with the lead, have a bad hand. The best play is, in defiance of all system, to lead out your best trump; for if your partner has not a very good hand, the game is lost; and if he has, that is the best thing to do.

Towards the end of the hand, rules may be often advantageously laid aside and false cards played, for then the great scheme of play cannot be affected by them: it has been settled and carried out long before.

There is another justification for departure from strict systematic play: that is, the consideration of the personal capabilities of your partner or your adversaries, and their degree of knowledge of the game. It is an essence of the scientific game, consequent on its mutual and combined character, that both partners must understand it, and must play on the same general principles, otherwise the mutuality cannot consistently be carried out. And a question arises from this, which often puzzles students; i.e., What should you do when you have a partner who does not understand and consequently does not play the scientific game ?

This question is difficult to answer, as so much depends on the extent of his capabilities. It is, however, certain that you must considerably modify your play, as all the features which depend on your partner's appreciation of the combined game would be

thrown away. It would be folly, for example, to give the signal for trumps or any other conventional sign if it was not likely to be understood. And the case would be worse if one or both of the adversaries happened to be observant players; for in such cases the more information you gave as to your hand, the more facility you would afford for your own defeat.

It is impossible to give rules for such cases: sometimes it might be politic to play for your own hand only; at others you might partially help your partner (if you could understand his play) though he might not help you; at other times you might most profitably devote your attention to thwarting your adversaries. All would be a matter of judgment at the time.

The only thing to be said is, that principles of play which depend essentially on a joint action of the two partners, must not inflexibly be carried out when one of their most fundamental conditions is wanting; and that, consequently, what would be very bad play if you had a good partner, may be perfectly good when you have a bad one.*

*This subjectis further developed in Appendix B.
5

CHAPTER V.

RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLAY.

THE foregoing remarks illustrate what we have called the Theory of the Scientific or Modern Game. The way in which this theory is usually brought into practical application is by means of Rules or Directions for Play; indeed, the ordinary plan in teaching Whist, either personally or by books, is to give these rules only, either ignoring the theory altogether, or only allowing it to be inferred by the student as well as he can.

Many collections of Rules, carried out in considerable detail, will be found in the best modern works on Whist; but it will be useful to give here a short summary of the principal ones, arranged in a convenient form for reference.

It must be explained that among such rules are included many which have no direct reference to the theory of the game, but are matters of detail, providing for what we may call the accidents of play.

SUMMARY OF RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLAY.

The principles on which most of these rules are based will be found in the foregoing theoretical considerations. (66)

Some further explanations, together with notes of exceptions and other useful remarks, are appended in small type.

The Lead.

Let your first or principal lead be from our best long suit.

If you have two suits, each of more than three cards, you may prefer the one which is strongest in high cards; but always avoid, if possible, an original lead from a suit of less than four.

Holding in this suit ace and king, lead king first, then ace.

This is preferable to beginning with the ace, as it may sometimes convey useful information, No good partner would trump your king led.

If you hold ace, king, queen, lead king first, then queen, for the same reason.

Holding king and queen, lead king.

And, if it wins, a small one, as the ace ought to be with your partner.

Holding king, queen, knave, ten, lead the lowest of the sequence, to induce your partner to put on the ace, if he has it, and leave you with the command.

Holding ace, queen, knave, lead ace, then queen.

So as to obtain the command with the knave. If your partner holds the king, he ought to put it on the queen (if he can trust your leading from tong suit), so as not to obstruct your establishment of the suit.

Holding ace and four others (not including king, or queen with knave), lead ace, then a small one.

To prevent the chance of your ace being trumped second round.

Holding queen, knave, ten, or knave, ten, nine, at the head of your suit, lead the highest.

It is an old and well-known rule to 'lead the highest of a sequence.' But like many other rules, when the reason of it is not comprehended, it is often totally misunderstood and misapplied. The object of doing this is to prevent your partner from putting on the next highest, if he has it; but there are many cases where you ought to desire him to put it on, and where, con sequently, the lowest ought to be played-as, for ex ample, when you hold a quart to a king, as before directed. In a general way the rule should apply only to a high sequence heading the suit in your own hand, and not to low or subordinate sequences, to lead the highest of which would only deceive your partner without doing you any good. See an example in the note to the following rule, and also remarks on the trump lead.

In other cases lead the lowest card of your suit.

If you hold king, knave, ten, nine, and a small one, lead the nine; if king, knave, ten, and others, the ten. These are exceptional combinations.

If trumps are out before you open your suit, you should lead differently, keeping back your high cards.

See the rules for trump leads, which apply in a great neasure to this case also.

Lead your own longsuit, if you have one, before you return your partner's.

Unless you happen to hold the master-card in your partner's suit, which you should part with as early as you can, to get it out of your partner's way, and prevent his imagining it is against him.

In returning your partner's lead, if you held not