer do so when you get into 
 the lead, later in the hand. Two illustrations will suf- 
 fice for this point. 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 * * 
 
 4 * 
 
 4 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You are Y, and hold these cards. If it were your 
 original lead you would play the long suit, because you 
 have a five-card suit with three honors in it, and a 
 card of re-entry in diamonds. But A leads spade 8. 
 If this is his fourth-best your ten will win the trick, 
 see Foster's Eleven Rule. Your spade suit is not 
 so good as it was, for tenace is held over you on your 
 
134 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 right, and 3^011 cannot lead the suit. Trumps are out 
 of the question, and the singly guarded king must be 
 led up to. The best lead is the smallest diamond. 
 
 No. 49. 
 
 
 *1 
 
 5? 
 
 I4j§f 
 
 j*** 
 
 
 * 
 
 A 
 
 
 K* 
 
 
 ♦ 
 
 * 
 
 
 o 
 o o 
 
 0" 
 
 "0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. * 
 
 * 
 
 In this example you are Z. If you were the original 
 leader you should begin with the long suit, which 
 comes within our first qualification, and is accompanied 
 by the card of re-entry in spades ; besides which there 
 is no good short-suit lead. But A leads diamond 5; 
 Y, plays 2 ; B, the Q, and you win with the K. Y 
 cannot be signalling. If that were probable you might 
 return the ace to allow him to complete a call ; but in 
 this case it is better to retain the command of the ad- 
 verse suit as long as possible. The spade 8 is your 
 best lead, unless you have a very good partner, who 
 
THK LKADER. 135 
 
 can be trusted not to read such a card as the club 7 as 
 led from strength. 
 
 In continuing short-suit leads, it is always desirable 
 to follow up a strengthening card w T ith another card of 
 the same suit. If you lead a queen, and it w T ins, go on 
 with the suit: so also if you lead a jack. But if you 
 lead a ten or a nine, and it wins, you should consider 
 the propriety of leading trumps, as your partner must 
 be very strong in the suit you originally lead. Four 
 trumps with an honor, or three with two honors should 
 be led under such circumstances. 
 
 When you originally lead a short-suit you will fre- 
 quently lose the trick; but the oponent will often have 
 to play a disproportionately high card to win it, which 
 will promote any intermediate cards in your partner's 
 hand. 
 
 When 3 T our partner gets in, he will estimate his hand 
 on the same principles that guide you ; and if he leads 
 you a short suit, you must finesse it judiciously, trust- 
 ing that fourth hand will have to play some card that 
 will promote those remaining in your hand. 
 
 This brings up the question of what constitutes 
 judicious finessing by the third hand. To ascertain 
 this we must first consider the play of the third hand 
 on each lead that his partner might make, and then 
 present the whole in tabulated form. 
 
THE THIRD HAND. 
 
 Ace I/ed. — You can only play your smallest ; un- 
 less you have four exactly ; when you play third-best 
 and keep the lowest. 
 
 King I/ed. — Play the next to the smallest when 
 you have four exactly ; the smallest with any other 
 number. There are two exceptions with high cards: 
 When you hold A J only, the play is the ace, for part- 
 ner must have the queen, and the ace would block his 
 suit, the jack will not. He can win the jack with the 
 queen if he has the ten, otherwise he may pass it. The 
 other exception is when you have only ace and one 
 small; or ace and a number of others, and a very strong 
 trump hand. It is best to win the king and exhaust 
 the trumps, if you can trust your partner for a long 
 suit. 
 
 Queen I/ed. — We have already seen that if you 
 hold A Q yourself, your play is to finesse the queen. 
 If the queen is led, and you hold ace third hand, your 
 play is to finesse the queen if second hand does not 
 cover it. Holding A K and others your play is a 
 small card unless you have only one. If this small 
 card, or the one played second hand, is such that you 
 know the queen is a short-suit lead; you should pass ; 
 but otherwise you should play the king and return the 
 
THE THIRD HAND. 1 37 
 
 ace, so as not to block a long suit headed by J 10. 
 Some judgment must be exercised in cases in which 
 you are strong enough to win the trick and lead trumps. 
 
 Holding king and others, nothing can be gained by 
 playing king on queen, unless the lead is from a long 
 suit and you have only one small card with the king. 
 If second hand held the ace, he would play it on the 
 queen, and as it must be in fourth hand, there is only 
 one situation in which you can lose by giving up the 
 king if you have only one small card with it, and that 
 is when the queen is a short-suit lead. The mere fact 
 of 3^our holding only two cards in the suit renders it 
 unlikely that partner held but two also. 
 
 With the exceptions mentioned, it may be stated as 
 a general rule that you should always pass a partner's 
 queen, unless second hand covers, and you have ace. 
 
 Jack Led. — The long-suit lead of the jack is from 
 K Q J and at least two others. (See Conventional 
 Leads, the Jack.) If you have the ace and two or 
 more small cards }^ou should pass the jack. If it is from 
 a long suit it will win. If not, it will force an honor, 
 and still leave you in command of the suit. Holding 
 ace and only one small, you should play the ace, so as 
 not to block a possible long suit. Holding A K, or 
 A Q, you should pass the jack, as you know it is a 
 short-suit lead, and the finesse is against one card only. 
 
 Holding king and one or more small, you know the 
 jack is from a short suit, and pass it. Although the 
 finesse is against two cards it is your best chance, for 
 the ace may be in fourth hand and the queen on your 
 
138 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 right. If both are on your left you will lose, no mat- 
 ter what you play. If queen is on your left and ace on 
 your right, your king should be good for the third 
 round. If second hand covers you must cover him 
 with your K. 
 
 Ten I^ed, — The long-suit lead of the ten is from 
 K J 10 and others. (See Conventional Iyeads, the 
 Ten.) If you hold ace and others, the conventional 
 play is the ace, leaving the finesse to the original leader 
 on the return. Holding A K and one small the ten 
 must be a short-suit lead, and you must play the king 
 to save a trick that would otherwise certainly be lost. 
 With A Q and others the lead may be taken for a long 
 suit, and passed ; but with A Q alone the ace must be 
 played, so as not to block the suit. With A Q and 
 only one other, the ace must be played on the second 
 round for the same reason. If the ten turns out to be 
 a short-suit lead, nothing is lost by passing it, as you 
 remain in command with the two best cards if the king 
 falls ; if the jack wins it, you have tenace over the 
 king. With A J you should pass the ten, although 
 you know it is a short-suit lead, for you will be left 
 with the major tenace. 
 
 With king and others, or K O and others, you should 
 finesse the ten. As a general rule, you should never 
 cover a high card led by your partner with a card only 
 one remove above it ; such as ace on queen, king on 
 jack, or queen on ten. With such a combination as K 
 J x, the king is only one remove above the ten, and 
 you should pass. 
 
TlllC THIRD II AN I). 
 
 139 
 
 I Ioldim; <pieen and ;mv number of Stna.11 <\'inls, yon 
 assume the ten t<> be led from a long suit, :m<i pass it, 
 as your queen cannol block your partner's suit while he 
 holds the king, [f second hand covers with the jack, 
 
 yOU must play the <|in<u. 
 
 Nine I,c<l. As ! have advised never Leading from 
 combinations in which the nine would be fourth best, 
 
 it may be assumed that the nine is always from a slioil 
 
 suit. It is too small a caid to prove strengthening, 01 
 to win the trick ; so with A J, or ace and others, the 
 
 ace should be put 011. With A K or A k Q the nine 
 Should he covered. With A k J or A Q J , the nine 
 
 should l>e treated as a small card, and the jack finessed 
 Similarly with A o. With A J 10 you can afford to 
 pass the nine. With king and only one othci card, 
 you should play the king. With k Q play the queen, 
 
 which will either win the trick or force the ace. Willi 
 k J and others, finesse the jack av.aiust A Q being both 
 
 on your left. For the same reason, pass with k J i<>. 
 
 Holding queen and others, pass the nine; but with 
 
 queen and only one other, il must be covered. With 
 
 O J and others you should pass. 
 
 With jack and ot hers the nine six >u Id be passed ; with 
 jack and only one ot hei it 111 11:. I becoveied. 
 
 Sm.'ifl Curds l,al. Ef anything smaller than a 
 
 nine i:. led, you should play to win the trick, being 
 
 guided by the principles <>l finesse whenever opportu 
 
 nity oilers. 
 
 II the finesse is againstone card only, it should gen 
 
140 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 erally be made. Holding A Q + play the queen; with 
 AKJ + orAOJ + play the jack. 
 
 If the finesse is against two intermediate honors, it 
 should be made, for partner may be credited with one 
 honor in the suit from which he leads, if it is a long 
 suit. If you hold A J +, and cannot detect partner's 
 lead of a small card as from a short suit, you should 
 finesse the jack. If your partner has an honor in the 
 suit the finesse is against one card only; if he has 
 not, you are left with tenace in the suit. 
 
 Finessing by the eleven rule is another instance of 
 a finesse against one card only. The following cases 
 may serve as examples. 
 
 Eight led. Holding queen and any other card higher 
 than the eight, pass it. 
 
 Seven led. Holding queen and two others higher, 
 pass it. 
 
 Six led. Holding queen and three others higher, 
 pass it. 
 
 This finesse is based on the principle that partner 
 cannot have both ace and king, and that one of those 
 cards must be the only one against him, so your queen 
 will not be of any use if either ace or king is behind 
 you in fourth hand. 
 
 In these directions for the play of the third hand, I 
 have taken it for granted that the reader understands 
 ' ( passing ' ' to mean playing a smaller card than the 
 one led. When you hold four of the suit exactly, and 
 do not attempt to win the trick, you should play your 
 third-best, and on the next round your second-best, 
 
Tine third hand. 141 
 
 keeping 1 your smallest card until the last, so as not to 
 risk blocking a long suit. 
 
 The subjoined table will assist in impressing the 
 foregoing chapter on the mind, and may be found use- 
 ful as a table of reference when any doubt arises as to 
 the proper play for the third hand. 
 
 Combinations of all cards higher than the one led 
 are omitted ; so are those in which you can well afford 
 to win partner's card. Such situations require no 
 direction, no question of finesse being involved. 
 
 The x represents any card smaller than a 9; and the 
 plus sign, +, one or more such cards. 
 
142 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 TABLB OF THIRD-HAND PLAY 
 
 or Partner's Original Lead. 
 
 When Partner 
 Leads 
 
 If You Hold 
 
 You Should 
 Play 
 
 Queen 
 
 A, K, + 
 
 K. 
 
 Queen 
 
 A, K, x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Queen 
 
 A, x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Queen 
 
 K, x, 
 
 K. 
 
 Queen 
 
 K, x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Jack 
 
 A, x, 
 
 A. 
 
 Jack 
 
 A, x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Jack 
 
 A, K, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Jack 
 
 A,Q, + 
 
 X. 
 
 Jack 
 
 K, + 
 
 X. 
 
 IO 
 
 A, + 
 
 A. 
 
 IO 
 
 A, K, + 
 
 K. 
 
 IO 
 
 A, Q, 
 
 A. 
 
 IO 
 
 A, Q, + 
 
 X.* 
 
 IO 
 
 A, J, + 
 
 X. 
 
 IO 
 
 K, Q, + 
 
 X. 
 
 IO 
 
 K,J, + 
 
 X. 
 
 IO 
 
 K, + 
 
 X. 
 
 IO 
 
 Q,x, 
 
 Q. 
 
 IO 
 
 Q>x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 * Play ace on second round, so as not to block the suit if you have 
 only one small. 
 
THE THIRD HAND. 143 
 
 TABLE OF THIRD-HAND PLAY.— Continued. 
 
 When Partner 
 Leads 
 
 If You Hold 
 
 You Should 
 Play 
 
 9 
 
 A,+ 
 
 A. 
 
 9 
 
 A, K, + 
 
 K. 
 
 9 
 
 A, Q, + 
 
 Q. 
 
 9 
 
 A, J, + 
 
 A. 
 
 9 
 
 •A,K,J, + 
 
 J-t 
 
 9 
 
 A,Q,J, + 
 
 J. 
 
