i Hfim OPE! .f5^&^ LI Z LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Chai).S.\/. Copyright N^.12,_t^^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHIST OPENINGS A Systematic Treatment of the Short-Suit Game BY EDWIN C. HOWELL BOSTON, 1806 Qv Copyright, 1896, by Edwin C. Howell. ^inli^am Press, §anian. This volume is gratefully dedicated to Charton L, Becker^ Charles M. Clay, AND Charles S. Knowles, Who have contributed valuable suggestions to the theory of the new whist, and have heartily cooperated with the author in its study and trial. Without their assistance the short-suit system of play could never have been developed and given to the whist world in its present form. CONTENTS. PAGE. Author's Apology vii Search for New System . 4 Ear-Marks of Short-Suit Game 8 The Fundamental Principle 8 Example of Play 10 "The Brute Game" . • . 13 Five Ways of Winning Tricks 15 Example of Play 18 Five Classes of Original Leads 21 Long-Suit Game in Detail 24 Lead of 2, 3, 4 and 5 24 Maxim 28 Necessary Strength . 28 Tenaces 29 Call for Trumps in Lead 2>^ Examples of Play 26, 32, 34 ,38, 40,42 Supporting-Card Game 43 Lead of Q, J, 10 and 9 44 Interior Leads . 46 Second Hand . 56 Third Hand . 58 Fourth Hand . 58 Examples of Play 43,51.52 ^53, 54,55 vi CONTENTS. PAGE. Ruffing Game . . . . 62 Lead of 8, 7 and 6 . . 62 Lead of Singleton .... . 70 Lead of Ace and One Small . 7?> Examples of Play . . 63, 67, 68, 71, 72 High-Card Game . . . . • 75 Trump Attack . 76 Secondary Leads .... • 79 Advice to Short-Suiter . 80 Signals and Discards . 81 Law of Whist Strategy . • 83 Meanings of New Leads . . 84 Examples of "the Card to Lead" . 86 Variations • 95 .-^■^^^^^2-. APOLOGETIC. For his frequent use of the first personal pronoun in these pages the author craves the indulgence of his readers. Although he believes the sort of whist-play here advo- cated to be of a thoroughly scientific char- acter, he has not ventured to assume that it rests upon an established scientific basis, be- cause it is too new for that. Hence he could not bring himself to write about it in an un- compromising', taken-for-granted manner, in the style of books on arithmetic. He feels that he is addressing an audience upon a novel topic, or at least an entirely novel treatment of an old topic. Some of his auditors will at the outset surely listen with distrust. The author's desire, therefore, is to suggest and persuade,, rather than to lay down the law in a dogmatic way. Will the reader, then, forgive this per- fectly transparent attempt to take him into the author's confidence? EDWIN C. HOWELL. American Whist Club, Boston, Mass., June i, 1896. vii INTRODUCTORY. To those sensitive Tristians who look upon the fourth-best and American leads as both the means and the end of existence, the short-suit game of whist appears to be somewhat painful. Why, it is hard to tell, but it is so. One of my long-suit friends, for instance, calls it ''cut-throat" whist, thereby expressing the acute effect that its practice exerts upon his delicate organism. His sincerity I question. There are other players who rank Cavendish a peg below the Mahatmas, and believe that out of Foster, the eccentric and maligned, some good may yet arise. To all such unpreju- diced and charitably inclined individuals I recommend this outline of a short-suit sys- tem as a novelty worthy at least of investiga- tion and trial. For my own part, I am con- vinced that with equally skilful handling it will beat the ordinary long-suit game all the time. The fallacies of the long-suit game, absurdly shallow when you see through them, Foster has exposed in his books and 1 2 EOWELU^ in the New York Sun; and the practical superiority of the short-suit game its ablest exponents have time and again been ready to demonstrate in actual play. Neverthe- less, short-suiters of the first force have at no time been numerous, because this style of play was the outward manifestation of genius, and could not be (or was not) taught by any text-book. In a word, the short-suit game was never systematized. A few years ago, discussing with Foster the short-suit ideas promulgated in his "Whist Strategy," I asked him if he thought they could be reduced to a system, as me- thodical, perhaps, as long-suit whist, or the so-called "modern scientific" game. He did not see how. In fact, he could not lay down any hard-and-fast rules for the different sorts of leads — could not erect guide posts, to tell the wayfarer when to follow the long- suit highroad, and when to turn down a short-suit lane; and, what is more, he did not Avant to. He would have every good player open his hand as he saw fit. What he wished beyond all to avoid was a cut-and- dried, wooden, or "parrotic" style of play. WHIST OPENINGS. 3 This notion was very charming and ingen- ious, but I held then, have always main- tained, and believe now more firmly than ever, that a definite system of play, founded in principle and developed by information- giving conventions, is essential to the prac- tice of whist, however pleasing the go-as- you-please tactics may be in theory. This conclusion I reached through bitter expe- rience. There may be mind-reading souls who can comprehend unmeaning leads, size up situations in the dark, and grasp unfore- seen opportunities, but I have looked for them long and earnestly, and they have not yet appeared. Many is the time and oft, in experimenting with the style of game that is not cut-and-dried, wooden, or ''parrotic," that my partner and I have gone creeping, groping, floundering around, searching for a will-o'-the-wisp from the alpha to the omega of a hand, while our adversaries, standing on an imperfect but simple long-suit plat- form, have viewed our paroxysms with un- concern, and with a blind and unreasoning faith have captured all the tricks that be- longed to them, and a few that ought to 4 HOWELUS have come to us. And then the post- mortems, the might-have-beens, the "why didn't you do this, partner?" and the "why did you do that?" — which enhvened those solemn sessions! They were agonizing, but they taught me this valuable lesson — that any system whatever, good, bad, or in- different, is better than no system at all. Therefore have I patiently pursued my in- vestigations, with the one aim of discover- ing or inventing a new S3^stem of play, definite and logical and practicable. It is for whist-players to say whether or not I have succeeded. "But why," asks the devoted long-suiter, "why seek a new system? Is not the modern scientific, American game the acme and apotheosis of all that is great aid en- nobling in whist? Are you too dull to see that Cavendish is the supreme master, and that his dicta are inexorable and his maxims inspired?" To which I reply that I am a man of little faith, not a hero-worshipper, and perhaps an iconoclast. It is never too late to mend. I have always felt that there might be some- WHIST OPENINGS. 5 thing better than Cavendish, and that there probably was. Such is my excuse. And now that I have apparently found the thing that I have been looking for, I am willing to let it go forth as its own vindica- tion; for — presumptuous though the state- ment may seem — I am entirely confident, after much examination and analysis of re- corded play and testing of the system in play at the table, that this outline of the short-suit game, here presented, contains the root and a good deal of the branch of a theory and practice of whist, which for trick-taking pur- poses is away ahead of anything ever dreamed of by Cavendish and his imitators and parasites. This vindication of the new whist openings h sufficient, so far, only to myself and a few friends and colaborers in the short-suit field ; but if it shall not prove satisfactory to others, it will be either be- cause they do not give the system a fair trial, looking into it independently of my say-so, or else because I am utterly mistaken. The latter contingency I of course consider im- possible. 'Twould not be good whist to 6 HOWELUS WHIST OPENINGS. think otherwise. All I ask is a careful perusal of these pages, a conscientious ex- amination of the hands to which I refer, and then a fair trial, at duplicate whist, of the system proposed. If, in any person's expe- rience, it beats the long-suit game in a series of encounters on even terms, that person will be inclined to keep at it; and he will be quite sure to keep at it if he finds the game agreeable to his temperament and nerves. In the case of genuine whist-players I have no fear of the result, and there is some hope that even the long-suit invalid (who, in his afifliction, has the short-suiter's heartfelt sympathy) may, with courage and deter- mination, be able to assimilate the dose of medicine here offered to him, and recover his health. EXPLANATORY. The raison d'etre of the short-suit game, by which we mean the reason that has in- duced players, past and present, to dally with it, is in a sense negative. To many minds it has seemed better than the long- suit game because the long-suit game ap- peared not good at all for its ostensible pur- pose — that of taking tricks by means of the establishment of suits. The long suit's pre- tensions in that direction were finally ex- ploded in a series of articles in the New York Sunday Sun, beginning February 23, 1896. I won't go into details. The gist of the expose was that the long suit does not accomplish what is claimed for it. Every player knows that when, from a generally weak hand, he lays on the table the fourth- best card of a long suit, he stands only a small chance of winning a trick with the first-best. Is there any way of improving that chance? Is there any way of relieving partner from the necessity of backing you in a clearly unprofitable venture? The short- 7 8 HOWELL'S suiter says there is. It is simple enough — don't touch the long suit at all, but open a short one and wait. Here is the principle — the epitaph of the long-suit game and the short-suiter's epiphany hymn: Given a long suit not headed by a sequence of two or more high cards, and not accompanied by such strength in trumps and the other plain suits that, with reasonable assistance from partner, you can establish and bring it in, you will be more like- ly to win tricks in the suit if somebody else opens it than if you open it yourself. Ergo, with such a hand let the long suit alone. Lead a suit in which you don't ex- pect to take a trick, and then you will not be disappointed. Nor will you compromise partner's hand by forcing him to make a probable sacrifice that can do neither of you any good. If you lead a fairly high card you will probably strengthen partner's hand more or less, and if you lead a very short suit you will not improbably win a trick or two in trumps just when you need them. Such are the distinct ear-marks of the short-suit game — tender nursing of strength that cannot take care of itself, sup- WHIST OPENINGS. 