A game at short whist is called a single if the adversaries have already scored three or four; a double if they have scored one or two, a treble if they have scored nothing. A game at long whist is a single if the opponents have scored five or more; a double if they have scored less. There is no treble at long whist.
A rubber consists of the best two games out of three. If the same players win two consecutive games, the third is not played.' The winners of the rubber win in points the value of the games they have won, anti where the rubber has consisted of three games, the value of the loser's game is deducted. And whether two or three games are played, two points are added for the rubber at short whist; one point for the rubber at long. Thus, if at short whist A B (partners) win a single and a double, they win three points on the games, and they add two for the rubber, making five points. Had A B won the same, but C D (their opponents) won a treble, they would have to deduct three points, the value of the opponents' game, and would only win two points. Long whist is now seldom played.
Whist is a mixed game of chance and skill. The chance resides in the holding honors, and the fortune of having high cards dealt in the hand. The skill consists in the application of such knowledge as shall, in the long run, turn the chances of the cards in the player's favor. At the commencement of thjhand, the first lead presents a problem of almost pure chance; but as the hand proceeds, observation of the fall of the cards, inference therefrom, memory and judgment, come in, so that toward the end of the hand we are often presented with a problem of almost pure skill. It is these ever varying gradations of skill and chance that give the game its chief interest as a scientific pastime.
In order to become a skillful player, it is necessary to bear in mind that the game is not one of any given player's hand against the other three, but a combination of two against two. In order that two partners shall play their hands to the best advantage, they must strive, as much as possible, to play the two hands as though they were one. To this end, it is advisable that they should pursue some uniform system of play, in order that each partner shall understand the plans of the other, and so be placed in the most favorable position to assist him in carrying them out. The 'experience of the last
hundred years has developed a system of play tending to this result. Of this we proceed to give an epitome.
The first, or, as it is commonly called, the original lead should be from the players strongest suit. A strong suit is one that contains either a large number of cards (four or more) or several high cards. The suit containing the largest number of cards (numer ical strength) is the one to be mostly preferred. The object aimed at in opening with the-strongest suit is to exhaust the cards of that suit from the other hands. When this object is accomplished, the cards of the suit which remain in the leader's hand (called long cards) obtain a value which does not intrinsically belong to them. They often become of great service, for when led, they either compel the adversary to trump, or they make tricks. And when trumps are all out, the player who has the lead makes as many tricks as he has long cards.
On the other side, by opening weak suits, there is considerable risk of sacrificing partner's strength, and of leaving long cards with the opponents.
Some players are prone to lead single cards, but experience shows that weak leads, as a rule, do more harm than good. Sometimes a trick or two is made by playing a trumping game: but the chances are that such tactics sacrifice partner's hand, and clear the suit for the adversaries.
The proper card of the strong suit to lead is, as a rule, the lowest. The intention is for the third play7r to play his highest, and so to assist in clearing his partner's strong suit. Moreover, if the leader keeps the best cards of his suit in his own hand, lie has a fair chance of getting the lead again when his suit is nearly or quite established. But with ace and four or more small. ones, it is considered best to begin with the ace, lest the ace be trumped, second round. Also, with a strong sequence in the strong suit, it is best to lend one of the sequence first, lest the adversaries win with a very small card. The followiug are the principal leads from sequences: From ace, king, queen—lead king, then queen.