 9 
 
 A, Q,J, 10, + 
 
 X. 
 
 9 
 
 A, J, 10, + 
 
 X. 
 
 9 
 
 K, + 
 
 K, 
 
 9 
 
 K, 10, + 
 
 K. 
 
 9 
 
 K,Q, + 
 
 Q. 
 
 9 
 
 K,J, + 
 
 J. 
 
 9 
 
 K, J, 10, + 
 
 X. 
 
 9 
 
 Q>x, 
 
 Q- 
 
 9 
 
 Q>x, + 
 
 X. 
 
 9 
 
 Q.L + 
 
 X. 
 
 9 
 
 J, x, 
 
 J. 
 
 9 
 
 J, x, + 
 
 X, 
 
 X 
 
 A, Q, + 
 
 Q. 
 
 X 
 
 A, K, J, + 
 
 J. 
 
 X 
 
 A, Q, J, + 
 
 J4 
 
 X 
 
 A, J, + 
 
 J. 
 
 X 
 
 A, J, 10, + 
 
 10. 
 
 f If strong in trumps ; otherwise play the king. 
 
 I If you read partner's lead as from a long suit, play the ace. 
 
144 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Writers on whist usually advise deeper finesse in 
 trumps than in plain suits, and you should bear this in 
 mind when playing with a partner who strictly follows 
 the long-suit system. You must finesse boldly in 
 trumps when }^ou have for a partner a player who 
 leads trumps just because he has five, or because they 
 are his only four-card suit. . 
 
 When a short-suit partner leads trumps he either 
 wants them out at once, or is throwing the lead to get 
 his plain suits led up to. If you think the latter is the 
 case, finesse in trumps to your heart's content; but if in 
 doubt, do not finesse, not even with A, Q, but win the 
 trick with the ace, and make sure of another round. 
 Even if partner is only throwing the lead, he is strong 
 enough in plain suits to have trumps come out. 
 
 If you have not the trump ace, finesse without hesi- 
 tation. Play jack from K, J, +, or 10 from Q, 10 +. 
 This applies to the original lead only. The fall of the 
 cards and the consideration of " Obligatory finesse," 
 govern cases that arise later in the hand. 
 
 We have seen that the short-suit player usually be- 
 gins with the highest card of his weak suit, other than 
 the ace or king. If you pass,- and the card led wins, he 
 goes on with the same suit, or leads trumps. On this 
 second round you can play your best card, or finesse, as 
 you think best. If you win the trick, or get into the 
 lead later on, your own hand and the fall of the cards 
 must determine your course. Your partner's original 
 lead of a short suit by no means obliges you to lead 
 another short suit in return, If your hand and the. fall 
 
the third hand. 145 
 
 of the cards are favorable to a long-suit lead, why make 
 it by all means ; for your partner is supposed to be as 
 alert as you are, and will recognize your lead for what 
 it is, and will presumably lend himself cheerfully to 
 making the most of your cards. 
 
 If you conclude that the short-suit game is the best 
 for your hand also, you will lead the highest of your 
 weak suit, other than an ace or king. If your partner 
 passes it, and it wins, you should go on with the next 
 higher card of the same suit, and he will either win 
 the trick or finesse, as he thinks best. 
 
 When each of you have made a short-suit lead you 
 will frequently find that you and your partner hold 
 certain cards of medium value in each other's suits 
 that have been sensibly promoted, and which are much 
 nearer to being the best of the suit than they were be- 
 fore the original lead, or than they usually would be 
 after the same number of rounds in the long-suit game. 
 This last point is worthy of particular attention. 
 
 If the fall of the cards should establish several of 
 these intermediate cards, }^ou can lead trumps with 
 some assurance of successfully defending them if you 
 have husbanded your strength in the other suits. In 
 addition to the advantage of preserving tenaces, this 
 promotion and establishment of intermediate cards is 
 one of the great advantages of the short-suit game, 
 and the aim of the player should be to combine the one 
 with the other. Instead of leading from four or five- 
 card suits containing tenaces or vice-tenaces, or regu- 
 lation long-suit leads with nothing to back them up, 
 
146 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 the short-suit player leads from his weakest suit. If 
 this suit is headed by a Q, J, or 10, the chances are that 
 the lead of the highest card will increase the value of 
 all partner's cards in that suit. When he gets into the 
 lead, he will promote your cards in some other suit in 
 the same manner. If either of you have a card of re- 
 entry in the third suit, with which to bring in these pro- 
 moted cards, a lead of trumps may prove very effective. 
 The following diagram will illustrate the value of 
 this method of leading strengthening cards. 
 
 No. 50. 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 ♦ * 
 
 <0 
 
 
 O ♦ 
 
 1* ♦ ♦! 
 
 O 
 
 , ♦ 
 
 O O 
 
 !♦ « 4-1 
 
 
 OOOO 
 
 !♦ <* ♦ 
 
 O 
 
 <* •* 
 
 OOOO 
 
 !♦ ♦ ♦ 
 
 ♦ ♦ I 
 
 B 
 
 
 OOO 
 O O 
 
 o| 
 
 e 
 
 OOO 
 OOO 
 
 
 
 
 O] 
 
 
 1 
 
 ** j 
 
 o\ 
 
 ♦ •* >i 
 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 
 o\ 
 
 
 
 1', 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE THIRD HAND. I47 
 
 Let us first suppose A and B to be long-suit players. 
 The lead of the spade king will force the ace, and the 
 queen will be good for the next trick; but after that Y 
 will command the suit with the ten, unless B has a 
 chance to lead the jack on the second round. If B 
 leads a diamond, Y will kill A's queen, making a trick 
 in the suit. 
 
 If A and B are short-suiters, A will lead the diamond 
 queen, which Y must pass, allowing it to win the 
 trick. A continues the suit, and B finesses the 10, 
 winning every trick in diamonds by catching the king 
 with his ace. B will then lead the spade jack. If Z 
 passes, it wins the trick ; if he covers, he establishes 
 the entire spade suit in A's hand. 
 
 The reader must not expect to find such opportuni- 
 ties as this in every hand ; but they are more frequent 
 than would be imagined, and some cases offer even 
 greater chances for gain than the example. 
 
 The gist of the whole matter lies in our golden first 
 principle ; that all cards are more valuable when led 
 up to than when led away from, or led through. The 
 short- suit player holds back the suits of moderate 
 strength, waiting to have them led up to; leading from 
 his weakest suits, in which he has nothing to hope for. 
 
THE SECOND HAND. 
 
 It is presumed that the reader is familiar with the 
 general principles of second-hand play in the long-suit 
 game ; but they may be briefly summed up here for 
 purposes of comparison. 
 
 When no attempt is made to win the trick the rule 
 is to play the lowest card, unless the second hand 
 wishes to signal for trumps. But when certain com- 
 binations of high cards are held, one of them must be 
 played. With any three high cards in sequence, A K Q, 
 K Q J, or Q J 10, the lowest of the sequence should 
 be played. From A K or K Q and others, the lower 
 of the high cards should be played second hand. From 
 A Q J, or A J 10, the lowest of the high cards is 
 played. From A Q io, the 10 is alwa}^ played in 
 trumps, and in plain suits when strong in trumps ; but 
 the queen is the rule if weak in trumps. With short 
 suits containing two high cards, such as Q J x, or 
 J io x, the rule is to play the lower of the high cards 
 second hand. With any three cards lower than the 
 jack, the rule is to pass ; but in the short-suit game 
 you cover, if you can, whatever card is led. With any 
 two cards immediately above and below the one led, 
 which form what is called a fourchette, the card led 
 must be covered, if it is higher than ay. If you hold 
 
THE SECOND HAND. 
 
 149 
 
 J 9, and the 10 is led, play the J. With 108, play the 
 10 on a 9 led. 
 
 The short-suit player will find second-hand play a 
 very important feature of the game. He must protect 
 his partner in suits in which he knows the latter is 
 weak, if the suit is led up to the weak hand, even though 
 there is little or no chance to win the trick. The 
 short-suit player must also cover supporting cards, 
 even without fourchette, if there is any chance to pro- 
 mote medium cards by so doing. 
 
 No. 51. 
 
 
 .j- »j- «j- »t- 
 
 
 4. * 
 
 B 
 
 
 4* * 
 
 * 
 
 JHS 
 
 
 1* 
 1+ 
 
 
 * 
 * 
 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Let us suppose that A leads the club 10; Y covers 
 with the king, and every one at the table knows the 10 
 is a short-suit lead. If Y is new foolish enough to 
 
150 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 attempt to underplay you, who are B, by leading the 9 
 to A's declared weakness, you at once play in the 
 jack from your fourchette, J 8, which are the cards 
 immediately above and below the one led, the 10 being' 
 played. This will prevent Z from finessing the 9, and 
 will make your 8 good for the last round of the suit. 
 You are B and hold these cards : 
 
 
 4- * 
 
 * * 
 4. 4. 
 
 The first trick the cards fall:- 
 
 Y cannot hold the ace, or he would have covered 
 the jack. Holding queen, you know the jack is from 
 a short suit, and any attempt to unblock would be to 
 play the adversaries' game. Should Y get into the 
 lead later on, and play the club suit through you, you 
 should pass any card but the ten; for Z will have to 
 play his ace to shut out the possible ten in A's hand. 
 
THE SECOND HAND. 15I 
 
 If Y leads the ten you must cover it, to make your 
 eight the second best, and to prevent Z from finessing. 
 
 If the short suit is usually one of two cards only, it 
 will not be often that the adversaries can profit by 
 under-play, or by leading up to weakness, as the third 
 round of the suit will be trumped ; but if they resort 
 to such tactics after the trumps are exhausted, you 
 must be on the alert to protect yourself. 
 
 The general theory of the short-suit game having 
 been explained, the reader may, with advantage, turn 
 his attention to one of the best methods imaginable for 
 impressing on the mind its principles by the illustration 
 of their use in the progress of an actual game. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 
 
 The first game I have selected is for the purpose of 
 showing the variation in the score possible at duplicate 
 whist when a hand is opened with different original 
 leads, such as those of the long and the short-suit sys- 
 tems. It is also a good example of what I maintain 
 to be the fallacy of leading from five trumps for no 
 better reason than that the leader holds that number. 
 
 The game is number 5 1 of the hundred that I have 
 already mentioned as having tested. I cannot say 
 what the result was in the original play, but as all the 
 contestants were long-suit players, I have no doubt that 
 they came out even, or with a difference of only a trick 
 either way. Although there is nothing striking about 
 the hand at the first glance, I soon realized its possi- 
 bilities if played by two good short-suit partners against 
 two of the long-suit persuasion. 
 
 I^et us first examine it on the supposition that A and 
 B are long-suit players, while their adversaries, Y and 
 Z, follow the short-suit method. 
 
154 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Hearts are declared trumps. A is the original 
 leader. The underlined card wins the trick, and the 
 card under it is the next one led. 
 
 Game No. i. — Original. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 y 6 
 
 V 5 
 
 V 3 
 
 <? 9 
 
 2 
 
 QO 
 
 KO 
 
 AQ 
 
 JO 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 V 2 
 
 40 
 
 ^A 
 
 - V 4 
 
 30 
 
 Q?IO 
 
 2O 
 
 10C 
 
 5 
 
 V 7 
 
 90 
 
 50 
 
 70 
 
 6 
 
 K4 
 
 A*_ 
 
 6* 
 
 5* 
 
 7 
 
 * 8 
 
 4» 2 
 
 * 3 
 
 *J 
 
 8 
 
 9?K 
 
 4* 
 
 60 
 
 <?Q 
 
 9 
 
 Q* 
 
 7* 
 
 J* 
 
 8* 
 
 IO 
 
 2* 
 
 * 4 
 
 * 5 
 
 104 
 
 ii 
 
 V 8 
 
 *Q 
 
 * 6 
 
 V~J 
 
 12 
 
 3* 
 
 *A 
 
 * 7 
 
 *K 
 
 13 
 
 9* 
 
 80 
 
 ♦ 10 
 
 * 9 
 
 The long-suit opening makes 4 tricks. 
 