9 port of partner without self-sacrifice, and cheerful consent to a "force" with weak trumps or strong if you see nothing better. Suppose, for example, that you have the hand Hearts, K 9 8 5; Clubs, K J 9 6 3; Diamonds, 10 4; Spades, 9 6. Hearts are trumps. Queen of Hearts being turned. (In all the illustrative hands and play in this book Hearts are trumps. Clubs the best plain suit. Diamonds the next best, and Spades the weakest suit.) This is the open- ing hand (the suits being transposed) of deal No. 22, A. W. L. Trophy finals, 1894. What should you lead from the hand? As actually played, of course, by the Minne- apolis and Chicago long-suiters at Philadel- phia, the fourth-best of the long suit — 6 of Clubs — was led at both tables. The short- suiter considers this a quite unreasonable play. Without a single card of reentry in Diamonds or Spades, and with only moder- ate trump strength, he knows that the prob- ability of bringing in the Clubs is too faint to waste a thought upon. His best chance/ for making Club tricks is to lie low in that'^ suit. He therefore resorts to a short suit, 10 HOWELL'S naturally choosing that which contains the better supporting card. The lead from the hand, then, is lo of Diamonds. I gave this deal to four strong players, the original leader and his partner being practitioners of the system advocated in this book, and their adversaries being shrewd players of the long-suit school, and this is the way they did it: North. East. South. West. 1 ^ 5 4 K J ^ J * 7 2 ^ 2 Z> A A 2 Z> 3 3 *io * 2 4k 4- 3 4» ^ 4 A 4k A Q 4 « J * 3 6 « ^ 8 9 ♦ ^ 9 *A 4k 5 5 Q 5 4|k 3 J ♦ 5 8 2 4|k 8 4k 09 O 7 8 7 4k 9 C^ 6 ♦ 8 6 9 ^ 7 10 C? K ^\o 11 A 9 7 12 A 6 4 4k 13 4 Q WHIST OPENINGS. 11 NOTES. Trick I — East plays properly in covering the lo led. As a general rule second hand should cover a short-suit, supporting card led, if he can do so without risking the loss of a valuable card, and sometimes even then. Trick 2 — West's trump lead is perfectly justifiable; almost any player would con- sider it the best lead from the hand. Trick 3 — South, having the second-best Diamond guarded, carefully avoids that suit, and returns to partner a supporting card in another suit. The Clubs being worthless except as a possible help to part- ner, he opens them from the top. West, at second hand, follows the usual practice of just covering, so as to prevent third hand from finessing too deeply; some players, however, in West's position, would play low, and still others would go in with the Ace. Trick 4 — North now clears his long suit, having a much more favorable opportunity than he would have had if he had originally opened it. 12 HOWELL'S Trick 7 — Again West's trump lead is cor- rect enough, but North's pretty underplay balks his adversary's intention. Trick 9 — South can now place the trumps exactly, and does not fail to do his duty at the critical point of a beautifully played hand. North makes good three of his five Clubs. In the A. W. L. Congress play one North player did not win a trick in that suit, and the other succeeded in scoring with his Jack. At each table five tricks were taken North and South by long-suit play; by the short-suit play North and South won seven tricks. The moral is obvious. There is nothing pecuHar or exceptional about the deal; it is like myriads of others that a whist- player meets, in which the original leader would fare much better with his long suit if he would only let it alone imtil he has an opportunity to do something with it. What I have said about the original open- ing of a suit not headed by a sequence does not apply, of course, to a very strong suit, either virtually established (like A K Q and WHI^T OPENINGS. 13 Others) or in such a condition that it can be speedily cleared without assistance from partner (like K Q J and others). With such^ a suit your reason for opening "short" is / gone. If it is backed by sufficient trump strength and courage, lead trumps; if not, make what you can out of it while you have the opportunity. The latter method is what one of my short-suit friends calls the brute game. It is a mean kind of strategy, like hitting a man with a club, and, I am glad to say, it is not often necessary; but it demands respectful consideration. If, with the simon-pure long-suiters, I could conscien- tiously acknowledge that every long suit, whether indifferently strong or utterly weak, is an efficient weapon, I might believe in its use in season and out of season; but I can- not make that acknowledgment. On the contrary, I regard the ordinary long suit, compared with the short, as a single-stick to a rapier. I prefer the rapier. But if you hav^ a really good plain suit . (K lo and three or more small, for instance), with trump strength behind it, and with mean>^f protection and reentry in the other . suits, I am not so incredulous as to scout 14 HOWELUS WHIHT OPEXING^. the idea of establishing and bringing in that good plain suit; and, being able to count, I can see that such a result is all I have a right to expect from the hand under any system. Hence I believe in the long-suit game when (and only when) it will probably, or with a reasonable degree of probability, do what it is intended to do — namely, establish and bring in the long suit. Establish and bring in, mind you. We short-suiters don't care a fig about merely clearing a suit; we must also do some business with it afterward in order to gratify our covetous inclinations. We would rather take tricks in a suit with- out establishing it, than establish it without taking tricks. Have I so far made my meaning suffi- ciently clear? If I have — if the reader feels that the short-suit idea is not a mere whim and symptom of contrariness (which some people seem to consider it), but has a foun- dation in common sense and logic (as we short-suiters understand those faculties) — then we are prepared to go on and see whither this alleged system will carry us. FORMS OF STRATEGY. There are five ways in which you may win tricks at whist. In the first place, you may establish a long plain suit, exhaust the adversaries' trumps, and make the small cards of the established suit. That is the long-suit game in all its integrity and pristine vigor. Or, with or without the establishment of a suit, you may pick up tricks here and there with high cards, and if you make all the high cards you have, never fretting about the small ones, you may consider yourself lucky. If you play with this end definitely in view, preserving your high cards and tenace strength, and leading cards worth- less in your own hand, but of such a size that they may help partner, then your method is what we generally call the supporting-card game. Foster uses the expression "tenace" game, but I prefer to retain the usual, re- stricted meaning of the word ''tenace," as applied to the best and third-best of a suit 15 16 HOWELL'S and a couple of similar combinations that I will speak about later. Or, having several high cards in sequence in a plain suit, you may endeavor to win tricks with them, as early as possible, with- out regard for the rest of the hand. That is the high-card game. Or, you may make small trumps by rufif- ing a suit in which you were short origi- nally. If you start in with the lead of a very short suit (whose nature partner will recog- nize by the card led, as I will afterward ex- plain), and aim to win tricks by rufhng that suit, your method is the ruMng game, pure and simple. Finally, having length and strength in trumps, and at least one good plain suit or winning cards scattered among the three plain suits, you may lead trumps originally, with the object of exhausting the adver- saries' trumps and protecting whatever plain-suit strength you and your partner may have. I shall call this the trump attack. Each one of these five methods of winning tricks has the character of a distinct plan, or WHI8T OPENINGS. 17 form of strategy, if it is definitely adopted and indicated to partner either at the begin- ning or later during the play of a hand. You may, to be sure, start out with one end in view — that is, with one plan — and, some- thing better showing itself, may promptly switch to a quite different line of play. Such a proceeding does not destroy the sys- tematic character of the game. It changes the form of strategy, but is in itself pre- eminently strategic. He is the best strat- egist, indeed, who, knowing how to use his resources in the most effective manner, is always ready to adapt himself to circum- stances. I cannot teach the art of doing this. What I can do is to point out how, according to the short-suit theory, a hand should be opened, and how, in a general manner, the play may be developed, accord- ing to one plan or a combination of several plans; but at just what point in the progress of a certain game the player should change his tactics, he will always have to determine for himself. As an illustration of the seizure of opportunities resulting in the suc- cessive adoption of all five different forms of 18 HOWELL\S Strategy in one deal, I present the following: (Deal No. i8, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1895; 8 of Hearts turned. North leads from the hand Hearts, A 10 9; Clubs, K 10 9 6 2; Diamonds, 975; Spades, 8 5.) North. East. South. West. 1 8 « 5 7 9 5 # ^ A J ♦ 3 6 KO 4 8 ^ 4 A* QO J 2 3 4 2 5 10 ♦ ^ Q ^ 5 ^ K 4 4» 6 ^ J ^ 2 ^ 3 2 « * 7 *Q Jk A ^ 6 7 ^ 10 ^ 7 8 ^ 9 X 2 X 6 « 9 X K *io ^ 8 9 9 4|k 6 4k 10 7 Hb 100 11 3 # * 3 13 X 8 « 5 A J 13 A X 4 NOTES. Trick I — North, having the choice of two short suits, neither of which contains a proba- bly good supporting card, selects the shorter suit. The 8-spot led, as we shall see later, WHIST OPENINGS. 19 by this system indicates to partner a desire to play the ruffing game, with not more than two cards in the suit led. Contrary to expectation the 8 of Spades turns out in fact to be an excellent "strengthener" for partner's hand, and the lead therefore act- ually initiates the supporting-card game. Trick 2 — West plays the high-card game. Trick 4 — West's persistence in the Dia- mond suit, in spite of the certainty that the third round will be ruffed by one of the ad- versaries, is an indication, to everybody else at the table, of weakness in trumps. Trick 5 — South proceeds to clear his Spade suit, playing now the long-suit game, and at the same time giving partner his desired opportunity to ruff if he has no more Spades. Trick 6 — If East leads the Diamond, one adversary will discard and the other ruff. If he leads the Spade, South will win and North will get a discard, or else, if West can ruff, North will ruff over him. He cannot open his tenace in Clubs right up to North, who has strength in that suit if he has in anything. East is therefore almost forced to lead the trump as a defensive measure. 