For instance: A player leads from K 10 x x x. Third Hand plays Queen and returns a small card. The Ten should be finessed, regardless of trump strength, as the Ace must be on the left, and the finesse is against the Jack being there also. Many varieties of this finesse occur. _=Placing the Lead.=_ This is usually a feature of the end-game A player may have an established suit, his adversary being the only person with any small cards of it. If the lead can be placed in the hand of this adversary, he must eventually lead the losing cards. A player begins with a weak suit of four cards, on the first round of which it is evident that his partner has no more, the adversaries having all the high cards. The suit is not played again, and for the last six tricks the original leader finds himself with three cards of it, and the Q x x of another suit. If the adversaries play King and Ace of the latter suit, the Queen should be given up, trusting partner for the Jack, for the Queen will force the holder of the three losing cards into the lead.
If, prior to such correction, an adversary call attention to an insufficient or impossible declaration, it may not thereafter be corrected nor may the penalty be avoided. DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING. 53. Doubling and redoubling doubles and quadruples the value of each trick over six, but it does not alter the value of a declaration; _e.g._, a declaration of “three clubs” is higher than “two royal spades” doubled or redoubled. 54. Any declaration may be doubled and redoubled once, but not more; a player may not double his partner’s declaration nor redouble his partner’s double, but he may redouble a declaration of his partner which has been doubled by an adversary. The penalty for redoubling more than once is 100 points in the adverse honour score or a new deal; for doubling a partner’s declaration, or redoubling a partner’s double it is 50 points in the adverse honour score. Either adversary may demand any penalty enforceable under this law.
_=WHEN THREE PLAY=_, eight cards are dealt to each person, and arranged face down; then eight more, arranged face up, and then one to each for down cards. There are no partnerships; each plays for himself against the others. _=WHEN TWO PLAY=_, twelve cards are dealt to each player, and arranged face down; then twelve more, arranged face up, and then two down cards to each. It is usual to deal all the cards two at a time. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Chinese Whist very closely resembles Dummy, and the chief element of success is the skilful use of tenace. Memory also plays an important part, it being especially necessary to remember what cards are still unplayed in each suit. While the down cards are held a player cannot be sure of taking a trick by leading a card higher than any his adversary has exposed, because one of the down cards may be better. If a player is short of trumps, but has as many and better than those of his adversary, it is often good play to lead and draw the weaker trumps before the adversary turns up higher ones to protect them. For instance: one player may have 10 8, and his adversary the 9 alone.
=_ Although dice may be of any size, the standard pattern are half an inch square, of ivory or bone, with black spots one tenth of an inch in diameter. The opposite sides of the die always equal seven, and if the die is placed upon the table with the ace uppermost and the deuce nearest you, the four will be on the left and the three on the right. The positions of the three and four are sometimes reversed to enable sharpers to distinguish fair dice from those which have been doctored. At the beginning of any dice game, it is quite unnecessary to examine the dice to be used, because they are always fair. Crooked dice are _=rung in=_ during the game, and the player should make it a point to examine the dice frequently if he has any suspicions. First see that each die has all six figures upon it, for some dice are _=dispatchers=_, made with double numbers, so as to secure higher throws than the natural average. Double fives are great favourites with backgammon sharps. The next thing is to place the dice together in pairs, to be sure that they are exactly the same height each way. If dice are not square they can be made to roll over and over on the same faces. The faces should then be tested to see that they are not convex, even in the slightest degree.
| +---+-------+-------+-------+-----+ | 1 | 8♠ | K♠ | _♡J_ | - | | 2 | _♣A_ | ♣K | ♣7 | 15 | | 3 | 9♠ | _Q♠_ | 10♢ | - | | 4 | 7♢ | _A♢_ | Q♢ | - | | 5 | 8♢ | _K♢_ | ♣Q | - | | 6 | _♡A_ | ♡K | ♡8 | 15 | | 7 | _♡10_ | ♡7 | ♡9 | 10 | | 8 | _10♠_ | 7♠ | ♣8 | 10 | | 9 | J♠ | _♣J_ | ♡Q | - | |10 | A♠ | _J♢_ | ♣9 | - | +---+-------+-------+-------+ + | ♢9 and ♣10 in the Scat. | 10 | +---------------------------+-----+ | A wins 60 | +---------------------------------+ He has the lead for the first trick, and of course begins with the trumps. The play is given in the margin. C wins the first trick, and leads his long suit through the player. In the last three tricks A coaxes B to win the Ten of trumps; but if B does so he gives up the advantage of his tenace over the player, which is now the only chance to defeat him. B knows that if he wins the Ten of trumps, B and C can make only 59 points, because A will save his trump Ace. A, having failed to reach 61, loses a spade Solo without one; twice 11, or 22 points, which was the game he must have won to be as good as the offer of 18 which he refused. _=A GRAND.=_ B bids; both Vorhand and Hinterhand pass, and B announces a Grand, with the following cards:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂻 🃑 🃁 🃊 🃎 🂡 🂭 🂩 ] The play is given in the margin. In a Grand the four Jacks are the only trumps.