II,I<USTRATIVK GAMKS. 155 
 
 Trick i. A has been taught always to lead trumps 
 from five ; so he begins with his fourth-best heart. 
 
 Trick 2. Z is a short-suit player, and wants his 
 club tenace led up to if possible. Both his other suits 
 being weak, he selecls the one with the highest card, 
 other than an ace or king, and leads it to his partner 
 as a supporting card. A properly covers with the 
 queen, which would gain a trick if the positions of the 
 ace and king were reversed. 
 
 Trick 3. B has been taught that only sudden ill- 
 ness or having no trumps will excuse the failure to 
 return partner's original lead of the trump suit. 
 
 Trick 4. Y continues the established diamond suit 
 to force the strong trump hand. 
 
 Trick 6. As A cannot catch both Z's trumps, he 
 must proceed to the establishment of the spades. 
 
 Trick 7. If Y continues diamonds, A will make both 
 his trumps ; so he is forced to open the club suit, be- 
 ginning with the smallest card so as not to promote 
 the minor tenace if it is in the adversaries' hands. Z 
 finesses the jack, as Y's lead must be from a strong 
 suit ; the deuce not being a supporting card. 
 
 Trick 8. Z's play is now to prevent A from making 
 both his trumps. 
 
 Now let us examine the overplay, in which A and B 
 are short-suit players, while their adversaries, Y and 
 Z, follow the long-suit system. 
 
156 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Game No. 1. — Overplayed. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 QO 
 
 K0 
 
 AO 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 2* 
 
 A£ 
 
 J* 
 
 5* 
 
 3 
 
 40 
 
 10O 
 
 30 
 
 JO 
 
 4 
 
 Z> 2 
 
 <? 5 
 
 V 3 
 
 _^_Q 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 <? 6 
 * 8 
 
 ^A 
 
 V 4 
 * 3 
 
 <?J 
 
 4» 2 
 
 7 
 
 V 7 
 
 80 
 
 50 
 
 70 
 
 8 
 
 ^K 
 
 4* 
 
 60 
 
 V 9 
 
 9 
 
 K* 
 
 7* 
 
 6* 
 
 8* 
 
 10 
 
 Q* 
 
 * 4 
 
 * 5 
 
 io4> 
 
 11 
 
 9* 
 
 *Q 
 
 * 6 
 
 ^10 
 
 12 
 
 V 8 
 
 90 
 
 * 7 
 
 *J 
 
 13 
 
 3* 
 
 *A 
 
 4k 10 
 
 4» 9 
 
 The short-suit opening makes 7 tricks. 
 
 Trick 1. — Having no reason to lead trumps, even 
 with five, and not having three honors in his long 
 suit, A prefers the good short-suit lead in diamonds. 
 Although Y has not the fourchette, the cards he holds 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 1 57 
 
 below the king are strong enough to warrant him in 
 forcing A-B to play two honors to win this trick. The 
 fall of the cards leaves the jack the only card out 
 against Y's diamonds. 
 
 Trick 2. — B returns the supporting spade, which A 
 finesses. 
 
 Trick 3. — Y, being a long-suit player, proceeds to 
 establish the diamond suit by leading one of the second 
 and third-best. Z wins this trick in order to lead 
 trumps, as he knows diamonds must be Y's suit and 
 he has four good trumps and a card of re-entry in 
 clubs. 
 
 Trick 6. — Y leads a small club as the best chance 
 to get his partner into the lead again to continue the 
 trumps. Being a long-suit player, Z does not finesse 
 the club jack. 
 
 Trick 7. — Z cannot risk the continuation of the 
 trumps, but prefers to force with the diamond suit. 
 
 Trick 8. — A draws one of Z's trumps, and forces the 
 other with the established spade suit. 
 
 The rest of the hand plays itself. The result is a 
 distinct gain of three tricks, which are made in the 
 face of the best defensive play possible for Y-Z. A 
 very little carelessness on the part of the long-suit 
 players would have lost them three more tricks, mak- 
 ing the gain of the short-suit play six tricks instead of 
 three. For instance : On the original A might have 
 
158 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 played the king of trumps on the return of the suit, 
 which would have made it possible for Z to draw both 
 his trumps after one had been forced out by Y's dia- 
 monds. This would have lost two tricks. Another 
 would have been lost if Y had not covered the diamond 
 queen on the overplay. 
 
 I particularly wish to call the readers attention to 
 the strengthening nature of the short-suit leads in this 
 example. In the original, Z's short-suit lead of the 
 diamond jack enables his partner to win two tricks in 
 the suit; while the long-suit player with the same 
 cards got none. In the overplay B's short-suit lead 
 of spade jack enabled his partner to take three tricks 
 in spades ; but in the original the player who led this 
 suit got only one. In the trump suit, the short-suit 
 player made three tricks by not leading them; while 
 the player who lead them got two only. 
 
 The next illustration furnishes us with another good 
 example of hands to which the short-suit lead is clearly 
 best adapted. In the original play, A and B are the 
 long-suit players, and are opposed to the short-suit 
 tactics of Y and Z. A is the original leader ; and 
 hearts are declared trumps. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 
 
 Game No. 2. — Original. 
 
 i59 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 * 7 
 
 * 2 
 
 *J 
 
 *K 
 
 2 
 
 4* 
 
 2* 
 
 3* 
 
 Q* 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 7* 
 
 8* 
 
 J* 
 
 9* 
 10* 
 
 6* 
 5* 
 
 A#> 
 
 5 
 
 2O 
 
 ~5C~ 
 
 30 
 
 Q0 
 
 6 
 
 JO 
 
 AQ 
 
 40 
 
 10O 
 
 7 
 
 * 9 
 
 * 4 
 
 *Q 
 
 * 3 
 
 8 
 
 •fr 10 
 
 60 
 
 K0 
 
 70 
 
 9 
 
 <? J 
 
 90 
 
 80 
 
 <? 7 
 
 10 
 
 *A 
 
 * 5 
 
 2 5 
 
 * 6 
 
 1 1 
 
 ^?K 
 
 (?A 
 
 o? 3 
 
 <? 4 
 
 12 
 
 ^ 6 
 
 0>io 
 
 ^7Q 
 
 <? 2 
 
 13 
 
 K* 
 
 9 9 
 
 V 8 
 
 * 8 
 
 The long-suit opening makes 5 tricks. 
 
 Trick 1. — A has two four-card suits, and selects the 
 stronger for his original lead. 
 
 Trick 2. — Z cannot well return the adversaries' suit, 
 
l6o SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 so he selects the weaker of his three-card suits, and 
 leads the supporting queen. In this case, the cards 
 that accompany the king in A' s hand are not strong 
 enough to warrant him in covering. If B does not 
 hold the ace, he may trump the second round, or Y 
 may be compelled to play the ace if Z cannot continue 
 with another supporting card. 
 
 Trick 4. — The spade 5 is marked in Z's hand, and 
 the 10 in B's ; for if A had held the 10 with the king 
 he would have covered the queen on the first trick. 
 (See game No. 1.) So Y knows spades will go round 
 again, and he makes his ace before B gets a chance to 
 
 discard. 
 
 f 
 
 Trick 5. — Y has no good short-suit lead. 
 
 Trick 7. — Y is forced to the club suit as the lesser of 
 two evils. 
 
 Trick 9. — Z's trumps are of no value, except to 
 force higher trumps from A. 
 
 We come now to the overplay of the same hand ; but 
 the leader A, and his partner B, are short-suit players, 
 while their adversaries, Y and Z believe in the long- 
 suit game. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMKS. 
 
 Game No. 2. — Overplayed. 
 
 161 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 JO 
 
 A0 
 
 30 
 9* 
 
 K0 
 
 70 
 
 Q* 
 
 10O 
 
 24 
 
 50 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 * 7 
 
 & 2 
 
 *Q 
 
 * 3 
 
 5 
 
 * 9 
 
 * 4 
 
 *J 
 
 * 6 
 
 6 
 
 V 6 
 
 6 
 
 40 
 
 QO 
 
 7 
 
 _*A 
 
 * 5 
 
 3* 
 
 * 8 
 
 8 
 
 *io 
 
 <? 9 
 
 ^?Q 
 
 *K 
 
 9 
 
 <?J 
 
 90 
 
 80 
 
 54 
 
 10 
 
 4* 
 
 J» 
 
 104 
 
 6* 
 
 1 1 
 
 <?K 
 
 <?A 
 
 <? 3 
 
 V 2 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 7* 
 84 
 
 ^?io 
 
 9 5 
 
 ^ 8 
 
 V 4 
 <5> 7 
 
 A* 
 
 The short-suit opening makes 9 tricks. 
 
 Trick 1. — Neither of A's long suits fulfil the first 
 condition given in our rules for leading from four-card 
 suits ; but he has a good short-suit lead in the dia- 
 
1 62 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 mond jack. Knowing it is a short-suit lead, B does 
 not unblock. 
 
 Trick 2. — Having no long suit, and the trump lead 
 being out of the question, Y leads his strongest three- 
 card suit, in preference to returning the adversaries' 
 lead, which may be a singleton, for ought he knows. 
 
 Trick 4. — B could force his partner at this stage ; 
 but that would compel A to lead B's short and weak 
 suit. It is much better for B to lead this suit himself, 
 as it contains good supporting cards. The cards ac- 
 companying Z's king are too small to justify him in 
 covering. 
 
 Trick 6. — By forcing his partner, B can now get him 
 into the lead to make the winning club. 
 
 Trick 8. — The discard of the spade 3 shows A that 
 B must have played in from 10, 9, or J, 10, 9, and that 
 he must still have another spade ; so A cannot force 
 him in that suit. 
 
 Trick 9. — Z's trumps are of no use to force A up, 
 because A has already trumped with the 6, and can 
 have nothing smaller. 
 
 The four tricks gained on this hand are entirely due 
 to the superiority of the short-suit tactics ; for it must 
 be admitted that Y and Z made the best defense com- 
 patible with the principles of the long- suit game. 
 
 It may be remarked that some rash players would 
 advise Y to play the trump ace at trick 8, and then to 
 
illustrative: games. 163 
 
 lead trumps, in the hope of stopping the ruff. But the 
 ruff cannot be stopped, and Y-Z would lose two tricks 
 if they attempted it, for B would discard the spade 10. 
 Then A would win the trump lead with the jack, and 
 lead a spade for B to ruff. The return force in dia- 
 monds would save A's trump king, and B's queen 
 would win. 
 
 The two foregoing hands illustrate the value of the 
 short-suit, or strengthening-card lead. The next is an 
 example of the advantage of not leading from tenace 
 suits, and incidentally shows the value of the rule 
 already given for the fourth hand : ' ' When as fourth 
 player you win a trick in a suit in which you have no 
 honor, you should at once return the lead." The 
 game also furnishes a good example of intelligent 
 trump-leading from three only, the fall of the cards 
 having established several cards in the plain suits. 
 
 In the original, A and B are long-suit players, 
 while their adversaries, Y and Z are short-suiters. As 
 before, A has the original lead, and hearts are declared 
 trumps. 
 
64 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Game No. 3. — Original. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 1 
 
 A* 
 
 »♦ 
 
 3* 
 
 84 
 
 2 
 
 5* 
 
 6* 
 
 9<£ 
 
 J» 
 
 
 
 JO 
 
 A0 
 
 40 
 
 IO<> 
 
 4 
 
 * 4 
 
 4»io 
 
 *J 
 
 *Q 
 
 5 
 
 * 6 
 
 * 5 
 
 * 2 
 
 *A 
 
 6 
 
 4* 
 
 * 7 
 
 74 
 
 ~3*_ 
 
 7 
 
 * 3 
 
 <9 4 
 
 *K 
 
 * 3 
 
 8 
 
 30 
 
 2O 
 
 Q0 
 
 50 
 
 9 
 
 <J>io 
 
 <7 J 
 
 y 2 
 
 V 6 
 
 10 
 
 10.4^ 
 
 70 
 
 K0 
 
 60 
 
 11 
 
 Q4 
 
 90 
 
 80 
 
 0? 9 
 
 12 
 
 V 3 
 
 V 5 
 
 ^K 
 
 <?Q 
 
 13 
 
 <? 7 
 
 VA 
 
 <? 8 
 
 * 9 
 
 The long-suit opening makes 4 tricks. 
 