20 HOWELUS WHIST OPENINGS. It is not his fault that the trump lead gives the adversary a chance for a coup. That is a peculiarity of the short-suit game ; the ad- versary of the short-suit leader is much more frequently driven to the wall and compelled to adopt desperate measures than the ad- versary of the long-suiter is. The game is now over. North knows that neither ad- versary has more than three trumps, and partner has at least three left, including the King; he therefore wins his partner's trick and goes back with the trump, that partner may win the third round and make his spades. This is the trump attack late in hand, just when it is most effective. By no other method than the short-suit opening can either North or South make anything of his long suit, if the adversaries play good whist. After the long-suit open- ing from the Clubs, the North and South hands are worth only four tricks, as com- pared with seven, the result obtained above by short-suit play. As played at the Min- neapolis Congress, one North and South pair made four tricks, and the other, by frightfully bad play on the part of East, got in six. THE NEW OPENINGS. Every hand should be opened with one of the foregoing forms of strategy in view. Our theory is, in a word, that the original leader should consider only the possibilities of his own hand. Beyond that he knows nothing about the situation, and if he plays in such a way as most probably to do him- self good, and receives intelligent support from partner, he should in the long run achieve the greatest possible degree of suc- cess with his cards. But, in order to re- ceive intelligent support from partner, hei must give definite information by his orig-/ inal lead, and how he may do this I now/ propose to show. We have a system of original leads, evolved from long experience and a careful study of many hands, in which every one of the thirteen cards of a suit, originally led, has a certain particular meaning. With this system the player can inevitably declare, by the very first card that he lays on the table, which of the five forms of strategy he desires 21 22 HOWELUS to practise during that hand ; in other words, he tells the general character of his hand by the original lead. I am not an enemy of the information-giving game. It is not on ac- count of its informatory character that I object to the long-suit game. The player must give information, or a partnership game is out of the question. The only mat- ter of choice is, what sort of information is the most advantageous. I have always favored general information. Under the long-suit system, if you open the hand with a small lay card, you say: "Partner, this is the fourth-best of my longest suit. It may not be the best thing to play for, but here it is, and we can determine later whether or not we should stick to it" Now, I don't like that so much as what I can say if we play any one of the forms of strategy of the present short-suit system, as: for the long- suit game, "Partner, here is my best suit. It is fairly strong, and I have, besides, so much trump and reentry support, that if you can back me up just a little bit, we shall bring it in;" or, for the supporting-card game, "Part- ner, I haven't a long suit worth fighting for. WHIST OPENINGS. 23 Don't expect a trick from me in this suit, but help me make my high cards in other suits, and use rny trumps as_you see fit;" or, for the high-card game, 'Tartner, here's a very strong suit, the only thing in my hand worth considering. Let me get what I can out of it, and then look out for yourself;" or, for the ruffing game, "Partner, this suit is very short. I can certainly rufif it on the third round, and don't see anything better to do." When, after much figuring and experi- menting, I hit upon the means of giving all this information by the original lead, I felt that it was a revelation. However, whether it was a revelation or an illusion, I ask no- body to accept this system of leads on faith, but hope that all my readers may investigate their value in as careful and unbiased a man- ner as I have done. THE LONGSUIT QAflE. The elimination of the fourth-best, as an original lead from plain suits, is the first natural sequel of our theory of long-suit strategy. The fourth-best is quite unneces- sary now, because, when you open a long suit, you command partner to help you bring it in, regardless of all other considera- tions. The length or strength of your suit is none of his business; you will take care of that. Moreover, some of those cards which are now led as fourth-bests are needed for a special purpose in our system. A thorough investigation convinces me that the only cards required as low leads from long suits are the four smallest — 2, 3, 4 and 5. I can- not say that even these are absolutely neces- sary ; for, according to our ideas of the long- suit game, a player is very seldom justified in adopting that form of strategy unless he is strong enough in trumps to lead them be- fore starting his suit. My own inclinations in this regard are radical. By reserving the 2, 3, 4 and 5 for long-suit leads I give plenty WHIST OPENINGS. 25 of latitude to any short-suit player who may not be quite satisfied to restrict himself with- in the limits advised in this book; but, for myself, I am nearly ready to throw over- board altogether the low-card lead from long- suits, except as a purely conventional indication of trump strength, or as a bold venture for a great score. Here is a hand from which I supposed such a lead was surely advisable: Hearts, Q J 8; Clubs, A lo 9 6 3; Diamonds, Q 5 2; Spades, A 2, and yet, when I gave it to a short-suiter to play, he opened with the Ace and 2 of Spades, and made one more trick than it is possible to make by any other original lead. I considered the lead of 3 of Clubs probably the best because that suit seemed to be worth playing for, because there are reentry cards in the other plain suits, and because the trump strength of the hand is above the average. There was a fair chance, in my judgment, of establishing and then bringing in the Clubs. My friend, how- ever, is even a shorter-suiter than myself, and his judgment led him into the ''short- suit lane.-' This was the play: 26 HOWELL'S North. East. South. West. 1 A 4k 4 ♦ K # 3 # J ♦ Q # 6 # 8 2 4|k 2 ♦ 3 ^ Q 7 4 3 ... 5 ♦ ♦ 5 ^ 2 ^ 3 ^ 5 9 # lO* 3 6 9 J 8 4|k 4 * J X 4- 5 ^ 7 ^ 9 (^ K ^ 4 6 Z> J 9? 6 7 <;:? 8 A A '^ lO 8 *Q X 2 ♦ 7 lOO KO ^ A A K 9 A10 X 8 10 A 9 4 11 X 6 7 12 5 QO A 8 13 , NOTES. (This is deal No. 8, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1894; 6 of Hearts turned). Trick I — North's play is not a "lucky shot," but a scientific and well-considered lead, made for the purpose of preserving his tenace strength in Clubs until a favorable opportunity for using it should arise. Trick 3 — In East's situation some players WHIST OPENINGS. 27 would Open the Diamond suit, and others would lead the singleton Club, but his actual play is as good as any other. The situation is an excellent illustration of the dilemma in Vv^hich the adversary of the short-suit leader is commonly placed when the latter has led into his strongest suit. Whether to con- tinue his suit, or to start trumps, or to open another long suit, or to lead short, is the question that perplexes him; and his per- plexity is always to the advantage of the short-suit partners. Trick 4 — South leads Jack instead of Queen because under this system Queen in- dicates not more than two in suit. Trick 5 — The Jack of Clubs having won, rendering it probable that partner has the Ace, South starts trumps. North, by play- ing Queen before Jack, shows at least one more trump remaining, by a form of the "three-trump echo." The remainder of the hand plays itself. North and South win eleven tricks, whereas by the long-suit open- ing of the Clubs they cannot get more than ten, and are more likely to get only nine. The onlv wav to make the most out of the 28 HOWELUS Clubs is to delay the development until the situation is clear for South to come through with his Queen and kill West's King. In order to give every player sufficient room to exercise his long-suit proclivities, if he is loth to abandon them altogether, I enunciate the following maxim, which, I think, is quite liberal: Play the long-suit game if you have a good plain suit, fair strength in trumps, and at least one reasonably probable card of reentry in an- other suit On SO much (or so little) I insist. An at- tempt to play the long-suit game with less strength than this is a speculation, which is justifiable only under rare conditions. Now let us see what the three elements of strength here mentioned are held to mean to the consistent short-suiter. First, there is the good plain suit. Under that head come a few — and only a very few — four-card combinations. The funda- mental condition seems to be that the suit, after establishment and protection, should be worth at least two tricks. Three four- card combinations satisfactorilv meet that WHIST OPENINGS. 29 requirement — A K x x, K Q J x, and K O lo X. There are two others — A Q J x and Q J lo X — which appear to come up to the mark, but the latter is generaUy too hard to estabhsh, unless you have cards of reentry in both the other plain suits, and the other is a tenace combination from which the short- suiter hates to lead unless he is compelled to, or has a great game in sight. We can therefore lay it down as a rule that the only four-card suits worth opening for an at- tempt at the long-suit game, pure and simple, are A K x x, K Q J x and K Q lo x; but weaker suits, or suits containing ten- aces, may be opened under compulsion, or as speculative coups, or for the sake of in- formation, as we shall afterward see. The good five-card suits are those which contain at least two high cards (counting the lo as a high card), excepting, as a gen- eral thing, suits headed by A Q, A J or K J. These are the three tenaces to which I have referred. A O is the major tenace, K J the minor tenace; and A J, I shall call the vice- tenace (a term invented, I believe, by Fos- ter), because it becomes the major tenace 30 EOWELUS as soon as one of the honors (K or Q) falls. Here, once for all, I want to say that the radical short-suiter avoids touching tenace suits in the opening, no matter how long they may be, unless they are backed by other strength of a pronounced character. By originally holding on to A Q J x x x x, for instance, and leading short, you may lose a trick, to be sure, but I believe that the chances are against it, and my faith in the short leads is so firm that I consider your prospect of gain far greater than that of loss. This is carrying the short-suit theory to its limit, but why be afraid? We have had enough of the long-suit game with short-suit attachments, and the short- suit game with long-suit frills. Between the two styles of play there is no happy medium, any more than there is be- tween oil and water. If I see an oppor- tunity, or even a plausible chance, for the long-suit game, I try to improve it, but if the short suit appears to me to be the cor- rect thing in a given hand I am not going to abandon it for the sake of getting in a single Ace "out of the wet." WHIST OPENINGS. 