When a player has learnt the leads, and what to play second and third in
hand, he can play a fairly intelligent game. In the present day, when there
are so many ably written books on Whist, there is no excuse for an habitual
whist-player remaining ignorant of such elementary matters as the leads.
The skill and general principles of the game may then be studied. The
following suggestions should at this stage be attended to:--
Sort your hand as quickly as possible, so as to be {211} able to form some
idea of the style of game you ought to play before a single card is led.
Remember that an average hand contains four court cards, of honours, one in
each suit. If these four court cards be four knaves, the hand is below the
average; if four kings, or two kings, two queens, and a knave, it is about
the average.
When the hand has been sorted, and the adversary's score his been examined,
a player can estimate his chances (or the certainty) of saving the game. If
the adversaries have nothing scored towards the game, and you hold ace,
king, queen of trumps, you know that you must win three tricks, and nothing
but a revoke can lose you the game. A bolder game may then be attempted
than would be advisable if you had not the saving of the game in your own
hand. It is always desirable to make certain of saving the game before you
attempt to win it. We frequently hear rash players remark, "I never dreamed
it possible that we could lose the game; if I had thought so I could have
easily saved it." The safer plan is to always think it possible to lose the
game, unless you have the saving of it in your own hand.
Although it is correct play to lead from the longest numerical suit,
especially when strong in trumps, it is most detrimental to continue to do
so when very weak in trumps, and when you have found, by the card your
partner has played third in hand, that he has no winning or protecting card
in that suit. It frequently happens, if this lead be repeated, that one
adversary holds the winning cards of the suit; the other falls short, and
is consequently able to get rid of worthless cards on his partner's winning
cards.
As we have already had occasion to remark, and {212} the fact should be
persistently borne in mind, the great object at Whist is _to win tricks_.
Many inexperienced players, who have superficially learnt certain rules,
seem to imagine that it is better to refuse to win tricks in order to
convey information to a partner, or to deceive one or both of the
adversaries. This proceeding is most commonly adopted when the unskilled
player holds four small trumps, and is not provided with a long suit, and
believes it to be good play to decline to trump a doubtful card second in
hand. With four small trumps, it is more than probable that not one of
these will win a trick except by trumping. To refuse to trump a doubtful
card indicates strength in trumps, and this strength ought not to be less
than five trumps, with or without an honour or honours, or four trumps with
two honours.