 Trick 1. — A follows the usual long-suit system of 
 leading ace and then fourth-best, entirely disregarding 
 the value of the double major tenace. 
 
 Trick 3. — Z, being a short-suit player, wants his 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 1 65 
 
 club tenace led up to, and also wishes to retain the 
 command of the adverse suit; so he leads the top of 
 his short-suit, the diamond 10. With only one card 
 smaller than the jack, A covers. 
 
 Trick 4. — Y returns the supporting club, which B 
 covers, to prevent Z from finessing the 10. 
 
 Trick 5. — Z knows both king and queen of diamonds 
 are against him, so his best play is to make his club 
 ace and then to give his partner a discard by leading 
 the spade king. 
 
 Trick 8. — Y is now forced to lead the diamond \ and 
 hopes to establish the 9. 
 
 Trick 9. — With the major tenace in diamonds in his 
 own hand, and the two best spades marked in his part- 
 ner's hand, B's best chance is to lead the trump. 
 
 Trick 10. — Being a good tenace player, Y sees that 
 he must throw the lead into B's hand again. If A had 
 any means of knowing that his partner had the king, 
 and not the queen of trumps, he might have played a 
 grand coup by trumping this trick, and leading the 
 trump through Y. 
 
 Trick 11. — Whether B leads the diamond in the 
 hope that his partner can win the trick by trumping, 
 which will give him a lead through the ace, or leads 
 the trump, makes no difference. If Z does not trump 
 this trick, A will make a small trump, and B will still 
 save his king. 
 
 Let us now examine the overplay, in which A and B 
 are short-suit players, and their adversaries, Y and Z, 
 play the long-suit game. 
 
1 66 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Game No. 3.— Overplayed. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 JO 
 
 AQ 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 2 
 
 <? 3 
 
 9 4 
 
 V 2 
 
 ^?Q 
 
 3 
 
 <?io 
 
 <?A 
 
 <? 8 
 
 <? 9 
 
 4 
 
 S> 7 
 
 ^ 5 
 
 ^K 
 
 <? 6 
 
 5 
 
 Q* 
 
 »♦ 
 
 9* 
 
 J* 
 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 *0 
 
 Q0 
 
 60 
 
 7 
 
 io£ 
 
 6* 
 
 74 
 
 84 
 
 8 
 
 A*~ 
 
 ^7J 
 
 3* 
 
 K* 
 
 9 
 
 * 4 
 
 •fclO 
 
 *J 
 
 *Q 
 
 10 
 
 * 6 
 
 * 5 
 
 * 2 
 
 *A 
 
 1 1 
 
 * 8 
 
 * 7 
 
 *K 
 
 * 9 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 4* 
 5* 
 
 70 
 
 9C 
 
 K<> 
 
 10O 
 * 3 
 
 80 
 
 The short-suit opening makes six tricks. 
 
 Trick 1. — Although A has three honors in his five- 
 card suit, he does not lead it, because the cards form 
 the double major tenace, and he has a good short-suit 
 lead with the diamond jack. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 1 67 
 
 Trick 2. — Y's only four-card suit is the trump, and 
 he follows the logic of the long-suit game by leading 
 it, trusting that his partner has something in the plain 
 suits. In this he is not far wrong, for his partner is 
 pretty strong in everything but diamonds. But for 
 the fac5l that Y knows A is a short-suit player, and 
 that the diamond jack is not likely to have been led 
 from KQJ and others, the trump lead would be very 
 rash. 
 
 Trick 3. — A's 10 is of no use except to prevent a 
 possible finesse by Y. 
 
 Trick 5. — With the command in diamonds, and 
 minor tenace in clubs, B leads a supporting card in 
 spades, which is the only suit that his partner can 
 possibly have anything in. Z covers, to be sure that 
 A shall be forced into the lead again. 
 
 Trick 6. — A, still having major tenace in spades, 
 A 10, over the K 8, leads the diamond again. 
 
 Trick 7. — B, holding the vice tenace in diamonds, 
 returns the spade suit. 
 
 Trick 9. — Y leads the only suit his partner can have, 
 and Z makes what tricks he can, continuing the suit to 
 put B in with the king, so as to keep A out of the lead 
 with his established spades. 
 
THE BATH COUP. 
 
 There is a very pretty bit of strategy, which has 
 been known for a hundred and fifty years as the ' ' Bath 
 Coup, ' ' that offers itself when a player holds the vice 
 tenace, A J +, and a king is led, presumably from 
 KQ+. The natural tendency is to take the king at 
 once with the ace, but I think this is a mistake. 
 
 As a rule it may be assumed that when your adver- 
 sary has both king and queen of a suit, one of them is 
 sure to make a trick, and if you play your ace at once, 
 you clear the suit, and leave him in command with 
 the queen. It is possible, but improbable, that your 
 partner has only one of the suit, and could ruff the 
 queen; and it is not unlikely that the adversaries may 
 lead trumps as soon as they find the suit established, 
 and so draw your partner's trumps before he gets a 
 chance to ruff. 
 
 Let us suppose you pass the king, retaining com- 
 mand of the adverse suit, and also holding tenace over 
 the queen. The adversaries will often be misled by the 
 king winning; and a trump lead will follow immedi- 
 ately, or the original leader will continue with a small 
 card. In the first case he is leading trumps for a suit 
 in which you must win the next two tricks ; in the 
 second case he is playing your game. 
 
TH£ BATH COUP. 169 
 
 As you will probably lose your ace if the third hand 
 is short in the suit, this coup is not usually recom- 
 mended unless you are strong in trumps ; but I always 
 practice it, regardless of trump strength or of being 
 second or fourth hand. % 
 
 The reader must be governed by circumstances in 
 making this coup. If the adversaries are not likely 
 to be deceived by your holding up the ace, do not 
 attempt it unless strong in trumps, for you may lose a 
 trick, and can only gain the one resulting from the 
 tenace. But if you think the enemy are likely to be 
 misled by the coup }^ou should adopt it by all means; 
 for under the most unfavorable circumstances you lose 
 only one trick, while you may gain three or four if 
 the leader wrecks his hand by leading trumps under 
 the impression that his suit is established. 
 
 The following game is an illustration of the advant- 
 age that may sometimes arise from the Bath Coup if 
 the original leader falls into the error just spoken of, 
 and leads trumps to support a suit which is supposed 
 to be established. 
 
 The original leader, A, is a long-suit player, while 
 his right hand adversary is a short-suit player, who 
 believes in the Bath Coup. 
 
170 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Game No. 4. — Original. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 K* 
 
 2* 
 
 4 
 
 3* 
 
 OJ 
 
 6* 
 <9K 
 
 V 3 
 
 3 
 
 AO 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 Q0 
 
 4 
 
 ^?A 
 
 8 
 
 <? 7 
 
 <? 2 
 
 ' 5 
 
 0? 5 
 
 Q?Q 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 60 
 
 Ko 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 <?io 
 
 JO 
 
 90 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 7* 
 
 9* 
 
 10<jk 
 
 J* 
 
 9 
 
 * 5 
 
 *Q 
 
 * A 
 
 * 6 
 
 10 
 
 *J 
 
 + 3 
 
 * 2 
 
 + K 
 
 1 1 
 
 5* 
 
 * 4 
 
 * 7 
 
 ♦ 10 
 
 12 
 
 8* 
 
 70 
 
 * 8 
 
 * 9 
 
 13 
 
 Q* 
 
 10O 
 
 4* 
 
 *♦. 
 
 The Bath Coup makes 8 tricks for Y-Z. 
 
 Trick 1. — The fall of the cards leads A to place the 
 ace of his suit with B, and having a card of re-entry 
 and four trumps, he leads the trumps. 
 
THE BATH COUP. 171 
 
 Trick 3. — Z leads from a short suit, the strengthen- 
 ing queen. A plays ace to continue the trumps. 
 
 Trick 8. — A naturally thinks his spade suit is good 
 for four of the remaining tricks, and leads his original 
 fourth-best to his partner's supposed ace. 
 
 Trick 10. — Knowing the spade ace is held up, B's 
 best chance is to lead back the club. As Z can count 
 A for three spades, he cannot finesse. 
 
 We come now to the overplay of the same hand, Z 
 not playing the Bath Coup, and not leading a strength- 
 ening card when he gets in. 
 
172 
 
 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 Game No, 4. — Overplayed. 
 
 TRICK. 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 Z 
 
 I 
 
 K* 
 
 2* 
 
 3* 
 
 A» 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 * 5 ' 
 
 Q± 
 
 *Q 
 
 9* 
 
 *A 
 
 * 6 
 
 J4» 
 
 104 
 
 4 
 
 ^?A 
 
 V 4 
 
 V 7 
 
 <P 2 
 
 5 
 
 <? 3 
 
 <b 8 
 
 V J 
 
 ^K 
 
 6 
 
 *J 
 
 * 3 
 
 Jft 2 
 
 j*K 
 
 7 
 
 <P 5 
 
 * 4 
 
 * 7 
 
 4»io 
 
 8 
 
 <J?io 
 
 9Q 
 
 ■<9 9 
 
 ^ 6 
 
 9 
 
 AO 
 
 10O 
 
 50 
 
 2O 
 
 10 
 11 
 
 8* 
 
 40 
 70 
 
 4* 
 * 8 
 
 6* 
 
 30 
 
 7* 
 
 12 
 
 5* 
 
 JO 
 
 80 
 
 QO 
 
 13 
 
 60 
 
 KO 
 
 90 
 
 * 9 
 
 Neglecting the Bath Coup makes 5 tricks for Y-Z. 
 
 Trick 1. — Although A is a short-suit player, he 
 finds his hand comes under the second of our rules for 
 leading from long suits. He has a suit of five cards 
 
THK BATH COUP. 173 
 
 with two honors, a card of re-entry in another suit, 
 and four good trumps. Z, being a long-suit player, 
 does not believe in the Bath Coup, and plays on the 
 long-suit theory that the suit must go round three times 
 for the ace and jack to win two tricks in it; and that 
 one is just as likely to win the third round with the 
 jack by playing the ace at once. 
 
 Trick 2. — Z leads the fourth-best card of his long 
 suit, instead of the strengthening queen. 
 
 Trick 3. — B's partner having initiated the long-suit 
 game, B would lead trumps if he had any strength in 
 them; but with his weak hand he considers it best to 
 give his partner a finesse in his original lead. Z 
 covers, hoping to make the possible 9 good in his 
 partner's hand. 
 
 Trick 4. — A makes sure of two rounds of trumps. 
 Trick 6. — Z naturally goes on with his clubs. 
 
 Trick 8. — A can place the best trump with Y, and 
 knows that he has only one club, if any, and that all 
 the rest of his hand must be diamonds. If Y has a 
 club, A can discard the diamond 6 on it, and then, no 
 matter what is led, A will win all the rest of the tricks. 
 
 Illustrative games in diagram are very popular with 
 most writers on whist, and their works usually con- 
 tain numbers of them. Most of these are really noth- 
 ing but problems in double-dummy, for the author 
 makes the players perform the most astounding feats 
 
174 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 of inference and calculation, for which inspiration 
 would be a better name. This is comparatively easy 
 when the player has all four hands before him ; but in 
 the games I have reproduced I have endeavored to 
 represent as nearly as possible the play of four players 
 of good ordinary ability. While I could go on with 
 such examples indefinitely, I think these contain 
 enough examples of tenace and short-suit play to put 
 the student on the right track. Once properly started, 
 he will profit more from actual practice than from any 
 study of diagrams. 
 
THE OPPONENT OF THE SHORT- SUIT 
 PL A YEP. 
 
 So far we have treated the short-suit game chiefly 
 from the stand-point of the short-suit player, giving no 
 consideration to the attitude of the opponents. If four 
 short-suit players sit down to the same table, it becomes 
 a game in which Greek meets Greek, and the winning 
 side must be the one with the best Greeks; — those pos- 
 sessing greater skill at the game, superior ability to 
 draw correct inferences from the fall of the cards, and 
 to make use of the information thus obtained. 
 