31 The chance of gain by ''nursing" A Q and four small, if there is not a reasonable hope of establishing and bringing in the suit, is practically as good as when the tenace is accompanied by only one other. Insufficiently supported, the long tenace suit should be treated like a short one, be- cause only the top cards are Hkely to be ef- fective. When we come to suits of more than five cards, I am willing to call them good if they contain at least one high card (placing the lo in that category). Of course I except suits headed by the major, minor or vice- tenace, unless, with the rest of the hand, they afford hope of a decided gain. What I call the speculative coup in the opening is illustrated by the following ex- ample of long-suit play — a bold try for a big gain, leading low, for partner's instruction, from a long tenace suit, without the regula- tion means of reentry (deal No. 31, A. W. L. Trophy finals, 1895; 9 of Hearts turned): The leader's hand — Hearts, A 10 8 6; Clubs, A Q 8 763; Diamonds, Q 7; Spades, 6. The play — 32 HOWELUS NORTH. East. South. West. 1 ♦ 3 6 ♦ Q? A A 4 8 « (^ 7 ^ Q 3 6 8 9 loo J KO Q ♦ A *io A A 104k % 3 ^ 2 ^ K <^ 3 4 ^ 6 ^ 8 X Q ^ 5 5 ^ J Q? 9 6 * 5 ♦ 2 2 4 4|k 5 4k <^ 4 4k 9 7 4k A 4k K 8 4k 8 4 5 9 4 7 10 A 6 2 4k 11 QO 3 4k 13 9 4» 7 # J 4k 13 7 K 4k NOTE. The original lead of a trump will not do so well, because, after three rounds, partner will be in without knowledge of your suit. The small card lead by this system is three tricks better than the usual Ace first. Next, let us see what we mean by fair trump strength. I am almost disposed to leave this matter, without more words, to WHIST OPENINGS . 33 the player's judgment, but I submit this maxim — that You should not indicate the long-suit game by your original lead unless you are perfectly willing that partner should immediately lead trumps, from strong or weak ones. This is an immediate result of our under- standing of the long-suit game. If partner wins the first trick in your long suit, he is bound to play for your suit instanter, and of course a trump lead is generally the first step in that direction. My own experience is that the original leader should not at- tempt nor indicate the long-suit game unless he has four trumps with an honor, or two honors, irrespective of length. Still, I do not wish to lay down a hard-and-fast rule to that effect. The player must use his dis- cretion, always keeping in mind the maxim above enunciated. In this connection it is important to re- member that if you have two trumps origi- nally, it is about an even chance that partner has four or more. You cannot depend on him for good ones, but if you have the good ones yourself, even though they be only two 34 HOWELUS in number, you may take chances, if you like, on his having the length. Here is an example of the long-suit game, the original leader having two high trumps and depending on partner for length (deal No. 5, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1893; 2 of Hearts turned) : The leader's hand — Hearts, A Q; Clubs, K 9 6 3 2; Diamonds, 10 9 7 3; Spades, Kj: The play — North. East. South. West. 1 « 2 ^ A * 5 ^ 7 ^ 9 *io 4 # 6 4k 8 4k 4 9 # Q* 6 KO A # A A 4k 4 2 ^ 8 ^ K ^ 2 3 ^ Q * 3 A K 2 4 X J 4k 8 6 « 7 3 ♦ 5 ♦ ^ 3 4k Q 6 * 9 5 7 * 6 8 8 3 7 9 100 J ♦ K ♦ J 9 Z> 4 Q 10 ^ 5 2 4k 11 <^ 6 7 4k 12... ^ 10 104k 13 ^ J A WHILST OPEXIXGS. 35 NOTE. The original lead of 9 of Diamonds (sup- porting-card game) should effect the same result. The third essential of the long-suit hand is a reasonably probable card of reentry out- side of the best suit. An established suit, even with trumps out of the way, is of no value unless you can "get in" to make it. And since, very generally, you are not in the lead when you want to be, and cannot obtain the lead with a card in your established suit, an attempt to play the long-suit game is almost certainly futile unless, at the outset, you have sufficient means of reentry. The one reasonably probable card of reentry is what I may call the minimum limit of auxiliary long-suit strength. An Ace, a King or Queen guarded, or a fifth trump, may be regarded as satisfying this condi- tion. As I have already intimated, the long- suit form of strategy can profitably be adopted but seldom in the opening of a hand. It generally comes in later, after a 36 HOWELUS trump attack or a short-suit opening, as opportunity arises. I fancy, indeed, that with the general adoption of the short-suit play more long suits will be brought in than now ever "see daylight." The most valu- able use of the long-suit opening is, how- ever, yet to be explained. In this system the original lead of a very small card — 2, 3, 4 or 5 — indicates the leader's desire to play the long-suit game, with all therein implied. What it implied principally, so far as the leader's partner is concerned, is that, with any strength at all in his hand, he should lead trumps at the earliest opportunity. In other words, the original lead of a 2, 3, 4 or 5 is an invitation to partner to lead trumps — a very pressing invitation, too, which amounts to a command when partner wins the first trick. It is easy enough to extend this idea, and lay down the general proposi- tion that — With any hand such that you desire trumps to be led, but do not consider it advisable to start them yourself, it is proper to lead originally a low card — 2, 3, 4 or 5 — of a plain suit. We have here a logical convention, which WHIST OPEXIXaS. 37 may be applied with effect to several classes of hands. In the first place there is the hand containing five trumps, with a weak orN only moderately strong four-card suit, and/ little or no strength besides. From such aL hand the best players have always favored the plain-suit opening, but at the same time they have always felt that they ran a risk of disaster in delaying the trump lead. With our system theplain-suit opening is rendered quite safe, for if partner has any means of support in his hand — as he almost invariably will have — he will give you the trump as soon as he gets the lead. From the follow- ing hand, for example (deal No. 23, A. W. L. Trophy finals, 1895; Jack of Hearts turned), only the most forward trump- leader would gratify his inclination: Hearts, 95432; Clubs, A 10 6 5; Diamonds, K 10 8; Spades, 10. By our system the player can open his Club suit and at the same time indicate his strength in trumps. This is how the deal was played for me by two short-suiters (North and South) against two long-suiters: 38 HOWELUS North. East. South, i West. 1 1 *5 ^ 2 ^ 3 ^-4 * K * 2 7 ♦ A ♦ ^7 k? A ^lO 1^8 3 ♦' 2 ♦ ^ K * 3 Q ♦ * 4 4 6 * 7 4 4k ^ 6 ^ J K4 2 3 4 6 6 ^ 5 ^ 9 ^ Q J 4k 7 8 K 2 9 lOO 8 * 6 *io 7 9 6 4k 8* 9* J 3 10 Q 5 11 .. A * J 4k 8 54k * 9 *Q 13 13 NOTES. Trick 2 — South, seeing the trumps, Clubs and Diamonds in his own and partners hands, wastes no time on the Spades, but jumps in at second hand and makes sure of two rounds of trumps at once. Trick 6 — North takes the chance of find- ing both the remaining trumps in one hand, but he gives partner credit for some protec- tion in the Spade suit. WHIST OPEXIXGS. 39 Trick 8 — South having discarded two Clubs, North plays for the Diamonds, re- taining command and tenace advantage in Clubs. The result is complete success for bold play throughout, based on the valuable information of trump strength given by North's original lead. North and South win ten tricks; at the ^Minneapolis Congress one North and South pair got six, and the other seven. Again, suppose that an honor is turned at your right, and you want trumps to come through it. The "modern scientific" and much practised device to command partner to lead through the honor turned is an irregular original opening, which in prin- ciple is so unreasonable — a weak lead as an indication of strength — that many of the best players have discarded the play after a thorough trial of its virtues. It works beautifully sometimes, but, like all other illogical and purely artificial conventions, it is a loser in the long run. By our system, however, if we want a lead through the honor turned, we can open a plain suit with 40 HOWELL'S a small card (2, 3, 4 or 5), thereby at once giving the necessary command to partner and treating the leaders hand according to its deserts. Take, for example, deal No. 14, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1893; King of Hearts turned. The leader's hand — Hearts, A J 8 2; Clubs, A O 10 7 6 2; Diamonds, J 6 5; Spades, none. The play- — North. East. South. West. 1 A 2 5 ^ J 6 ^ 2 ^ 8 *K * 4 Q ♦ « 5 2 lO* ^ Q 2 # 3 ^ 9 A 4 9? 10 4 J ♦ ^ 4- 2 3 * 8 4- 7 6 # 9 4|» 3 ♦ 6 Z> 7 ^ 3 6 ^ 6 4 4k « 3 7 4k 8 100 KO A ^ 5 7 Z> A ^ K 8 4k A ♦ 9 9 A J 10 X10 5 4k 11 * 7 8 4k 13 9 13 J Q WHLST OFEXIXG.S. 41 NOTE. There is a gain here, over any other method of play, of one trick for North and South. There is still another case, of less import- ance than either of the others, but of occa- sional occurrence, in which a small card (2, 3, 4 or 5) can be led originally as a trump call. It is when you have a very long, weak suit, two other suits of considerable strength, and no trumps. With this hold- ing it is nearly always advantageous for you to have trumps led, and by our system you can impart your desire to partner by start- ing your long, weak suit. When trumps are led you can discard that suit if you wish, or, if you find that partner has support in it, you can discard from the other suits, keep- ing only the high cards for reentry. For example, you would lead 2 of Clubs from the following hand (deal No. 24, A. W. L. finals, 1894): Hearts, none; Clubs, 986542; Diamonds, K O 6 3; Spades, A Q 7. 9 of Hearts turned. The play — 42 HOWELL' H WHI^T OPEXIXiLS. North. East. South. West. 1 * 2 7 4 3 * 4 « 5 6 41 6 * 8 Q * Q ^ 3 9? 