BISQUE.
A bisque is one stroke given in each set of a match, either by itself
or to increase or diminish other odds. In other words, a player to whom
a bisque is given can at any time in the set add one stroke to his
score simply by claiming it. The only restrictions are that a bisque
cannot be taken after serving a fault or during a rest. A bisque can be
taken after one’s opponent has served a fault. The explanation is very
simple. It is not intended that a player should attempt to give a very
difficult service, which would give him an advantage if it should come
off, and then, when it has failed, take his bisque. On the other hand,
it has not been thought necessary to forbid him to take his bisque
after his opponent has served a fault, because in this case nothing can
be gained by waiting till the first service has failed.
The value of a bisque must always vary as the chance to take it to
the best advantage comes or does not come. In a very large number of
matches, winning a particular stroke would make all the difference
in the world. In other matches, by no means one-sided, there is no
one turning-point where a bisque is of much value. But if the value
of a bisque varies according to chance, it varies a great deal more
according to the knowledge and skill of the player who takes it. When,
then, should a bisque be taken?
1. To make three, four, or five games love.
2. To make three, four, or five games to one.
3. To make four or five games to two.
4. To make five games to three.
5. Sometimes to make four games to three or five games to four.
6. Sometimes to make five games all.
7. Sometimes to make three or four games to five.
8. Sometimes to make deuce at four games to five.
9. Always to make game and set.
I will now try to give the reasons for taking a bisque in each of the
above cases.
1. Three games love is a winning score. Two games to one is a level
one. Four games to one is about three games more (practically) than
three to two. So in a still greater degree is there a difference
between five games to one and four games to two. In each of these
cases, winning the game will give a commanding lead, and therefore it
is right to take the bisque to make sure of it.
The same reasoning applies to Cases 2, 3, and 4.
5. In changing sides with a distinct difference between the sides, and
with the score of games level, it is always right to take a bisque to
make game on the worse side. On the other hand, it is a mistake to
take it on the better side, unless winning the game will make a very
great difference in the score. For instance, I should always take a
bisque to make four games to three on the worse side, but never on the
better, for I should feel that there was little chance for the set if I
could not win on the better side without my bisque. The same principle
applies, though in a smaller degree, to the service. If the server has
been losing nearly every game, it would be quite right to take a bisque
to make five games to four or four games to three on one’s service, or
on one’s opponent’s service if the server has been winning.
6. To make five games all. This is a very hard case to decide,
especially in an advantage set. It is simply a matter of judgment. If
the chances are against one’s winning at five all, with the bisque
gone, it is certainly better not to take it, and to run the risk of
losing the set at six to four.
7. In these cases the question is not of getting an advantage in the
set, but of taking the best chance of saving a losing set. The question
again is, whether one thinks that one can win at three or four to five;
if not, one had better keep the bisque, and trust to luck to save one
more game without it.
8. In this case, one stroke will lose the set, and unless there is good
reason to expect to win that stroke the bisque should be taken. As a
rule, it is wrong to take a bisque to make deuce, but in this case
something must be done and done at once.
9. This rule simply means—don’t forget the bisque. There have been a
great many matches lost because a player has forgotten to take the set
when it was won.
As said above, it is seldom right to take a bisque to make deuce,
because at deuce the giver of odds will probably win, and the bisque
will have been wasted. The probability, of course, varies with the
difference between the two players. Thus, if receiving thirty and a
bisque, it would be folly for the worse player to take his bisque to
make deuce; if giving thirty for a bisque, the bisque should not be
taken to make game. In both these cases deuce should mean a certainty
for the better player.
Where a bisque is given with small odds, as at half-fifteen and a
bisque, the difference between the two players is not so marked, and
the bisque may be taken to make deuce or game as occasion demands.
All that has been said is meant to apply to cases where a bisque is
given alone or to increase other odds, as it is not now the custom in
lawn-tennis to give a bisque to diminish other odds. Should this be
done, the bisque should be taken to make deuce, and not game.
It is well to remember that there is a moral effect in a bisque. Few
men play up with as much confidence with a bisque hanging over them
as they do when it is gone, and for this reason a bisque should not
be taken early in a set except to secure a commanding lead. It should
never be taken in the first two games.
There ought to be no need to explain that there can be no use in taking
a bisque at forty-love or at forty-fifteen. The bisque will make game
just as well at forty-thirty, and if the game can be won without it
so much the better. Moreover, no good can come of taking a bisque at
deuce; there is quite time enough at advantage for either player. There
is another point too often overlooked. There is no object in taking a
bisque unless there is a reasonable prospect of winning the set after
the bisque is gone. With the score at five games-love, a bisque should
not be taken to make one game to five, because at that score there is
no real chance for the set. The only hope is to win two or three games
with the bisque still in. This may not be possible to do, but it is the
right thing to try for.
It is very common to see a player who is losing take a bisque or two
bisques almost at random, from a morbid fear of never taking them at
all. In this way he adds a game or two to his score, but he forgets
that it is sets, and not games, that win matches. It is far better to
risk losing the set at six-love than to give up a chance of winning it
by taking a bisque for the sake of saving one game. In such cases the
best chance is to keep the bisque in, and if the set does go wrong,
and the bisque is never taken, the player can console himself with the
thought that he has taken all the chances in his favour, and could do
no more.
With two bisques given, one of them can be taken a little more freely
than if it were the only one; but even then it is almost always wrong
to take it in the first two games. One may often be taken to make deuce
at a critical time, and I should myself always take the first one to
make three games to five.
To take a bisque well a player must make up his mind how much he can
expect to do after the bisque is gone. If he does not see his way to
winning, it is always justifiable to reserve the bisque for a better
chance later. Thus, if a player thinks that the odds given him are too
small, he is quite right to run a good deal of risk rather than take a
bisque early in the set.
Before concluding, it seems in place to speak of the value of a bisque
as compared with other odds, that is, how many equal fifteen. I believe
that about six bisques have been calculated to be the equivalent of
fifteen, but I cannot help thinking that four would be nearer right
than six in actual play. It seems to me impossible that the number can
be determined exactly, because the practical value of a bisque must
vary, and because the moral effect cannot be gauged. The average number
of games to a set is about nine where advantage sets are not played;
therefore fifteen equals nine strokes on the average, one given in each
game. In how many games of the nine is that stroke actually of value?
I do not know; but there are always a number of games which are hollow
for one side or the other. In one case the stroke given is useless, and
in the other it would probably not have been needed. Let us suppose
that fifteen represents the difference between two players, and that
they play level. Will the weaker player win any games? I fancy that he
will win two or even three games, and he wants a sufficient number of
bisques to win three or four other games. Let us suppose that he wins
two games level. I think that there will be at least two other games
that can be won by a bisque each. Should this be the case, the score
could not be worse than five games to four against him, and two bisques
still in—by no means an uneven set.
For myself, I should never hesitate between five bisques and fifteen,
and I think that I should take four if I could not get five. My own
feeling is that the right number is just over four.
I should say, in conclusion, that I am very ignorant of the
mathematical calculations which bear on the matter, and I offer these
opinions as the result of experience in actual play, and from watching
matches where bisques were given.