 It may happen that while paired with a long-suit 
 player, and adapting your game to his, you discover that 
 your opponents are short-suit players ; or you may find 
 at least one of them adopting the short-suit leads. In 
 either case it immediately becomes important that you 
 should know what defensive tactics you can resort to 
 in order to nullify any advantage that such adversaries 
 are likely to gain from their short-suit play. 
 
 The highest card of the leader's weakest suit is led 
 to " strengthen " his partner's hand, by permittiug the 
 latter to pass it, retaining his high cards in that suit, 
 while the fourth player may have to play a dispropor- 
 tionately high card in order to win the trick. It ob- 
 viously follows that if the leader's partner cannot pass 
 
176 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 the card led, but is compelled to play his highest card, 
 his hand is weakened instead of strengthened. To 
 bring this about the second hand should follow this 
 rule : — 
 
 If your right hand opponent makes a short- 
 suit lead, cover his card if you can. 
 
 In the notes accompanying illustrative game No. 1 , 
 attention was called to the fact that if Y had not covered 
 the diamond queen led by A, A-B would have gained 
 another trick, for the queen would have won, and A 
 would have led through the king again. 
 
 Some discrimination is necessary in covering the 
 lead, if the card led and the one with which you can 
 cover are both small, it may be better for you to pass. 
 For instance : If you hold the 10 and three others 
 you would probably gain nothing by covering a 9 led ; 
 while by waiting there is a possibility of winning a 
 trick with your 10. 
 
 If 3'our right-hand adversary leads a short suit, it 
 may be well for you to return the suit when you get 
 into the lead. 
 
 This is simpty an application of the old principle of 
 leading up to the weak hand ; and if both }^our adver- 
 saries lead from short suits, you and your partner can 
 attend to the enemy on each other's right. In decid- 
 ing on returning such a suit, you must be guided by 
 the cards in your own hand, and by your partner's 
 play on the first round. If your partner's play shows 
 that he cannot hold any card higher than the strength- 
 
OPPONENT OF SHORT-SUIT PLAYER. 
 
 177 
 
 ening card originally led, the return of the suit 
 would be risky, unless you could underplay your left- 
 hand adversary, with a card which you think he would 
 not cover. 
 
 Suppose you are Y and hold 
 
 4. 4. 
 4. * 
 
 ♦"♦ 
 
 4. * 
 
 * 1 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 
 
 *_* 
 
 4. 4. 
 
 _J*_ 
 
 Let us further suppose the cards to the first trick to 
 fall in airy of the three following ways : — 
 
 I* ^ 1 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 4. 
 
 *** 
 
 *** 
 *** 
 
 In the first instance you cannot tell whether A has 
 
I7» SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 led from a short suit or not ; but you know that both 
 K and Q are against you, because your partner had to 
 play the ace to win the jack. It would be folly to re- 
 turn such a suit. 
 
 In the second instance the fall of the jack marks the 
 10 as led from a short suit. When you get into the 
 lead, if you do not want to lead trumps, and have no 
 good suit of your own, it may be very advantageous to 
 return A's lead, for your partner may have higher 
 cards than the jack. 
 
 In the third instance, your partner's king shows that 
 the jack was a short-suit lead. You know A to be 
 weak, and if }^ou have no better play the suit may be 
 returned, as it is not improbable that your partner has 
 the ace. 
 
 It must be borne in mind in returning the lead of a 
 short-suit opponent that his suit is probably one of two 
 cards only , and that you cannot risk leading it to him 
 more than once. If two rounds of the suit have been 
 played before you get in, it will not be safe to lead 
 it a third time, for that would be giving the original 
 leader the very opportunity he wants, — to ruff the suit. 
 
 After trumps are out, the short-suit lead of your 
 right hand adversary may be returned with impunity, 
 especially if you have no established suit of your own, 
 or cannot lead your partner his. In returning such 
 suits always play your highest card, so as to give your 
 partner the finesse against the original leader, and to 
 keep any medium high card on your left hemmed in, 
 For instance; — ■ 
 
OPPONENT OP SHORT-SUIT PLAYER. 
 
 179 
 
 * * 
 a*a 
 
 A A 
 A A 
 
 * 
 
 •7* '-'* V 
 
 *A* 
 A A 
 
 A A 
 
 
 Y 
 
 B 
 
 Z 
 A 
 
 1 * 
 1 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 
 gipp SK* 
 
 
 -*^— ... ->'■ .';, 
 
 * 
 
 * * * * 
 
 HK 
 
 1* -& 
 
 
 * * 1 
 
 
 ****! 
 
 A -J. A 
 
 A leads the jack original^, you are Y, and your 
 partner wins with the king. The trumps come out, 
 and you find yourself in the lead. You know the 
 original lead was from a weak suit, and although you 
 cannot locate the ace with certainty, your best play is 
 the 10 if you are going to return this suit. As the 
 cards lie in the diagram, this will hem in the queen, 
 and give your partner a certain finesse. 
 
 Beyond advising covering the lead if possible, and 
 returning it with discretion, specific directions for 
 thwarting short-suit tactics cannot well be given, 
 which would seem an additional argument in favor of 
 that style of play. When all four are short-suit play- 
 ers, the contest becomes one of skill alone. 
 
SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 Taken as a whole, the main object of this work is 
 directly opposed to the generally accepted and orthodox 
 method of playing whist; bnt in all minor points I have 
 endeavored, as far as possible, to adhere to conven- 
 tional rules. 
 
 In this chapter, however, I wish to offer a few argu- 
 ments in favor of a departure from some of the con- 
 ventional leads. Since whist players are so stubbornly 
 conservative, I have ventured to class them as ' ' sug- 
 gestions " only, although I think they will be found 
 worthy of consideration. The reader must decide for 
 himself whether or not to adopt them. 
 
 King, Queen and Others. 
 
 In our chapter on the short-suit game, I called atten- 
 tion to the advantage of having such combinations as 
 K J 10 x, and K Q x x led up to, instead of led from. 
 But even though you area convert to my ideas, it may 
 happen that you cannot avoid leading from one of 
 these. In such cases I should advise a departure from 
 the conventional lead, and would begin with the small 
 card. 
 
 Suppose you hold 
 
 i§ 
 
 JEjj 
 
 * 
 
 4, 
 
 mm 
 
 iSy 
 
 _A_ 
 
 * 
 
SUGGESTIONS. l8l 
 
 The lead of the king forces the ace and leaves you in 
 command with the queen; but the queen is the only 
 trick you will get in the suit, for the deuce and trey 
 are utterly valueless. On the contrary, if you begin 
 with the deuce, and partner has the jack, fourth hand 
 the ace, your king and queen are established in one 
 round. So if second hand holds the jack, partner the 
 10 and fourth hand the ace. Even if partner has no 
 strength in the suit and the first trick goes to the 9,10, 
 or jack, you can play the trey on the ace if it is led, 
 and still remain with two established cards, which may 
 be worth leading trumps to defend. Altogether it seems 
 to me that there is a greater probability of gain than of 
 loss by leading the small card. 
 
 The same is true of the lead of a small card from K 
 J 10 x, and it is now led from this combination by a 
 great many of our best players. 
 
 I come now to a very different matter, as Mr. Kip- 
 ling would say: " another story." 1 introduce it 
 here among my suggestions, because it is radical in its 
 nature ; but I am sufficiently convinced of its sound- 
 ness to have wished to give it a place among the con- 
 ventional leads. This is the imperative leading of a 
 singleton trump when you have at least three cards of 
 each plain suit. 
 
 One Trump. 
 
 The modern books tell us that there is only one sin- 
 gleton lead admissible, and that is the trump ace. 
 From this dictum I have already ventured to differ in 
 
1 82 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 the chapter on the .short-suit game. I stated that with 
 a tenace, or second best only once guarded in each of 
 the plain suits, a .singleton trump might be used to 
 throw the lead, as readily as any other card. I fail to 
 see how any one can gainsay that it is to your advant- 
 age to have trumps out if you hold more than average 
 strength in each of the plain suits. In such a case the 
 lead of a trump singleton must be for the benefit of 
 your hand. Without tenaces of more than average 
 strength, but with at least three cards in each of the 
 plain suits, I would still advise die lead of the single- 
 ton trump. There is no possible chance to use your 
 one trump for ruffing, therefore it is useless except for 
 leading. If your partner wins the first round, or gets 
 into the lead later on, he will draw two trumps for one, 
 which is universally acknowledged to be a most effect- 
 ive play. It will often happen that you will anticipate 
 a trump call from your partner, and your lead will then 
 be mutually beneficial. 
 
 These favorable considerations may be offset by the 
 objection that your partner may have only one or two 
 small trumps, and a short suit which he could have 
 ruffed. vSuch a condition must leave ten trumps be- 
 tween your opponents, and they will lead them the 
 moment they get in. 
 
 If you have a strong suit which is also your longest, 
 but have no card of re-entry, it may be well to show 
 your suit before leading the singleton trump, especially 
 if you can do so with a winning card. The following 
 are examples of hands in which it is not necessary to 
 
SUGGESTIONS. 183 
 
 show the suit at all, and from which the singleton 
 trump should be lead at once : 
 
 V 6; * A, 10,8,7,4; OQ.J, 10,6; * J, 10,5. 
 
 V Q; 4kJ,8,6; K,J, 7 , 5; * 10,8,7,6,5. 
 Z> 5 ; 4 K, 9, 6, 5 ; A, 9, 4, 2 ; * K, Q, 6, 2. 
 
 But with a hand in which there is a short suit, and 
 any chance for a ruff on the third round, the lead of 
 the singleton trump would not be advisable. Such a 
 hand is the following: 
 
 0? 10 ; 4 Q, 9 ; K, J, 9, 3, 2 ; £ A, 10, 9, 7, 2. 
 
 The spade queen is the best lead from this hand. 
 
 An exception to the lead of a singleton trump should 
 be made when it is a king, which stands a better chance 
 of winning a trick when it is not led. So the rule may 
 be formulated thus : 
 
 Holding three cards in each plain suit, and 
 any singleton trump other than the king, 
 lead the trump. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 I believe the preceding pages contain the first sys- 
 tematic effort at placing before the whist-playing pub- 
 lic a text book on the short-suit game containing an 
 amplification of the principles of that style of play. 
 Many works exist that treat the long-suit game almost 
 exhaustively, but this is an attempt to outline the 
 short-suit game in as brief and simple a manner as 
 possible. 
 
 The long-suit game is admirably adapted to a fine 
 hand; but such hands are sadly in the minority. The 
 short-suit game provides for the great majority of 
 hands, which are only moderately strong, or woefully 
 weak; and the gist of this provision is expressed in 
 our golden precept; "Every card, individually, is 
 more valuable when led up to than when led." 
 
 By " individually " is meant not joined with others 
 in sufficient numbers to form a combination from which 
 one may be led with advantage. When you have no 
 such combination, it is always more to your advantage 
 to play fourth hand, or even third or second, than to 
 lead in that suit. 
 
 As you cannot avoid leading altogether, your re- 
 source must be to lead from suits which promise the 
 least loss of value by being led away from; that is to 
 say, your numerically and intrinsically weak suits. 
 
CONCLUSION. 185 
 
 Having selected your weakest suit for the sacrifice, 
 your next consideration is to select the card that is 
 most likely to assist your partner, and that is your 
 highest. It then becomes your partner's duty to 
 finesse with depth and discretion, retaining and pro- 
 moting his own high cards in the suit. When he in 
 turn sacrifices a suit to you, you must follow the same 
 course, and finesse the card led if you can. 
 
 Both should preserve tenaces as far as possible, and 
 keep a bright lookout for opportunities to cross-ruff. 
 
 If partner's weak suit is led through you, you must 
 protect it if you can, and your partner will similarly 
 protect your weak suits. 
 
 In these few paragraphs you have a concise epitome 
 of the short-suit game, the especial function of which 
 may be said to be the making the most of ordinary 
 hands, which will include at least three-fourths of all 
 that are dealt at whist. 
 