5 ^ lO * 7 K 4k 2 4k 2 3 ^ K ^ 2 4 Z> A ^ 4 6 ^ 7 ^ 8 * J 4 J 4 ♦ 9 4k 8 A ^ 6 6 ^ Q ^ J 7 4k A 3 4k 8 4k lO 5 4k 9 9 4k 3 6 4» J ♦ 5 2 10 * 9 Q 0t ^ 9 11 8 4k 12 A # 7 13 KO lOO THE SUPPORTING-CARD GAME. We come next to the supporting-card game, which under our system is in many respects the most important division of whist strategy, because it is the most gen- erally available and the most frequently adopted. It is, indeed, the essence of short- suit play — the theme, of which the other forms of strategy are but variations. It is a hard game to play, requiring close obser- vation, fine judgment, and a steady nerve. It is also a hard game to play against. If one hopes to attain success at the support- ing-card game, he must cultivate whist per- ception until he is able to see and seize opportunities, whenever and however pre- sented, with the alacrity and force of a fencer or a pugilist. It is a game of oppor- tunity. The original lead of a supporting card from a suit that is itself worthless, so far as winning tricks is concerned, is in the nature of a sacrifice. Such an opening at whist I may liken to a gambit at chess, where the player sacrifices a pawn at the out- 43 44 H0WELU8 set, thereby freeing his game, and after- ward plays for position and for attack upon the exposed points in his adversary's Hne. Both the supporting-card opening at whist and the gambit at chess afford the greatest possible scope for the subsequent exercise of genius and skill, and lead to the most in- teresting developments in the progress of play. At this style of game "piano" hands — another name for excessive dullness and waste of time — are much less numerous than under the flat long-suit routine. The original lead at the supporting-card game is not a very complicated matter. If the hand does not contain the elements of strength necessary for an attempt to play the long-suit form of strategy, nor a plain suit so very strong as to justify the high- card opening, nor trumps sufficient to war- rant the trump attack, the player must resort to the supporting-card or the "rufhng" lead. Since the latter is but a modification or special instance of the former, I shall for the present confine my attention to the support- ing-card game. For this opening w^e re- serve four cards — Queen, Jack, lo and 9. WHIST OPEN ly as. 45 They are generally led as the highest of short, weak suits. I wish to state at once, however, and emphatically, that while our Queen, Jack, lo and 9 are generally "the top of nothing," they by no means abso- lutely deny better cards in the suit opened. That is, we are free to use supporting cards as interior leads. The Queen is an excep- tion. Since it is unsafe to lead. a Queen from the head of three or more in suit, un- less it is accompanied by the Jack, we re- serve the Queen lead for not more than two in suit, and, of course, the higher of those two. From a suit of Q J x we lead J. As the best card Jack is led from not more than three in suit, but as an interior card it is led also from Q J and one or more others, and also, under compulsion, from K J 10 and A J 10, not more than three in suit. From A J 10 and one, and K J 10 and one or more small cards, the proper supporting-card lead is the 10, the principle being: Of two supporting cards in sequence the higher is led from a short, and the lower from a long, suit. Hence, from J 10 x lead J, but from J 10 X x lead 10. The 10 mav also be led effect- 46 EOWELUS ively from A109, K109, Q109, and under compulsion from other combinations, which I need not enumerate, but which the player will recognize as occasion arises. As the ''top of nothing'' the 10 is led from more than three in suit, in which respect it is unlike the Jack and Queen. The 9 is led from even more combinations than the 10. It is hardly a "supporting" card, but is used in that sense in order to give a sufficient latitude of choice to the original leader. As an interior lead the 9 is particularly service- able. The principle above enunciated relative to supporting cards in sequence applies to 10 9 as well as to J 10. It appears to be available with reference to Q J only when accompanied by 10; in which case, if the suit is long, J is followed by Q, and, if the suit is short, by 10. At the supporting-card lead from the in- terior of suits many players may shake their heads in distrust, fancying that it renders too indefinite for partner the character of the suit originally led. If, however, they wall consider that this indefiniteness of meaning WHIST OPENINGS. 47 is imparted also to the adversaries, their objection will lose a great deal of its force. And if, still further, they will remember that a common and very effectual defence to the ordinary, crude short-suit game is the play up to weakness from the left-hand adversary of the original leader, and that the practice of opening suits from the inside, as well as from the top, nullifies this defence, my doubting friends will be almost ready to agree with me that the interior lead, far from being a drawback, is a safeguard of the sup- porting-card game. From the hand (deal No. 7, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1894), Hearts, A 7 4; Clubs, K 10 7 6; Dia- monds, A 9 8; Clubs, A 3 2, the proper original lead is 10 of Clubs, because it at once conveys to partner correct informa- tion as to the general character of your hand, and is most likely to result advan- tageously for yourself. This deal was played as follows by two short-suiters. North and South, against two "longs," East and West. 6 of Hearts turned. The play — 48 HOWELL'S North. East. South. West. 1 ♦ lO 8 * 6 ^ 4 <^ A * J <^ 3 ♦ A ♦ 3 3 KO « 9 3 3 * 2 ^ 5 ^ 2 J « ♦ 8 4 ^Q <:? 6 6 ^ 9 7 « 8 « lO* 2 40 6 J ^ 8 6 ^7 2 Hk 3 4|k A * 7 ^ K 4 4k 5 4k 7 8 Q 4k 9 6 Hk ^ J 9 4k 5 K 4k 10 11 ♦ 4 * 5 *Q 13 A K 7 lOO 13 9 NOTES. Trick 3 — As the cards lie, East's lead of 2 of Clubs is about the worst thing he could do, but it also appears to be the best. He supposes that partner has King of Clubs, and plays to clear the suit. The situation is another forcible illustration of the dilemma in which the adversary of the short-suit leader is so apt to find himself at the second or third trick of a hand. WHIST OPEXIXGS. 49 Trick 4 — South's trump lead is an in- stance of the seizure of opportunities, to which I have referred as a characteristic of the supporting-card game. Trick 8 — North's underplay saves a trick. The rest of the play is simple. North and South win two more tricks than they could by an original long-suit lead. I have said that we open K J lo or A J ID with J under compulsion, by which I mean that we resort to such a lead only when we have no short suit headed by a proper card (Q, J, lo or 9), because K J 10 and A J 10 are tenace combinations, and the short-suiter will not ruthlessly break into a tenace combination. From K J x and A J X the Jack lead is positively disadvan- tageous, and rather than open one of these combinations, if the hand presents no other opportunity for a correct informatory lead in a plain suit, I would fall back on the re- source of starting trumps, either from strength or from weakness. Above all, the original leader must fight shy of deceptive openings. An example of the trump lead as a subterfuge is found in this hand (deal 50 H0WELU8 No. 42, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1895): Hearts, 872; Clubs, K Q 9 8; Dia- monds, Q 7 6 3; Spades, K 10, from which I should not hesitate to lead 8 of Hearts. The only other plausible opening is King of Clubs, but the short-suiter would prefer to do almost anything rather than start a K Q X X suit. If that is the best suit he has, he can hardly lose anything by re- fusing to open it, and may gain through the Ace being led by the adversary. An exam- ple of such a gain may be found on page 6^^. I append several examples of short-suit play with the supporting-card opening, which the student should carefully examine. Gambit opening from a hand approach- ing long-suit strength, but not quite good enough for long-suit treatment (deal No. 16, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1893); 8 of Hearts turned. The leader's hand — Hearts, K J 5 3; Clubs, 10 9 74 2; Diamonds, A J; Spades, J 7. The play — WHIST OPEXIXGS. 51 XOKTH. East. South. West. 1 J ♦ ^ 3 A 2 4k ^ 2 2 3 8 « ^ 4 « J 8 3 A 4*1 I^ A 2 ^lO ^ 8 3.: K fS A 4 J 4 7 5 7 Hk ^ J Q * 104b 6 ^ 6 4k K ^ 7 7 *io « 2 * 4 ^ 5 * 7 <3? K A 3 8 Q loo 9 Q A ^9 ^ A 4k 6 10 1 cs A X c; 11 4k A * 8 13 9 ♦ 6 # A* 6 ^ Q X 9 ±Q_ The short-suit play is at least one trick better than the long on this deal. Gambit opening from a hand which in plain suits is slightly stronger than the fore- going (deal Xo. 30, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1893); 6 of Hearts turned. The leaders hand — Hearts, O 8 3 2; Clubs, A J 5 4; Diamonds, 10 6 4; Spades, J 8. The play — 52 HOWELUS North. East. South. West. 1 J 4k 2 4k A 4k 9 4k Q 4k 2 5 ^ 4 7 ^ 5 ^ 9 * 2 4 9 4 4k 2 • 8 4k 4 6 ^ Q 7 4k 3 K 9 4 QO 3 5 A ^ 6 6 loO ^ 2 ^ 3 ^ 8 * 4 * 5 4k J 4k A J 7 ^ 7 3* 5 4k * 7 6 4k 104k 8 ^ A 8 9 Z> K 10 * 3 11 4k K 4k 6 13 K 4k 4k 8 13 *Q 4k lO Gambit opening worth two tricks more than long-suit. Supporting-card opening and ruffing- card return (deal No. 5, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1894); 9 of Hearts turned. The leader's hand — Hearts, 863; Clubs, A 8 6 2; Diamonds, J 9 5; Spades, 986. The play — WHIST OPENINGS. 53 NORTH. East. South. West. 1 J 6 ♦ 8 « A A QO 5 ♦ Q* ♦ 9 '^ lO A 6 2 7 4k ^ 5 A 4k 3 4 * 3 2 <;? 7 4 * 7 A K X 5 6 9 4k ^ 3 ^ 6 Q? 8 * 2 90 5 41 6 4k 8 2 4k 6 ^ A ^ 9 7 ^ J ^ Q ■ (^ K 8 J 4k 9 ♦ 4 K AlO 10 7 4k J 8 lOO 3 4k 11 '^ 4- 4 4k 12 ^ 2 io# 13 3 4k Q Would a trump lead from West be justi- fiable at trick 3? If not, the gambit play is plus two tricks. Gambit opening from very weak hand (deal No. 18, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1894); 9 of Hearts turned. The leader's hand — Hearts, 7; Clubs, K 7 6 5 3; Dia- monds, Q J 8 6 2; Spades, 9 7. The play — 54 HOWELU& NORTH. East. South. West. 1 9 ♦ 7 « 2 ^ 7 6 * 3 * K 2 # J ♦ ^ 5 ^ 3 *9 *Q KO 4 Z> 2 Q ♦ 8 ^ 2 A ^|^ 3 # 3 4 « ^ 8 A 2 4k A ^ J ^A ^ K 4k J 4.. 5 6 ^ 4k 4 A 4k 8 8 •. J Q 5 9 7 4k lO 5 4k 6 ♦ 3 9 10.. * 5 8 * 6 * 7 lOO 11.... K* Q? 4 18 «:? 6 13 ^ Q 7 2 12 ■^^ ^ 10 4 13 J ♦ 9 WHIST OPENINGS. NOTES. Trick 4 — It goes almost without saying that North's lead of 2 of Clubs so late in hand is not indicative of the long-suit game, but is only to put partner in, if possible, for another round of Spades. The play throughout is plain and straightforward, and by the success of the ruffing game, pure and simple, gains two tricks for North and South over the best long-suit methods. Second hand should cover one of the rufhng-card leads. Through a failure to do so I have seen many hands slaughtered. Third hand, in turn, should finesse very deeply. If second hand covers, just top him; and if he does not cover, don't try to win unless you have considerable strength in the suit. If you win the trick, send the suit right back, unless you have the long- suit game in your hand, or a powerful high- card suit. The ruffing game per sc, apart from its supporting qualities, calls for quick action. Partner having bid for it, don't 70 EOWELUS start another suit yourself until you have got out of the rufif all there is in it. Fourth hand will frequently win the first trick of a ruffing game lead. What he should then do is sometimes difficult to determine. I don't know of any universal maxim applicable to his play, but the "don'ts" that I gave him for use in the sup- porting-card game are equally good in this connection. With six or more trumps, lead a single- ton, if you have it, whatever its size may be. If it is small, and partner takes it for a trump call, no harm is done; and if it is a regular short-suit card (6 to Q), or even K or A, you can take care of anything the adversaries may afterward do. Here is a somewhat pretty illustration of the superior- ity of the short over the long lead from a hand containing six trumps and a weak five- card suit (deal No. 2, Hamilton Trophy finals, 1894), Ace of Hearts turned, the leader's hand being Hearts, J 10 7 5 4 2; Clubs, J 8 7 6 5; Diamonds, 8; Spades, 5. The play — WHIST OPEXINGS. 71 North. East. South. West. 1 8 ^ 5 lOO 3 * 2 AO ^ 3 3 # * 3 4 4|k * 4 * 9 * Q 9 # Q 5 J *io 2 2 * A 3 * 5 5 4k ^ 2 Z> 4 4 4 <^ 6 Z> 8 ^ A A 4|b 5 . 7 « 6 * 7 *8 * J ^ 7 4k K 8 K 2 4k 9 9 6 4k 10 7 7 4k 11 6 C9 P S 4k J2 <:? J J 4k 13 ^lO K A c^ K" Q4k NOTES. Trick 3 — It may be laid down as a general rule that after yon have had one ruff at this style of game, you should try to put your partner in for another force by means of your best suit. Hence North's play of 5 of Clubs, and not, as some crude short-suiters would select, 5 of spades. Trick 4 — West's play is bad. By discard- ing a Spade he makes sure of one more trick. 72 HOWELUS North and South win eleven tricks, two more than either North and South pair got at Philadelphia. With the best play on the East and West side the short-suit lead is worth one more than the long. Another: (Deal No. i, A. W. L. Trophy finals, 1894), 10 of Hearts turned, the leader's hand being. Hearts, K 7 5 4; Clubs, J 6 4 3 2; Diamonds, 743; Spades, K. The play — North. East. South. West. 1 2 K « ♦ 2 3 40 7 « 3 Q? 4 5 ♦ A A 2 A * 8 A A* * Q 3 Q 7 « 8 « 2 5 ^ Q J 4 6 4 5 . J ♦ ^ 6 Z> A 6 4k K 7 9 3 ♦ ^ J A 5 8 ♦ 4 ^ 5 ^ 7 A 7 9 ^ 9 6 ^ 8 100 K ^ 2 IG 8 4 # 9 4 10 ♦ A 9 n Z> K ^ 3 11 * J ♦ 10 13 A 6 cr>io WHIST OPEXIXGS. 73 NOTES. Trick I — North has not six trumps, but liis lead is the best from the hand. His long, weak Clubs, without a card of reentry, are worthless, and the only thing he can do is to try for partner's suit. Trick 5 — I am unable to say what West's best play here is, but what he does is in ac- cordance with the usual practice. Trick 6 — Here, however. West should certainly lead a trump, and by his failure to do so he loses two tricks. Xorth and South win eight tricks. They are entitled to six after the short-suit open- ing. At Philadelphia each North and South pair got three out of their hands. The Queen lead (from not more than two in suit, invariably) is not to be considered a bid for the ruff, but partner should never hesitate to force you in the suit if he sees nothing better to do. A peculiar lead, sometimes necessary in carrying out the short-suit idea, is that of A 74 HOWELL^"^ WHIST OPENINGS. followed by a small one, which should in general be adopted with only just two cards in suit, although it may be advisable some- times with as many as three. (See the third illustrative deal given in this book — page 26.) THE HIGH=CARD GAME. We come now to the high-card game, of which httle is to be said. The only regular high-card openings are from A K and at least three small, A K Q and one or more small, and K Q J and one or more small. Only with exceptional hands is it ever neces- sary to make high-card leads from suits not so strong as these. In playing the high- card game straight — that is, when you don't expect to make anything beyond a trick or two in your strong suit — open the suit from the top, and play it downward, as an indica- tion to parti:r:i\ If, on the other hand, you have a hope of bringing your suit in, it is better to lead K from all three of the combi- nations above given. At all events don't use the number-showing American leads. 75 THE TRUMP ATTACK. The trump attack I believe to be justifi- able in three instances: First, when your hand is strong all around, regardless of the number of your trumps; secondly, when you have five or more trumps (or four very good ones) and one good plain suit; thirdly, perhaps, when you have just five trumps and no four-card suit. Upon the last-named condition I do not insist. By using this sys- tem of play we have an advantage over the long-suiter, in that, having five trumps, we can indicate trump strength without open- ing, them, through the lead of a small card from a moderately good four-card (or a weak five-card) suit. Of course, if the long plain suit is also strong, anybody will lead from five trumps to protect it; but if you have no four-card suit along with the trumps, you may or may not initiate the trump attack, according to your individual judgment and inclination. A safe principle to go by is this — that the object of the trump attack is to exhaust the adversaries' trumps. WHIST OPENINGS. 77 SO that they may not ruff your winning cards; but if you have no winning cards, there is no use getting trumps out for what you may possibly find in partner's hand. That is a pure gamble, and trimips are too valuable to gamble with. Dont make an original lead of trumps without an object, and the only sound object that you can have is the protection of your own plain-suit strength. I wish to warn the player also against speculative trump leads, late in hand, at the supporting-card game. This style of play requires patience, and the nervy short-suiter will often enough enjoy injudi- cious trump leads from the adversary, with- out committing the same error himself. An efficacious form of the trump attack that does not come under any of the fore- going heads is the lead of a singleton small trump when each of the plain suits contains at least three cards and fair protection. In this case you cannot hope to win a trick by ruffing, and if you find partner strong you will be glad to see him go on and draw two trumps for one, a proceeding that is inevi- tably expensive for the adversary. 78 HOWELUS WHILST OPENINGS. A very valuable rule for the trump attack, which, however, commonly comes into play after the development of the hand, is this maxim of Foster's: With an established suit (either in your own or in partner's hand) , four trumps, and a card of re- entry in another suit, lead trumps. In trumps use the American leads to show number, including the fourth-best; lead the fourth-best from K J lo and others, and lo from Q J lo and others. SECONDARY LEADS. All that I have so far said apphes specif- ically to cases in which the short-suiter has the original lead. If he and his partner are second and fourth hands, with long-suit ad- versaries, they will commonly learn from the first trick all they require to know about the subsequent conduct of the hand. They must freely use that powerful tactical weapon of leading up to the weak and through the strong hand. If a short-suiter wins the first trick at fourth-hand, and has not more than two remaining in the suit led, with no high-card combination to open, he should nearly always return the suit at once, through the original leader. In this situa- tion underplay freely. If, as only seldom happens, you cannot shape your play by the development of the hand previous to your getting in, you can go on as though it were your original lead. An observant partner can always tell whether you are playing to the fall of the cards or for the sake of giving information to him. Beyond urging the 79 80 HOWELU^ WEIST OPENINGS. player, as emphatically as I can, to lead up to the weak and through the strong long- suit hands, I cannot lay down any maxims for his guidance at second and fourth hands, except this, which is gospel for the short- suiter at all times and in all situations : Keep your nerve, and don't turn a hair even if the development seems to run dead against you ; stick to your game, and sooner or later the adversary will abandon his, which shall be the short-suiter's victory and reward. I have never known it to fail; the adver- sary of the short-suiter is insensibly led into an imitation of the same style of play, but he falls short of the mark because he has no system nor consistency in his aim. Out- landish "shots" have no place in the real short-suit play; they are rather character- istic of the w^avering long-suiter, who has not the courage of his convictions nor the faith of yours. SIGNALS AND DISCARDS. Signals and discards remain to be con- sidered. In a game that has so much of the ruffing element about it, the player should prepare a trump call early, if he wants to have trumps led by partner. Therefore we use the call perhaps oftener than the long suiters. On the adversary's lead, having four or more trumps, always at least pre- pare to call, provided you can conceal the call later if you wish. The four-trump signal (made by playing the penultimate, then the ante-penultimate and then the lowest of a suit led by the adversary) is one of the most valuable devices conceivable in connection with this system of play, and it should be employed whenever feasible. On partner's call or trump lead, or after he has opened the hand with a small card, echo with three or more trumps. There are several variations and refinements of the three-trump echo, but the most valuable in the main is the simple echo with three or 81 82 HOWELUS WHIST OPENINGS. more, either in the trump suit or in a plain suit. Discard always from a suit that you do not want led (which will generally, but not invariably, be your weakest suit), if you can do so without tmguarding an honor or blanking an Ace; but if you have to discard from a suit in which you have strength, make the reverse discard, or call in the suit. Or, if a suit is led by the adversary or by partner, and it is apparent that you will have command after two rounds, call in the suit whenever the signal cannot be mistaken for a trump call. LAW OF STRATEGY. To sum up : Each of the five forms of whist strategy is a plan. That plan which appears to be the best for his own hand the original leader should choose and clearly indicate by his original lead, and his partner should then cooperate