 It is not absolutely essential to your adoption of the 
 .short-suit game that your partner should be familiar 
 with it. You need only warn him not to return your 
 lead unless convinced that you have led from strength. 
 You can still preserve your tenaces and lead strength- 
 ening cards or short suits with an eye to cross-ruffing, 
 instead of striving after impossibilities, and playing 
 into your opponent's hands by endeavoring to establish 
 four-card suits headed by 8's or io's. 
 
 The writer for a long time refrained from adopting 
 the short-suit game himself, although convinced of its 
 vsuperiority in most cases, and thoroughly familiar with 
 
1 86 SHORT-SUIT WHIST. 
 
 it in theory, simply because he could find no partner 
 to play it with him. Finally it occured to him always 
 before beginning a game, to ask his partner not to 
 return his lead unless some positive indication was 
 given that it was from a long suit. As a result he won 
 the next thirteen games, and after losing the fourteenth, 
 twelve more before losing another. Before that he had 
 considered the winning of three successive games quite 
 a triumph. 
 
 If 3 t ou have a partner with whom you are frequently 
 paired, and who will join you in studying this little 
 work, so much the better for you both. If not so for- 
 tunate, follow the plan I have recommended, and ' ' go 
 it alone. ' ' If your partner can only be depended on 
 not to return your weak leads, you will be rewarded by 
 an immediate and marked improvement in your record. 
 
 You will find many persons who believe in playing 
 by machinery, and in the utter exclusion of all inno- 
 vations, and such will tell you that this is all nonsense. 
 Console yourself with the thought that many persons 
 told Galileo and Columbus that they were talking non- 
 sense. If your objecl is to win, put this system to the 
 test; I am perfectly willing to abide by the issue. 
 
 It is the sincere wish of the author that his readers 
 may accumulate proof of the soundness of this little 
 treatise on the Short-Suit Game by winning, and he 
 trusts they will enjoy both the game and the gains. 
 
The Laws of Whist 
 
 As Revised and Adopted at the Third American Whist 
 Congress, Chicago, June 20-24, 1893. 
 
 THE GAME. 
 
 I. A game consists of seven points, each trick above six 
 counting one. The value of the game is determined by deduct- 
 ing the losers' score from seven. 
 
 FORMING THE TABLE. 
 
 II. Those first in the room have the preference. If, by 
 reason of two or more arriving at the same time, more than 
 four assemble, the preference among the last comers is deter- 
 mined by cutting, a lower cut giving the preference over all 
 cutting higher. A complete table consists of six ; the four 
 having the preference play. Partners are determined by cut- 
 ting ; the highest two play against the lowest two ; the lowest 
 deals, and has the choice of seats and cards. 
 
 III. If two players cut intermediate cards of equal value, 
 they cut again ; the lower of the new cut plays with the orig- 
 inal lowest. 
 
 IV. If three players cut cards of equal value, they cut again. 
 If the fourth has cut the highest card, the lowest two of the 
 new cut are partners, and the lowest deals. If the fourth has 
 cut the lowest card, he deals, and the highest two of the new 
 cut are partners. 
 
 V. At the end of a game, if there are more than four belong- 
 ing to the table, a sufficient number of the players retire to 
 admit those awaiting their turn to play. In determining which 
 players remain in, those who have played a less number of 
 consecutive games have the preference over all who have 
 played a greater number; between two or more who have 
 
 187 
 
played an equal number, the preference is determined by cut- 
 ting, a lower cut giving the preference over all cutting higher. 
 
 VI. To entitle one to enter a table, he must declare his in- 
 tention to do so before any one of the players has cut for the 
 purpose of commencing a new game or of. cutting out. 
 
 CUTTING. 
 
 VII. In cutting, the ace is the lowest card. All must cut 
 from the same pack. If a player exposes more than one card, 
 he must cut again. Drawing cards from the outspread pack 
 may be resorted to in place of cutting. 
 
 SHUFFLING. 
 
 VIII. Before every deal, the cards must be shuffled. When 
 two packs are used, the dealer's partner must collect and 
 shuffle the cards for the ensuing deal and place them at his 
 right hand. In all cases the dealer may shuffle last. 
 
 IX. A pack must not be shuffled during the play of a hand, 
 nor so as to expose the face of any card. 
 
 CUTTING TO THE DEALER. 
 
 X. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand adver- 
 sary to be cut ; the adversary must take a portion from the 
 top of the pack, and place it towards the dealer; at least four 
 cards must be left in each packet; the dealer must reunite the 
 packets by placing the one not removed in cutting upon the 
 other. 
 
 XI. If, in cutting or in reuniting the separate packs, a card 
 is exposed, the pack must be reshuffled by the dealer and cut 
 again ; if there is any confusion of the cards, or doubt as to the 
 place where the pack was separated, there must be a new cut. 
 
 XII. If the dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been prop- 
 erly cut, he loses his deal. 
 
 DEALING. 
 
 XIII. When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, 
 the dealer must distribute the cards, one at a time, to each 
 player in regular rotation, beginning at his left. The last, 
 which is the trump card, must be turned up before the dealer. 
 
At the end of the hand, or when the deal is lost, the deal passes 
 to the player next to the dealer on his left,. and so on to each 
 in turn. 
 
 XIV. There must be a new deal by the same dealer: — 
 
 I. If any card except the last is faced in the pack. 
 
 II. If, during the deal or during the play of the hand, the 
 pack is proved incorrect or imperfect ; but any prior score 
 made with that pack shall stand. 
 
 XV. If, during the deal, a card is exposed, the side not in 
 fault may demand a new deal, provided neither of that side 
 has touched a card. If a new deal does not take place, the 
 exposed card is not liable to be called. 
 
 XVI. Any one dealing out of turn or with his adversaries' 
 pack, may be stopped before the trump card is turned, after 
 which, the deal is valid, and the packs, if changed, so remain. 
 
 MISDEALING. 
 
 XVII. It is a misdeal:— 
 
 I. If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and his adver- 
 saries discover the error before the trump card is turned, and 
 before looking at any of their cards. 
 
 II. If he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the 
 error before dealing another. 
 
 in. If he counts the cards on the table or in the remainder 
 of the pack. 
 
 IV. If, having a perfect pack, he does not deal to each player 
 the proper number of cards, and the error is discovered before 
 all have played to the first trick. 
 
 V. If he looks at the trump card before the deal is completed, 
 vi. If he places the trump card face downwards upon his 
 
 own or any other player's cards. 
 
 A misdeal loses the deal, unless, during the deal, either of 
 the adversaries touches a card, or in any other manner inter- 
 rupts the dealer. 
 
 THE TRUMP CARD. 
 
 XVIII. The dealer must leave the trump card face upwards 
 
 189 
 
on the table until it is his turn to play to the first trick ; if it is 
 left on the table until after the second trick has been turned 
 and quitted, it is liable to be called. After it has been lawfully 
 taken up, it must not be named, and any player naming it is 
 liable to have his highest or his lowest trump called by either 
 adversary. A player may, however, ask what the trump suit is. 
 
 IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. 
 
 XIX. If, at any time after all have played to the first trick, 
 the pack being perfect, a player is found to have either more 
 or less than his correct number of cards, and his adversaries 
 have their right number, the latter, upon the discovery of such 
 surplus or deficiency, may consult and shall have the choice : — 
 
 I. To have a new deal ; or, 
 
 II. To have the hand played out ; in which case the surplus 
 or missing card or cards are not taken into account. 
 
 If either of the adversaries also has more or less than his 
 correct number, there must be a new deal. 
 
 If any player has a surplus card by reason of an omission 
 to play to a trick, his adversaries can exercise the foregoing 
 privilege only after he has played to the trick following the one 
 in which such omission occurred. 
 
 CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. 
 
 XX. The following cards are liable to be called by either 
 adversary : 
 
 I. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than in the 
 regular course of play, but not including a card led out of turn. 
 
 II. Every card thrown with the one led or played to the cur- 
 rent trick. The player must indicate the one led or played. 
 
 HI. Every card so held by a player that his partner sees any 
 portion of its face. 
 
 IV. All the cards in a hand lowered or shown by a player so 
 that his partner sees more than one card of it. 
 
 v. Every card named by the player holding it. 
 
 XXI. All cards liable to be called must be placed, and left 
 face upward, on the table. A player must lead or play them 
 
when they are called, provided he can do so without revoking 1 . 
 The call may be repeated at each trick until the card is played, 
 A player cannot be prevented from leading or playing a card 
 liable to be called; if he can get rid of it in the course of play, 
 no penalty remains. 
 
 XXII. If a player leads a card better than any of his adver- 
 saries hold of the suit, and then leads one or more other cards 
 without waiting for his partner to play, the latter may he called 
 upon by either adversary to take the first trick, and the other 
 cards thus improperly played are liable to be called ; it makes 
 no difference whether he plays them one after the other, or 
 throws them all on the table together, after the first card is 
 played, the others are liable to be called. 
 
 XXIII. A player having a card liable to be called must not 
 play another until the adversaries have stated whether or not 
 they wish to call the card liable to the penalty. If he plays 
 another card without awaiting the decision of the adversaries, 
 such other card also is liable to be called. 
 
 LEADING OUT OF TURN. 
 
 XXIV. If any player leads out of turn, a suit may be called 
 from him or his partner, the first time it is the turn of either of 
 them to lead. The penalty can be enforced only by the adver- 
 sary on the right of the player from whom a suit can lawfully 
 be called. 
 
 If a player, so called on to lead a suit, has none of it, or if 
 all have played to the false lead, no penalty can be enforced. 
 If all have not played to the trick, the cards erroneously played 
 to such false lead are not liable to be called, and must be 
 taken back. 
 
 PLAYING OUT OF TURN. 
 
 XXV. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth 
 hand also may play before the second. 
 
 XXVI. If the third hand has not played and the fourth hand 
 plays before the second, the latter may be called upon by the 
 third hand to play his highest or lowest card of the suit led, or 
 if he has none, to trump or not to trump the trick. 
 
ABANDONED HANDS. 
 
 XXVII. If all four players throw their cards on the table, 
 face upwards, no further play of that hand is permitted. The 
 result of the hand, as then claimed or admitted, is established, 
 provided that if a revoke is discovered, the revoke penalty 
 attaches. 
 
 REVOKING. 
 
 XXVIII. A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected in 
 time. A player renounces in error, when, holding one or more 
 cards of the suit led, he plays a card of a different suit. 
 
 A renounce in error may be corrected by the player making 
 it, before the trick in which it occurs has been turned and 
 quitted, unless either he or his partner, whether in his right 
 turn or otherwise, has led or played to the following trick, or 
 unless his partner has asked whether or not he has any of the 
 suit renounced. 
 
 XXIX. If a player corrects his mistake in time to save a 
 revoke, the card improperly played by him is liable to be called; 
 any player or players, who have played after him, may withdraw 
 their cards and substitute others; the cards so withdrawn are 
 not liable to be called. 
 
 XXX. The penalty for revoking is the transfer of two tricks 
 from the revoking side to their adversaries ; it can be enforced 
 for as many revokes as occur during the hand. The revoking 
 side cannot win the game in that hand ; if both sides revoke, 
 neither can win the game in that hand. 
 
 XXXI. The revoking player and his partner may require the 
 hand in which the revoke has been made, to be played out, and 
 may score all points made by them up to the score of six. 
 
 XXXII. At the end of a hand, the claimants of a revoke 
 may search all the tricks. If the cards have been mixed, the 
 claim may be urged and proved if possible ; but no proof is 
 necessary and the revoke is established, if, after it has been 
 claimed, the accused player or his partner mixes the cards 
 before they have been examined to the satisfaction of the 
 adversaries. 
 
XXXIII. The revoke may be claimed at any time before the 
 cards have been presented and cut for the following deal, but 
 not thereafter. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 XXXIV. Any one, during the play of a trick and before the 
 cards have been touched for the purpose of gathering them 
 together, may demand that the players draw their cards. 
 