in the development and execution of that plan, unless or until he can adopt a distinct- ly better or more profitable form of strategy. This is the grand law of whist strategy as the systematic short-suiter understands it. I hope that no long-suit critic of this system will call it a "mongrel" or a "guerrilla" game. Not that a mongrel is naturally worthless, nor a guerrilla habitually a scoundrel; but this theory is neither a shot in the dark nor a cross between two breeds. It is a tried theory, whose practical application, in the full light of day, has been uniformly successful over the long-suit routine ; and it is by no means a hybrid long- and-short afifair, because its crowning char- acteristic is distinctly short-suit play. riEANINQS OF LEADS. Here, in brief, are the meanings of the leads pecuHar to this system: Ace — followed by King, indicates the high-card game, generally five or more in suit, with little or no strength outside of the suit led; followed by small card, indicates the rufhng game, with probably no more in the suit led. King — followed by Ace, indicates the high-card game, but greater accompanying strength than Ace followed by King; un- accompanied by Ace, indicates the high- card game, with probably Queen and Jack and others of the suit remaining. Queen — indicates the supporting-card game, and not more than two in suit. Jack — followed by Queen, indicates the high-card game, the suit led being Q J lo and others; followed by Ace or King or a small card, indicates the supporting-card game, and generally not more than three in suit. 10 or 9 — indicates the supporting-card 84 HOWELUS WHIST OPEXINGS. 85 game; followed by Jack or lo, respectively, indicates a suit of four or more; does not deny higher cards in the suit. 8, 7 or 6 — indicates the rufhng game, with generally not more than two in suit; gener- ally denies any higher card in the suit. 5, 4, 3 or 2 — indicates the long-suit game, with probably a good suit, and certainly trump strength; commands partner, if he gets in early, to lead trumps. EXAHPLES OF LEADS. As examples of "the card to lead" I sub- mit the following hands, which were the leaders' in the final contests of the Ameri- can Whist League Congresses in 1892, 1893, 1894 and 1895. They are published in the League "Proceedings" and Whist. The suits are transposed as in preceding illustrations of play. The card to lead from each hand is italicized. The short-suit stu- dent is advised to examine these tables very carefully. HAniLTON TROPHY FINALS, 1892. 1 2 J8764 K Q 5 3 2 8163 none 2 A none AQ J 852 K J 10274 86 3 7 A K 10 K 10 8 5 3 Q 98 A 6 4 5 10 Q J 10 6 4 3 2 Q92 Q3 8 5 A 852 J 10 9 6 5 3 10 7 2 10 6 7 Q J10 9 K J 10 4* Q73 A 5 7 K 10 9 4 A5 K J 10 8 2 K2 Q J 8 8 J93 AKQ973 10 3 86 9 3 52 K 9 8 7 G A 7 32 10 7 10 Q 6 AKQ109752 Q5 43 11 4 A72 K JG 8 6 3 5 43 42 12 4 632 A7K8 5 Q832 54 13 8 Q5 AQ5432 Q82 A8 6 14 9 AKQ J9 107 6 KJ7 94 6 15 10 J864 A542 K73 J 10 16 Q J 10 7 6 5 2 A J 9 210 A 42 17 K QJ876 A Q 10 311 K8 Q4 18 7 A 10 6 5 2 K J 10 8 4 Q7 4 19 A KJ74 K976 J" 3 2 A J 20 K Q7 2 A K J 10 8 7 Q10 7 2 none 21 8 97 Q963 J7 63 Q J8 22 3 A 10 813 AQJ7 K84 Q43 23 3 lO'i A Q J 10 6 3 K75 K3 2 24 5 K87 A 10 9 7 5 Q83 A J (PLAY-OFF.) 1 7 10 4 3 Q 915 6 5 KJ5 Q62 2 A 2 AQ9642 Q 10 9 8 53 3 10 J52 AJ983 10 6 2 J6 4 3 J 10 5 AJ42 Q 10 4 2 32 5 4 2 KQ9542 Q J5 765 6 3 AK5 K9853 AQ103 6 7 3 Q J6 AQ98 10 7 5 916 8 7 8 9 AK62 AJ32 A 10 9 101-2 9 A Q987 Q9732 K2 JI85 10 6 Q10 3 J 10 8 2 A64 J 10 6 11 9 4 Q J9832 AQ109 83 12 K A 10 7 KQ87 AQ106 10 6 13 10 none KQJ84 Q 10 7 6 3 Q63 14 9 Q63 AQ9862 AJ4 1019 15 5 K4 AKQ J 73 KQ76 10 16 2 10 8 Q863 8532 Q87 1 Because one suit is absent. 2 xot J, because suit is long. 3 Or, 4 J— high-card game. * Or, <^ 10. s High-card game. 6 A difficult opening. ■ High-card game, only four in suit. 8 Followed hy ♦ 6. & Or, 41 6. w Call through honor, n Call through honor. 12 x small Jf, if there were one. i3 Or, J|k J as a venture. " All 'round strength, is Or, Q? 10. 10 Better " strengthening " suit than s. i" Or, Jf, 2. 18 Or, Jf, 2. 1'' Not quite long-suit strength. Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. HAniLTON TROPHY FINALS, 1893. 1° 11 ^ « ♦ 1 A J 10 3 Q 6 5 4 31 A J2 K4 2 8 K 10 7 5 4 A8 J2 5 4 743 3 6 J32 K98642 A73 8 4 6 K8 A83 23 K J87 K85 5 2 AQ K9633 109 73 KJ 6 J 10 3 A J 83 10 8 4 3 2 QJ 7 J AK Q753 J9*86 9 86 8 10 963 J632 A 10 5 964 9 Q J3 K 9 8 4 2 AQ64 62 10 K A53 KJ98 J92 952 11 6 10 7 4 10 8 7 6 4 AK9 95 12 3 95 QJ987654 A4 9 13 10 AKQ2 AQ4 K10 9 J 52 14 K A J82 A Q 10 7 6 35 J65 none 15 Q A J975 A83 Q10 7 G«'4 16 8 KJ53 10 9 7 4 2 A J J7 17 J 5 Q, J 3 2 10 6 4 3 2 752 18 4 8 Q J752 Q J85 A84 19 8 J52 KJ85 7532 10 2 20 6 754 Q952 A97 986 21 7 J2 K982 9753 752 22 6 A J 10 5 J532 872 10 9 23 J none Q J 10 9 4 8643 6432 24 9 AKJ7653 109 73 A 107 25 4 8 KQJ74 AKQ9 943 26 2 A 10 9 6 AK75 764 86 27 10 AK5 10 98 5 2 AJ5 K10 5 28 6 QJ97 A Q J 8 6 4 109 2 7 29 K Q10 9 5 K Q J 7 4 2 10 6 J 30 6 Q832 A J54 10 6 4 J8 31 J A874 K J10 7 K Q 9 310 10 32 9 Q54 QJ1063 2 J" 5 83 33 Q 64 A K 10 7 6 3 A976 7 34 J K Q 10 6 2 Q10 6 942 1012 8 35 A K963 AKQ9 AK2 K4 36 10 Q98 75 A K 6 5 4 72 9 1 Difficult opening ; not quite long-suit strength. 2 Or, Or, ^ A. 8 Or, Jjk 2. » For a " plunge," ^ 4. i" Call through honor. " Or, if, J. 12 Or, ^ Q, Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. HAniLTON TROPHY FINALS, 1894. a.'^ u ^ A ♦ 1 3 J6 K Q 10 9 7 5 4 Q862 none 2 A J 10 7 5 4 2 J 8765 8 5 3 9 KQ2 Q 10 91 6 10 9 3 Q10 7 4 Q 109 7 G K 8 7 5 4 22 Q93 none 5 9 8 6 3 A86 2 J 9 5 986 6 6 542 K10 8 5 K7 2 542 7 6 A74 K 103 7 6 A9 8 A3 2 8 6 Q J8 A 10 9 6 3* Q52 A 2 9 10 A J 6 4-^ 2 8432 K9 5 4 10 A K Q J 9 7 AQ74 654 K 11 4 A86 Q762 Q94 10 3 2 5 A K 10 7 4 10«6 2 9 73 65 13 A6 A 7 6 5 47 AQ J Q76 14 2 KQ754 A8542 A3 J 15 8 52 K J 6 5 3 10 6 4 763 16 6 J952 A K8 9 5 2 KQ109 none 17 J A82 AK43 A 10 9 3 Q4 18 9 7 QJ862 K7653 y7 19 9 4 K 10 6 4 2 A Q 10 9 A 10 4 20 J 54 KJ52 86542 92 21 Q KJ2 J752 109 5 4 2 82 22 7 52 Q J 10 7 2 K74 K5 2 23 2 873 A743 A97 10 8 2 24 8 4 A 10 8 7 6 4 AQ93 10 it 25 8 92 A K 10 9 6 AQ J74 7 26 7 962 A K 10 7 K852 32 27 Q 7532 J 10 8 3 J64 8 3 28 3 642 A973 J64 10 (i 2 29 Q 6 10 8 6 4 2 J 10 8 5 8 7 5 30 J 97 KJ732 7542 7 31 4 K J 7 5 3 A J943 10 5 K 32 A 10963 A Kio J 5 3 KQ8 7 33 7 AKQ64 AK2 K74 62 34 Q 9863 AQ J5 Q10 5 4 7 35 K AJ84 A 10 31' K84 Q63 36 3 AQ J4 AQ85 K3 812 6 4 37 K 72 AQ872 AQ103 A134 38 9 K 10 4 2 J932 Q65 92 39 7 64 AQJ105432 A6 J 40 K J97652 AQ J8 A4 1011 41 9 10 6 AKQJ84 Q96 73 42 8 J632 Q 9 7 4 315 A7 J4 43 J 952 AQ J53 AI6 K 9 6 3 44 A K2 A J7 3 KJ92 A32 45 A none A 10 9 7 6 AK64 KJ b i 46 J A532 A9 8 7 975 43 47 Q A876 AQJ62 J" 7 3 2 48 10 63 J762 J754 QIO'85 1 Or, 10. 2 Lon'i:-sait under compulsion, s Qr, 4k 6 can- not be injurious. * Or, (^ Q ; or, 4|l A and 2. ^ Or, * 2. ^ Or, ^7. ^Trusang pjtrtner for trumps. 8^2, but for void suit. 9 Or, 4k 8. 10 Or, Z> 3. " Call through honor. 12 Or, 4k 5. 13 Followed by 4. 1* Or, C3? 6. is Or, # J. ic Followed by singleton ^ . i^ Or, J|k 2 as a " plunge." is A difficult opening. Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. A. W. L. TROPHY FINALS, 1894. ^ ® el ^ * ♦ 1 10 K7 54 J6432 7 43 IT 2 A 6 5 3 J 10 7 3 A J 7 1018 6 3 8 943 A Q 8 3 2 K J 9 2 A 4 10 AK72 A 7 3 22 K9 7 K9 5 5 9 64 K962 10 762 KJ G A Q6 K765 9864 Q10 9 7 5 Q J8 98632 Q95 A9 8 3 94 QJ985 Q J 3 2 10 9 9 9 85 10 9 8 7 6 5 A8752 none 10 A QJ7 K7 43 J 93 5 4 10 8 11 9 A Q 10 7 4 KQ J82 A 2 6 12 2 J9 A Q 10 9 5 2 A82 92 13 9 AK2 KQ952 KQ76 8 14 Q J32 K9*87 Q85 653 15 3 J72 KJ10876 J8 J5 16 Q A K J 10 9 3 2 K6 5 35 92 none 17 5 962 J9652 643 54 18 10 Q8 Q7652 AQIO K105 19 3 K10 6 J 10 863 A432 2 20 5 none KQJ74 98532 Q J 5 21 9 Q862 ■ A K« 10 9 6 A62 8 22 Q K985 K J 9 6 3 10 4 96 23 7 KJ82 10 7 42 K9 5 87 24 9 none 986543 KQ63 AQ7 25 7 Q9 A K 8 6 3 10 4 2 542 26 3 A^5 A K J 6 Q J84 KJ2 27 K A74 KJ86 A 10 6 3 73 28 6 Q43 A J 10 7 5 4 2 10 9 8 29 5 92 A Q 10 8 2 K83 982 30 4 10 9 6 K Q 10 8 4 KQ98 5 1 Or, 4k 10. 20r, <:0 2. s Or, # 10. * Or, 4|k 6. s Call through honor, s Or, ^' 2. ^ Followed by ^ 5. Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. HAMILTON TROPHY FINALS, 1895. m a ^ « ^ 1 10 K 8 6 5 3 AQ64 A6 3 2 2 Q K J94 A92 10 6 5 875 3 A J65 K 9 7 4 2 J96 A5 4 6 A 84 A Q J 9 4 3 93 76 5 Q 10 3 A Q 3 2 A732 10 7 2 6 8 K4 Q 10 6 5 3 10 76 5 96 7 J K 10 6 5 2 J865 K8 2 3 8 10 AK A Ki J 10 6 5 Q 10 8 6 3 9 Q J97 9542 K54 965 10* 7 A 10 8 J953 9642 7 2 11 Q A K 10 7 2 AKJ72 AK3 none 12 8 10 9 7 A2 K 10 9 8 4 A32 6 13 7 4 KJ9874 KQ2 103 4 2 14 J Q9 6 KQ87 K10 5 852 15 7 K2 K J 10 9 8 A J 10 K32 16 K A 10 7 2 KQ963 KQ 64 17 3 4 Q 10 7 6 5 Q J84 AK7 18 8 A 10 9 K 10 9 6 2 975 85 19 Q A K 10 9 Q J 10 9 6 34 65 2 none 20 J K8 6 3 A Q 9 6 35 A6 J9 21 J 109 8 6 QJ85 Q10 4 Q4 22 J 976 AKJ4 J42 8 32 23 4 Q962 8765 Q83 A«7 24 10 Q4 AKQ87 9643 7 2 25 4 Q3 AK J98 K43 8 72 26 7 A2 A 9 8 5 2 KQ74 10 4 27 J K Q 10 8 2 Q J747 KIO Q3 28 4 AQ3 KJ86543 A 98 8 none 29 10 KJ9854 KQ 98 8^7 6 none 30 J K QJ 10 87542 A5 86 31 A KJ86 K 10 6 510 A Q2 J 10 32 Q 985 J 10 6 4 J 73 911 7 6 33 4 98 A982 8532 A73 34 4 6 K J876 KJ65 A73 35 2 none Q J 10 9 8 5 AQ32 QJ4 36 J A964 AQ53 KQ3 A129 37 4 72 A Q J 10 9 2 653 54 38 3 AJ52 Q854 AQJ 7133 39 5 J632 J 10 5 4 2 10 6 86 40 K 42 KQ762 Q94 962 41 6 10 4 3 K J 10" 4 K 42 Q93 42 5 872 KQ98 Q763 KIO 43 7 A643 A9854 KJ4 2 none 44 Q J 10 8 7 3 AQ72 J15 6 3 6 45 7 Q4 Q9652 AJ9 10 9 3 46 8 53 K J 10 8 5 2 742 96 47 9 K8 KQ854 A 10 6 4 AI66 48 9 10 7 A 10 6 4 2 A 10 8 2 6 2 1 Or, ^ A and K. 2 Followed by ♦6. » Or, (^ 4. * A " plunge," otherwise, A J- ° Or, 4|k J. ^ Followed by # 7. 7 0r,<:?Q. 8 Or,* 3. ^ Or, <:? 8. 10 Or, ♦ J. iiOr,*10. 12 Followed by 4k 9. " Or, Jf, 4. 1* Or, Z> 10. ^^ Or, A 2. le Fol- lowed by <|k 6. Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. A. W. L. TROPHY FINALS, I895. a-LJ 1^' P ^ X ♦ 1 8 J73 976432 AK6 6 2 3 Q85 Q 10 9 8 7 6 AQ A8 3 7 A12 A K Q J 7 A85 A42 4 Q 928 K 10 8 3 Q10 9 6 A9G 5 K Q5 A K J 8 5 Q10 3 764 6 J K10 8 7 KJ103 J87 53 7 8 Q94 A J95 A754 54 8 Q AK54 Q 10 33 J74 642 9 3 94 Q10 5 4 9542 K6 2 10 2 73 A J 10 3 KQ94 872 11 K A3 A 10 6 5 2 AK*72 52 12 9 5 K8752 10 6 42 Q53 13 5 AJ42 K J 5 4 2 10 8 32 14 10 A K 7 5 K85 953 763 15 4 JiO AQ73 KJ64 AQ 10 IG 10 A2 K 10 7 3 9874 A 10 8 17 3 Q64 A J73 Q54 25 K9 18 J 98 A653 10 95 4 K10 9 19 9 QJ7642 AQ4 A 10 3 IOC 20 Q AKJ73 J 93 37 Q86 3 21 7 10 6 4 A9532 KQ J A8 4 22 A Q10 7 5 K Q 9 6 2 A 10 5 K 23 J 9 5 4 3 2 A 10 6 5 K10 8 10 24 K 10 6 5 3 2 J 953 Q63 80 25 10 K642 A Q 10 C 863 KS 2G 9 AKJ4 A J 10 6 A Q 410 6 27 2 10 6 Q 10 9 4 J 1093 Q72 28 5 A96 Q 10 4 3 2 Q92 Q"J 29 A J93 AQ52 A875 A127 30 6 K10 7 3 K 9 8 5 4 10 3 93 31 9 A 10 8 6 A Q 8 7 6 313 Q7 6 32 5 K10 3 2 KQ5 K65 61*4 3 1 Followed by ^ 2. 2 Or, 9. ^ Call through honor. * Or, J|k 2. 5 Or, jf, 3. (i Or, ^ 6. - Call through honor. « Followed by #4. 9 Or,* 3. '" Or, (3? K. "Or,* 2. 12 Followed by ♦ 7. 13 The speculative coup ; otherwise Q. " Or, ^ 2. Note.— The card led in each suit, through the different deals, is printed in bold-face type. WHIST OPENINGS. 93 We have, above, 234 hands. From 108, supporting cards are led; from 33, mter- mediate cards (or Ace followed by small) inviting the ruff; from 36, small cards in- dicative of the long-suit game; from 32, honors from high-card sequences; and from 25, trumps. It will be observed, therefore, that the several forms of- strategy are indi- cated by the original leads in about this pro- portion: Supporting-card game, in one-half the whole number of cases; long-suit game, one-eighth; trump attack with long-suit game in view, one-eighth; rufhng game, one-eighth; high-card game, one-eighth. Or, roughly speaking, the supporting-card game occurs as frequently as all the other forms of strategy together, and these occur with about equal frequency. From these hands iii short suits are opened originally, or practically in one-half the instances. I have given nineteen illustrations of play according to the system explained in this book. These deals show an unmistakable gain of thirty-four tricks for the short-suit play. Among the League deals that I have closely examined — those for 1893, 1894 and 94 HOWELL'S WHIST OPENINGS. 1895 — there are many more that yield an advantage to the new openings. In the majority of them the original lead is per- fectly immaterial. In some cases the short- suit development is inferior, but to other investigators I leave the task of finding any nineteen — or any number, for that matter — that contain a surplus of thirty-four tricks for the "modern scientific" long-suit routine. VARIATIONS. I have presented the openings of the new system in a single definite form, but the reader has without doubt perceived that they are capable of considerable variation. The choice of the 2, 3, 4 and 5 for long-suit leads; the 6, 7 and 8 for the ruffing game; the 9, 10, J and O as supporting cards, and the K and A as high cards, is in a sense em- pirical, although this division appears to be the most natural and the best adapted to general use. If a pair of partners desire more or less of the long-suit game, or of the short-suit game, than I have recommended, there is no law of the Medes and Persians to prevent them from agreeing to transfer any of the thirteen cards from one class to another. Even the edict of the American Whist League condemning "private con- ventions" — which was issued at Minneapo- lis in 1895 on account of myself and the three gentlemen whose names appear on my dedicatory page — can scarcely be held to apply to the definition of openings for 95 96 H0WELU8 the four forms of plain-suit strategy. About a dozen distinct species of trump signals, echoes and sub-echoes are in com- mon and uncommon use; discards from weakness, strength and anything at all, with the "reverse" to mean strength, weak- ness or nothing, accordingly, are practised from Woonsocket to Fergus Falls ; and the leads, English, American, Philadelphian and what not, simple or compound, are m the condition of Buttercup's babies. To this jumble of conventions — public, and not ''private," because they have at some time been published somewhere — I have added my fairly Hberal contribution, and I now propose to make matters worse by exploiting certain variations on the new openings, which variations, having been published, will not, I hope, come under the ban of ''private conventions." Let us begin at the bottom of the suit, and work upward. I have not yet met the short-suiter who was unwilling to give the long suit as many opening cards as the 2, 3 and 4, but I do know radicals who want the cards all the way from the 5 to the 9 to WHIST OPEyn^GS. 97 be led ultra-"short." The extreme division of the leads in this direction, then, would be: Long-suit game, 2, 3 and 4; ruffing game, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9; supporting-card game, 10, J and Q; high-card game, K and A. With this classification, however, it is quite impossible to play the ruffing-game openings "straight/' That is, the 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 must sometimes be led from a long suit, top or bottom or interior. It is customary, therefore, to call one or more of them "doubtful," the subsequent fall of the cards determining their true character. To this category the 5 and the 9 may be relegated. Suppose you have the hand Hearts, J 10 3; Clubs, Q 6 5 4 3; Diamonds, A J 2; Spades, K 4; A of Hearts turned (deal No. i, Ham- ilton Trophy finals, 1893). In the table (page 88) I have given 3 of Clubs as the proper opening, with a note that the hand has "not quite long-suit strength." In this hand, the reader will notice, the strength of the plain suit (Clubs) is below the standard (see page 29), and the trumps, too, are not up to the mark (see page t,^) for the long- suit game. Now, counting the 5 as a 98 HOWELL'S doubtful card, you could lead the 5 of Clubs here, and partner would understand, after you dropped the 6 or O — a higher card than the 5 — on the second round, that your open- ing was from a fair hand, but with an ele- ment of weakness that rendered it not quite good enough for the long-suit game, and he would govern his play accordingly. The same sort of 5-lead might be made from the hand No. 2^, page 88. An exam- ple of the 5-lead ''short" is found in the hand No. 17, page 90, — Hearts, 962; Clubs, J 9 6 5 2; Diamonds, 643; Spades, 5 4; 5 of Hearts turned. From this hand you could lead 5 of Spades, and, dropping the 4 — a lozver card than the 5 — on the second round, would tell partner that the suit was short, and you desired to ruff. The single- ton 5 of Spades might be led with good effect from the hand No. 30, page 90. The doubtful 9 is used in a similar way, as on the dividing line between the long- suit and the ruffing games. See the hand No. 3, page 89, — Hearts, K O 2; Clubs, Q 109 6; Diamonds, 109 3; Spades, Q 10 7; 9 of Hearts turned. If you open with the WHISr OPENINGS. 99 doubtful 9 of Clubs here, and afterward drop the lo, partner will give you credit for just an approximation to long-suit strength, as in the case of the 5-opening of the same character. There is this difference, how- ever, between the 5 and the 9, counted as doubtful cards, — that the 5 is more often led "long," and the 9 more often led "short." I advise the reader to run through all the hands on pages 87 to 92, and see in how many of them the doubtful 5 and 9 would be of service. The 6, 7 and 8 in our variation are used exactly as in the regular system, but I may as well point out — what, for the sake of defi- niteness and simplicity, I have avoided in the foregoing pages — that the 6, 7 and 8 may be led sometimes, under compulsion, from long suits, on the principle that injury can scarcely result from the possession of greater strength than you indicate. Still, I do not believe in the introduction of that uncertainty into the openings which would surely follow the use of the 6, 7 and 8 as doubtful cards ; and in all the League hands quoted in this book there is not one in 100 EOWELUB which this use of the ruffing-game cards appears to be either necessary or expedient. I have merely hinted at such an opening from the hand No. 3, page 89 (which see). Let us consider another variation. We will this time reckon the 2, 3, 4 and 5 as long-suit openings, pure and simple, and make the 6 doubtful. Then the 7 and 8 are led for the rufif, and the 9 may be made doubtful or not, as you please, although I think that in accordance with the spirit of the variation — which is a slight exten- sion of the long-suit idea, just as the first variation was a step in the short-suit direc- tion — the 9 should be left in the supporting- card category. This variation I would recommend to players whose long-suit bent, the effect of education and practice, is still too strong to be comfortably resisted. And if, ascending another degree in the scale, we call the 6, as well as the 5, 4, 3 and 2, a long-suit card, without "doubt," then we can put the 7, or the 7 and 9, or even the 7 and 8, in the "doubtfuP' class. This is yielding too much, in my opinion, to the long-suit tendency, but I give the sug- WHIST OPENINGS. 101 gestion for what it is worth, and experiment may show it to possess some value. A few players could probably handle the ultra- "long" variation — 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, long suit; 7 and 8, doubtful, as on the line between the long-suit and the rufBng games — better than any of the other variations; in which case they should certainly adopt this varia- tion as the basis of their play. It is possible, moreover, that the wis- dom of adopting one variation or another may depend somewhat on the style of the adversaries' play, but my experience does not justify the giving of any advice on this point. Still another variation, or series of varia- tions, grows out of the use of the Q as a doubtful card, on the line between the high- card and the supporting-card games, in which case the Q is led from Q J 10 and others as well as from Q and one small, and even from Q J and one or more small. Or if you believe with Cavendish that the Q from Q and one small is "the weakening Queen," you may place the Q definitely in the high-card class. 102 HOWELUS I desire earnestly to recommend the making of experiments with variations on the main system, and to suggest that the small doubtful cards — 5 or 6, or, perhaps, 7 — may be of particular value. A few excellent players have of late tried the practice of playing short suits always from the top downward. Suppose, for example, that you open a suit consisting of 9, 6 and 2. You lead the 9. Then, on the second round of the suit, whether you or anybody else lead it, you play the 6. Part- ner can now, barring false cards, probably mark the 2 alone in your hand. The plan is peculiarly serviceable as showing exactly two of a suit. Thus, if you lead the 9 from the 9 and 2, and drop the 2 on the second round, partner marks you to a certainty with no more. This convention of course renders impossible a trump call in a short suit that you have opened, but the advis- ability of a call in such a situation is hardly conceivable. The "top downward" method of playing short suits may be applied also to short WHIST OPENINGS. 103 trump leads. If, for instance, in response to partner's call, you lead the ^ of trumps from y 6 2, you follow with the 6, no matter who leads the second round. This prac- tice is quite consistent with the three-trump echo, and I believe it to be a trick-winner. THE END.