 XXXV. If any one, prior to his partner playing, calls atten- 
 tion in any manner to the trick or to the score, the adversary 
 last to play to the trick may require the offender's partner to 
 play his highest or lowest of the suit led, or, if he has none, to 
 trump or not to trump the trick. 
 
 XXXVI. If any player says, " I can win the rest," " The 
 rest are ours," " We have the game," or words to that effect, 
 his partner's cards must be laid upon the table, and are liable 
 to be called. 
 
 XXXVII. When a trick has been turned and quitted, it must 
 not again be seen until after the hand has been played. A 
 violation of this law subjects the offender's side to the same 
 penalty as in the case of a lead out of turn. 
 
 XXXVIII. If a player is lawfully called upon to play the 
 highest or lowest of a suit, or to trump or not to trump a trick, 
 or to lead a suit, and unnecessarily fails to comply, he is liable 
 to the same penalty as if he had revoked. 
 
 XXXIX. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, 
 the offender must await the decision of the adversaries. If 
 either of them, with or without his partner's consent, demands 
 a penalty, to which they are entitled, such decision is final. If 
 the wrong adversary demands a penalty, or a wrong penalty is 
 demanded, none can be enforced. 
 
I/aws for Duplicate Whist. 
 
 Duplicate Whist is governed by the laws of whist, except in 
 so far as they are modified by the following special laws: 
 
 THE GAME AND THE SCORE. 
 
 Law A. A game or match consists of any agreed number 
 of deals, each of which is played once only by each player. 
 
 The contesting teams must be of the same number, but may 
 each consist of any agreed number of pairs, one-half of which, 
 or as near thereto as possible, sit north and south, the other 
 half east and west. 
 
 Every trick taken is scored, and the match is determined by 
 a comparison of the aggregate scores won by the competing 
 teams. In case the teams consist of an odd number of pairs, 
 each team, in making up such aggregate, adds, as though won 
 by it, the average score of all the pairs seated in the positions 
 opposite to its odd pair. 
 
 Each side keeps its own score, and it is the duty of the north 
 and south players at each table to compare the scores there 
 made, and see that they correspond. In case they fail to per- 
 form this duty, the east and west scores are taken as correct, 
 and the north and south scores made to correspond thereto. 
 
 In a match between two teams, the team which wins a ma- 
 jority of all the tricks scores the match as won by the number 
 of tricks which it has taken in excess of one-half the total. 
 
 In a match between more than two teams, each team wins 
 or loses, as the case may be, by the number of tricks which its 
 aggregate score exceeds or falls short of the average score of 
 all the competing teams. 
 
 In taking averages, fractions are disregarded, and the near- 
 est whole number taken, one-half counting as a whole, unless 
 it is necessary to take the fraction into account to avoid a tie, 
 in which case the match is scored as won, by the fraction of a 
 trick. 
 
 '94 
 
FORMING THE TABLE. 
 Law B. Tables may be formed by cutting, or by agreement 
 In two-table duplicate, if the tables are formed by cutting, 
 the four having the preference play at one table, and the next 
 four at the other. The highest two at one table are partners 
 with the lowest two at the other. The highest two at each 
 table sit north and south ; the lowest two east and west. 
 DEALING AND MISDEALING. 
 
 Law C. The deal is never lost ; in case of a misdeal, or of 
 the exposure of a card during the deal, the cards must be 
 redealt by the same player. 
 
 THE TRUMP CARD. 
 
 Law D. The trump card must be recorded before the play 
 begins, on a slip provided for that purpose. When the deal 
 has been played, the slip on which the trump card has been 
 recorded must be placed by the dealer on the top of his cards, 
 but the trump card must not again be turned until the hands 
 are taken up for the purpose of overplaying them, at which 
 time it must be turned and left face upward on the table until 
 it is the dealer's turn to play to the first trick. The slip on 
 which the trump card is recorded must be turned face down- 
 ward as soon as the trump card is taken up by the dealer. 
 
 IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS. 
 
 Law E. If a player is found to have either more or less 
 than his correct number of cards, the course to be pursued is 
 determined by the time at which the irregularity is discovered. 
 
 I. Where the irregularity is discovered before or during the 
 original play of a hand, there must be a new deal. 
 
 II. Where the irregularity is discovered when the hand is 
 taken up for overplay, and before such overplay has begun, the 
 hand in which the irregularity is so discovered must be sent 
 back to the table from which it was last received, and the 
 error there be rectified. 
 
 III. Where such irregularity is not discovered until after the 
 overplay has begun : 
 
In two-table duplicate there must be a new deal ; but in a 
 game in which the same hands are played at more than two 
 tables, the hands must be rectified as above, and then passed 
 to the next table, without overplay at the table at which the 
 error was discovered, in which case, if a player had a deficiency 
 and his adversary the corresponding surplus, each team takes 
 the average score for that deal ; if, however, the partner of the 
 player having the deficiency had the corresponding surplus, his 
 team is given the lowest score made at any table for that deal. 
 
 PLAYING THE CARDS. ' 
 
 Law F. Each player, when it is his turn to play, must 
 place his card face upward before him, and toward the centre 
 of the table, and allow it to remain upon the table in this posi- 
 tion until all have played to the trick, when he must turn it 
 over, place it face downward, and nearer to himself, placing 
 each successive card, as he turns it, on the top of the last card 
 previously turned by him. After he has played his card, and 
 also after he had turned it he must quit it by removing his hand. 
 
 A trick is turned and quitted when all four players have 
 turned and quitted their respective cards. 
 
 The cards must be left in the order in which they were played 
 until the scores for the deal are recorded. 
 
 CLAIMING A REVOKE. 
 
 Law G. A revoke may be claimed at any time before the 
 last trick of the deal in which it occurs has been turned and 
 quitted, and the scores of that deal recorded, but not thereafter. 
 
 The Etiquette of Whist. 
 
 As Adopted by the Third American Whist Congress, 
 Chicago, June 20-24, J ^93' 
 
 The following rules belong to the established code of Whist 
 Etiquette. They are formulated with a view to discourage 
 and repress certain improprieties of conduct, therein pointed 
 
 196 
 
out, which are not reached by the laws. The courtesy which 
 marks the intercourse of gentlemen will regulate other more 
 obvious cases. 
 
 I. No conversation should be indulged in during the play 
 except such as is allowed by the laws of the game. 
 
 II. No player should in any manner whatsoever give any in- 
 timation as to the state of his hand or of the game, or of approval 
 or disapproval of a play. 
 
 III. No player should lead until the preceding trick is turned 
 and quitted. 
 
 IV. No player should, after having led a winning card, draw a 
 card from his hand for another lead until his partner has played 
 to the current trick. 
 
 V. No player should play a card in any manner so as to call 
 particular attention to it, nor should he demand that the cards 
 be placed in order to attract the attention of his partner. 
 
 VI. No player should purposely incur a penalty because he 
 is willing to pay it, nor should he make a second revoke in 
 order to conceal one previously made. 
 
 VII. No player should take advantage of information im- 
 parted by his partner through a breach of etiquette. 
 
 VIII. No player should object to referring a disputed ques- 
 tion of fact to a bystander who professes himself uninterested 
 in the result of the game and able to decide the question. 
 
 IX. Bystanders should not in any manner call attention to or 
 give any information concerning the play or the state of the 
 game, during the play of a hand. They should not look over 
 the hand of a player without his permission ; nor should they 
 walk around the table to look at the different hands. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aces, Value of, 30 
 " Catching Small Cards, 38 
 " Holding Up, 169 
 Ace Leads, 72 
 
 King Alone, 85 
 Queen Alone, 86 
 Jack Alone, 86 
 and One Small, 86 
 King Jack Finesse, 56, 112, 
 114 
 " Never Led from Short 
 Suits, 93 
 Advantage of a Uniform Sys- 
 tem, 13 
 " the Long - Suit 
 
 System, 13 
 " Self-Reliance,69 
 
 Old-Style Leads, 
 
 71 
 Being Led Up 
 to, 105 
 " Continual Prac- 
 
 tice, 174 
 American Leads, 70 
 
 " " Disadvantage 
 
 of, 71 
 " Whist Laws, 187 
 
 Assisting Partner by Certain 
 Leads, 185. 
 
 Authorities who Advocate the 
 Long- Suit Game, 
 12 
 " who Advocate the 
 
 Short- Suit Game, 
 12 
 Average Gains from Finessing, 
 
 62 
 Avoid Leading from Tenaces, 
 
 36, 37 
 " " Singleton Kings 
 
 or Aces, 90 
 " Guessing at Suit to Lead, 
 123 
 
 Bath Coup, 117, 170 
 
 Beginner's Preference for Ruff- 
 ing, 63 
 
 Bond Stowe's Rules, 100 
 
 Brains Necessary for the Short- 
 Suit Game, 125 
 
 Cheap Tricks, 41 
 Choosing Between Two Sys- 
 tems, 126 
 " Lesser of Two Evils, 
 
 132 
 " Suits to Lead, 127 
 
 197 
 
Classes of Wlnst Players, 10 
 Comparative Value of Long and 
 
 Short-Suit Play, 14 
 Conventional Leads, 70, 80, 92 
 Covering Second Hand, 149, 
 
 156, 176 
 Cross-Ruffing, 63 
 Cross-Ruff, Establishing, 65 
 " Examples of, 66 
 
 Danger of Waiting Too Long, 
 
 107 
 Deciding Between Systems, 132 
 Deceiving Partner, 67 
 
 " Adversaries, 67 
 
 Definitions, General, 19 to 25 
 Definition of Finesse, 52 
 
 " Fourchette, 148 
 
 " Cross-Ruffing, 63 
 
 " Long-Suit, 85 
 
 Short- Suit, 85 
 " Passing, 140 
 
 Derivation of the Word " Ten- 
 ace," 26 
 Detecting Short-Suit Leads, 92, 
 
 100 
 Different Systems of Leads, 70 
 Difference Between J and K 
 
 Leads, yy 
 Difficulty of Understanding 
 
 Small Cards Led, 87, 102 
 Directing Long-Suit Partners, 
 
 186 
 Disadvantage of Eccentric Play, 
 69 
 " American Leads, 
 
 71 
 
 Disadvantage of Leading a 
 Nine from 
 Strength, 79 
 " Leading from K, 
 
 Q, 106, 180 
 " Leading from 
 
 "K, J, io ( " 
 107, 181 
 Division of the Tenaces, 41 
 
 Eccentric Play, Disadvantage 
 
 of, 69 
 Echo in Plain Suits 136 
 Eleven Rule, 61, 140 
 Error of Leading Tenace Suits, 
 
 3°- 3 6 
 Establishing Tenace in Course 
 of Play, 34 
 " a Cross-Ruff, 65 
 
 " Suits for Adver- 
 
 saries, 68 
 " Intermediate 
 
 Cards, 145 
 Examples of Finessing, 53, 60 
 " Cross-Ruffing, 66 
 
 " Choosing Suits, 
 
 127 
 " Original Leads, 
 
 109 
 Singletons, 67,11 8, 
 119 
 Exhausting Trumps, 114 
 Experiment with Short Suits, 14 
 Exposing Weakness, 68 
 
 Few Hands Adapted to Long- 
 Suit System, 184 
 
 198 
 
Finding Partner to Play with, 
 
 1 86 
 Five Card Suits, Value of, 132 
 Finesse, 52 
 
 Hamilton's Definition 
 of, 52 
 " Varieties of, 52 
 " Examples of, 53, 60 
 " Second Hand, 54 
 Third Hand, 53 
 Obligatory, 58 
 When Not to, 61 
 " Two Forms Usually 
 Recommended, 61 
 with A, K, J, 56, 112, 
 114 
 Finesses that Must Lose the 
 
 Trick, 59 
 Finessing Cards Led, 55 
 
 " with Strong Trumps, 
 
 56 
 " Partner's Leads, 57 
 
 Returned Suits, 59 
 " Against Certain Com- 
 binations, 59 
 " to Place the Lead, 62 
 " in Trumps, 144 
 " Judgment Required 
 
 in, 61 
 " Average Gains from, 
 62 
 Jack, with A K, 56 
 " Importance of, in the 
 Short - Suit Game, 
 62 
 Following Ace Led, 72 
 '• King Led, 74 
 
 " Queen Led, 75 
 
 Short-Suit Leads, 135 
 
 Foster's Eleven Rule, 6r, 140 
 Rule for J and? K 
 Leads, JJ 
 " Rule for Locating 
 Tenaces, 41 
 Forced Leads, 11 
 Force, Inviting a, 44 
 FourcheUe, 148 
 Fourth-best Leads, 79 
 Frequency of Loss from 
 
 Neglecting Tenace, 28, 48 
 Fundamental Principle of the 
 Short-Suit Game, 105 
 
 Games Illustrating Short-Prin- 
 ciples, 152, et seq. 
 
 Gains from Finessing, 62 
 " from Short- Suit Play, 14 
 
 Giving up Tenaces, 37 
 
 G. W. P.'s Object in Whist, 66 
 
 Guessing at Suits to Lead, 123 
 
 Hemming in Medium Cards, 
 
 179 
 Higher of Two Cards Led, 87 
 Holding Back Moderately 
 Strong Suits, 147 
 " Up Aces, 169 
 
 How to Improve in Play, 11 
 
 Ignorance of Tenace, 26 
 Illustration of Tenace Theory, 
 
 29 
 " Strengthening 
 
 Card Leads, 
 
 146 
 Illustrative Games, 152 
 
 199 
 
Imperfect Tenaces, 44 
 Importance of Tenace Being 
 Led Up to, 49 
 " Practice at 
 
 Whist, 51 
 Second Hand 
 Play, 149 
 " Finesse in the 
 
 Short- Suit 
 Game, 62 
 Increased Value of Five-Card 
 
 Suits, 132 
 Increasing the Value of Part 
 
 ner's Cards, 146 
 Intermediate Cards, Promoting, 
 H5 
 Establish- 
 ing, 145 
 Inviting a Force, 44 
 Irregular Leads, How Recog- 
 nized. 93 
 
 Jack Leads, y6 
 " Led from Short Suits, 96 
 " and One Other, 87 
 " Lead Distinguished from 
 King Lead, yy 
 
 Judgment Required in Finess- 
 ing, 61 
 
 King Leads, 73 
 
 " and Jack Leads Distin- 
 guished, yy 
 " and Queen Alone, 86 
 " and One Small Card, 86 
 " Led from Short Suits, 94 
 " Queen and Small Cards, 
 106, 180 
 
 King, Jack, Ten Lead Changed, 
 107. 181 
 
 Laws of Whist, 187 
 
 Lead, Throwing, 108 
 
 Leads, American, 70 
 
 " Ace, 72 
 
 " King, 73 
 
 " Queen, 75 
 
 Jack, 76 
 Ten, 78 
 
 Nine, 78 
 
 Fourth-best, 79 
 " Original, 109 
 " Examples of, 109 
 
 Table of, 80, 92 
 " Showing Number, 74, 75 
 " Forced, 11 
 " Old Style, 70 
 " Conventional, 70 
 " in Short Suits, 85 
 
 in Plain Suits, 70, 80, 92 
 " in Trumps, 81 
 " for the Second Trick, 
 
 133 
 Leading Higher of Two Cards, 
 
 87 
 Back Tenaces, 49, 50 
 from Tenace Suits, 36, 
 
 37 
 from Weak Suits, 124 
 from Plain Suits, 72, 
 
 80, 92 
 Trumps, 81, 113, 114, 
 
 117 
 Singletons, 65, 90^ 120, 
 
 121 
 
Leading Singleton in Preference 
 to Tenace Suits, 
 
 121 
 
 Small Cards from K, Q, 
 106, 1 80 
 " Small Cards from 
 
 "K, J, 10," 78 
 " Supporting Cards, 12, 
 62, 124, 146, 175 
 Systems of, 70 
 Up to Weakness, 176 
 " from Five Trumps, 
 113, 117 
 " Six Trumps, 1 13 
 " " Two Trumps, 
 
 122 
 " Singleton Trumps, 181, 
 
 183 
 " to Exhaust Trumps, 
 114 
 Locating Tenaces, 40, 41 
 Long-Suit Play, Authorities for, 
 12 
 " Definition of, 85 
 " A d a p t e d to 
 Few Hands, 
 184 
 " " Predominance 
 
 of, 13 
 " Object of, 66, 
 
 104 
 " Usual Result 
 of, 104 
 Losing Tricks by Leading 
 Trumps, 17 
 
 Making the Most of Hands, 49 
 
 Tricks in Trumps, 47 
 Major and Minor Tenaces, 27 
 Tenace, Leading Back, 
 
 49 
 " " Through, 
 
 Minor Tenaces, Leading 
 Through, 50 
 " " Promoting, 
 
 38 
 Misuse of Trumps, 17 
 Majority of Hands Adapted to 
 Short Suit Play, 184 
 
 Necessity for Brains, 125 
 Negative Evidence of Short- 
 Suit Leads, 70 
 Nine Leads, 78, 87 
 Not Leading Tenaces, 27 
 " Guessing at Suits to Lead, 
 123 
 Number-Showing Leads, 74, 75 
 
 Object of Long-Suit Play, 66, 
 104 
 " Strengthening Cards, 
 
 175 
 Objections to Singleton Leads, 
 
 Obligatory Finesses, 58, 60 
 Old Style Leads, 70, 71 
 Only Finesses Usually Recom- 
 mended, 61 
 Opening Leads, 109 
 Original Suit to Lead, 109 
 
Outline of the Short-Suit Game, 
 184 
 
 Partner's Cards, Increasing 
 Value of, 146 
 " Suits, Returning, 144 
 Weak Suits, Protect- 
 ing, 185 
 Partner Assisted by Supporting 
 Cards, 185 
 " to Play Short-Suits with, 
 186 
 Passing Strengthening Cards, 
 
 62 
 Placing the Lead, 62 
 Plain Suits, System of Leads, 
 
 72, 80, 92 
 Plain-Suit Echo, 136 
 Playing for a Cross Ruff, 64 
 
 " " Tenace Position, 39 
 Practice, Importance of, 51, 174 
 Predominance of Long - Suit 
 
 Play, 13 
 Preliminary Remarks, 9 
 Preserving and Profiting by 
 
 Tenaces, 105 
 Principles of the Short-Suit 
 
 Game, 105, 184 
 Problemetical Nature of all 
 
 Finessing, 61 
 Promotion of Minor Tenaces, 38 
 " Intermediate 
 
 Cards, 145 
 Protecting Partner's Weak 
 
 Suits, 185 
 Pole's Theory of Whist, 12 
 
 Queen Leads, 7$ 
 
 Queen and One Other, 87 
 
 Queen Led from Short Suits, 95 
 
 Recapitulation of Leads, 92 
 Recognizing Irregular Leads, 93 
 Recommendations for Short- 
 Suit Players, 125, 126 
 Refusing to Finesse, 61 
 Relative Position of Tenaces, 
 
 Results of Long Suit Play, 104 
 " Short-Suit Leads, 14, 
 
 H5 
 Returned Suits, Finessing, 59 
 Returning Short-Suit Oppo- 
 nents' Leads, 178 
 " Partner's Suits, 144 
 
 Risk in Returning Short Suits, 
 
 177 
 Ruffing, 63, 
 
 Rules for Detecting Short Suits, 
 100 
 
 Second Hand Finesse, 54 
 " Play, 133, 148 
 Trick, 133, 135 
 Secondary Leads, Showing 
 
 Number, 74 
 Selecting Best Suit to Lead, 109 
 Short Suit Experiment 14 
 Leads, 85, 88, 90 
 " " Negative Evi- 
 
 dence of, 70 
 " " Detecting, 92, 
 
 100 
 
Short-Suit Game, 104, 184 
 
 " " Fundamental 
 
 Principle of, 
 105 
 " " an Addition, 
 
 not a Sub- 
 stitute, 17 
 Short-Suiters Playing with 
 
 Long Suit Partners, 175 
 Singletons; 65,67,68,90, 118, 
 119, 120 
 " in Trumps, 181, 183 
 
 Self- Reliance, Advantage of, 69 
 Small-card Leads, Difficulty in 
 Understanding, 87, 
 102 
 " Led from K Q, 106, 
 
 180 
 " Led from " K J, 
 
 10," 78, 181 
 " Leading from Two 
 
 Only, 87 
 " \Vinning4th Hand, 
 
 43 
 Sneaks, 65 
 
 Stowe's (Bond) Rules, 100 
 
 Strengthening Cards, 12, 62, 124 
 
 146, 175 
 System of Leading Plain Suits, 
 70 
 " " Trumps, 81 
 
 Supporting Cards, 12, 62, 124, 
 1 146, 175 
 Suits of Five Cards, Value of, 
 
 132 
 
 Table of Plain Suit Leads, 80, 
 92 
 Short-Suit Leads, 88 
 " Thira-Hand Play, 142 
 Technical Terms, 19 to 25 
 Tenace, 26 
 
 " Value of, 12 
 " Ignorace of, 26 
 " Importance of, 49 
 " Theory of, 29 
 " Derivation of theWord, 
 26 
 Tenaces, Major and Minor, 27 
 " Not Leading, 27 
 " Loss from Neglecting, 
 
 28,48 
 " Error of Leading, 30, 
 
 35 
 " Established in Course 
 
 of Play, 34 
 " Giving up, 37 
 " Transposing, 37 
 " Promoting Minor, 38 
 " Locating, 4c 
 " Division of, 41 
 " Imperfect, 44 
 
 Vice, 44 
 " in Trumps, 46 
 " Leading Back, 49, 50 
 \ Leading Through, 50 
 " Preserving, 105 
 TenLeads, 78 
 " and One Other, 87 
 " Led from Short Suits, 97 
 Tendency to Ruffing in the 
 Short-Suit Game, 63 
 
Theory of Tenace Illustrated, 29 
 
 Third-Hand Play, 136, 142, 143 
 
 on Honors Led, 
 
 136 
 " Small Cards 
 Led, 137 
 " Finesses, 53 
 
 Throwing the Lead, 108 
 Trumps, Conventional Leads, 
 81, 122 
 " Misuse of, 17 
 " Loss by Leading, 17 
 " Tenaces in, 44 
 " and Their Uses, 113 
 " Exhausting Them, 
 
 114 
 " Finessing in, 144 
 " Making Sure of Two 
 
 Rounds, 144 
 " Used to Draw Other 
 
 Trumps, 47 
 " Trick-Taking Possi- 
 bilities of, 105 
 Trump Leads, 81, 122 
 
 " " with Five, 113, 
 
 117 
 with Six, 113 
 " Singletons, Leading, 181 
 
 183 
 Strength with Single- 
 tons, 68 
 Two Forms of Finesse, Usually 
 Recommended, 61 
 
 Underplay, 151 
 
 Unblocking in Plain Suits, 136 
 
 Uniform System, Advantage of 
 
 13 
 Unsoundness of Long - Suit 
 
 Methods, 104 
 
 Uses of Trumps, 113 
 
 Using Trumps to Draw Trumps, 
 
 47 
 Usual Result of Long Suit Play, 
 
 104 
 
 Value of Aces, 30 
 
 " Tenace, 12, 49, 105 
 Varieties of Finesse, 52 
 Vice Tenaces, 44 
 
 Waiting Too Long, 107 
 
 ": for Suits to be Led, 32, 
 35- 36, 47 
 Weak Suits, Leading from, 124 
 " " Protecting Part- 
 
 ner's, 185 
 " Trump Suits, When to 
 Lead, 122, i8r, 183 
 Weakness, Exposing to Adver- 
 saries, 68 
 " Leading up to, 176 
 
 Whist-Players, Classes of, 10 
 When Tricks are Won Cheaply, 
 
 41 
 " Not to Finesse, 61, 62 
 
 Winning Tricks with Small 
 Cards, 43 
 
 Yarborough Hands, 119 
 
 S04 
 
R. F. FOSTER'S WORKS. 
 
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 Foster's American Leads and 
 
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 Foster's Self-Playing Whist Cards. 
 
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