_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly as in Whist. Tricks should be carefully stacked, there being the same penalties as in Boston for calling attention to the score. The methods of playing misères and spreads have already been described in connection with Boston. When piccolissimo is played, the moment the single player takes more than one trick the hands are thrown up, and the stakes paid. _=REVOKES.=_ The rules governing these and cards played in error, are the same as at Boston. In piccolissimo, the penalties are the same as in misère. _=PAYMENTS.=_ If the caller succeeds in winning the proposed number of tricks, he is paid by each of his adversaries according to the value of his bid, as shown in Table No.
In some localities it is allowed to open jacks with a _=bobtail=_; that is, four cards of a flush or straight. If the player on the dealer’s left has not openers, or does not care to open the pot if he has, he says: “I pass;” but he does not abandon his hand. The next player on his left must then declare. In some places players are allowed to throw down their cards when they pass; but in first-class games a penalty of five white counters must be paid into the pool by any player abandoning his hand before the second round of declarations, as it gives an undue advantage to players with medium hands to know that they have only a limited number of possible opponents. For instance: If six play, and the first three not only pass, but throw down and abandon their cards, a player with a pair of Jacks will know that he has only two possible adversaries to draw against him, which will so increase his chances that it may materially alter his betting. If no one acknowledges to holding Jacks or better, the pot is fattened, and the cards are reshuffled and dealt. The best practice is for the same dealer to deal again until some one gets Jacks or better. This is called _=dealing off the jack=_. If any player has forfeited his right in one deal, such as by having a foul hand, that does not prevent him coming into the pot again on the next deal with rights equal to the other players. If any player holds Jacks or better, he can open the pot, or “the jack,” for any amount he pleases within the betting limit.
Gregor). I saw this game played on Barnes Green, Surrey, on 25th August 1892. The boys, instead of using their hats, had pieces of leather tied to a string, with which they struck the Bear on the back. They could only begin when the Keeper cried, My Bear is free. If they struck at any other time, the striker became the Bear. It is called Baste the Bear. --A. B. Gomme. Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p.
Each player in turn must play or say, “go.” The game is decided and settled for as in the ordinary Block Game. _=BERGEN GAME.=_ Two persons play, each of whom draws six bones. The highest double sets, and scores two points for the _=double header=_. Two points are scored by the player making both ends of the line the same. If there is a doublet at one end, and one of the same suit at the other, it is a triple header, and counts three. Fifteen points is game. In addition to the headers, domino counts one. If both players are blocked, the bones are shown, and the one having the smallest number of pips and no doublet counts one toward game.
When the joker is led in a no-trump hand, the leader must name the suit that he wishes played to it. Five hundred is supposed to be a game for three players, but sometimes two play against two as partners. The dealer gives ten cards to each player, three and then two at a time as in the ordinary game of euchre; but after dealing the first three cards to each he lays off three cards face down for a widow. This widow is taken in hand by the successful bidder, who discards three cards in its place. The players bid for the privilege of naming the trump suit, or of playing without any trump but the joker. The number of tricks bid must not be less than six, and the suit must be named at the same time. The player having the most valuable game, regardless of the number of tricks or the suit, is the successful bidder, because a bid of seven in hearts, for instance, is worth more in points than a bid of eight in clubs, as will be seen from the following table. ---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------- If trumps are: |6 tricks.|7 tricks.|8 tricks.
=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four, five, or six of a kind is in order. The cards in hand that do not fit any combination of three or more are deadwood, and the object is to reduce this deadwood to less than fifteen. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ Each player in turn to the left of the dealer draws a card from the stock or the discard pile and discards one in its place, face up. No player is allowed to lay down anything until he can show his whole hand, and then only when his deadwood is fifteen or less, and he is not obliged to lay down even then if he prefers to wait until he can reduce his deadwood still further. _=THE SHOW-DOWN.=_ As soon as any player can show down his hand, the game is at an end. He lays out his combinations and pushes them aside. Then he announces the pip value of his deadwood, after discarding a card in place of the one drawn.
[Illustration: VARIOUS APPARATUS FOR DUPLICATE.] _=SCORING.=_ There should be two score-cards at each table. The various methods of putting down and comparing the scores can best be described in connection with the variety of competition to which they belong. It is a common practice to note the trump card on the score sheets. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.=_ The four players at each table are distinguished by the letters N S E W; North and South being partners against East and West. West should always be the dealer in the first hand, North having the original lead. In all published illustrative hands, North is the leader, unless otherwise specified. The deal passes in rotation to the left, and the number of hands played should always be some multiple of four, so that each player may have the original lead an equal number of times.
This is one of the most difficult endings for a beginner, but is very instructive, and should be carefully studied. Set up the men as follows:-- Black King on K R sq. White King on K B 6, white Bishop on K B 5, and white Knight on K Kt 5; White to move and win. The object is to drive the King into a corner of the board which is commanded by the Bishop, as he cannot otherwise be mated. Kt-B7 ch B-K4 B-R7 Kt-K5 1 --------- 2 -------- 3 --------- 4 -------- K-Kt sq K-B sq K-K sq K-B sq Kt-Q7 ch K-K6 K-Q6 B-K6 ch 5 --------- 6 -------- 7 --------- 8 -------- K-K sq K-Q sq K-K sq K-Q sq K-B6 B-B7 Kt-Kt7 ch K-B6 9 --------- 10 --------- 11 --------- 12 -------- K-B sq K-Q sq K-B sq K-Kt sq K-Kt6 B-K6 ch Kt-B5 B-Q7 13 --------- 14 --------- 15 --------- 16 -------- K-B sq K-Kt sq K-R sq K-Kt sq Kt-R6 ch B-B6 mate 17 --------- 18 --------- K-R sq If, at the fourth move, the black King does not go back to the Bishop’s square, but goes on to the Queen’s square, hoping to cut across to the other black corner of the board, the continuation will be as follows, beginning at White’s fifth move:-- K-K6 Kt-Q7 B-Q3 B-Kt5 5 --------- 6 --------- 7 --------- 8 -------- K-B2 K-B3 K-B2 K-Q sq Kt-K5 Kt-B4 K-Q6 Kt-R5 9 --------- 10 --------- 11 --------- 12 -------- K-B2 K-Q sq K-B sq K-Q sq Kt-Kt7 ch K-B6 Kt-Q6 K-B7 13 --------- 14 --------- 15 --------- 16 -------- K-B sq K-Kt sq K-R2 K-R sq B-B4 Kt-B8 ch B-Q5 mate 17 --------- 18 --------- 19 --------- K-R2 K-R sq _=PAWN ENDINGS.=_ There are a great number of these, many being complicated by the addition of Pawns to other pieces. The following example, which is a position that often occurs, should be understood by the beginner:-- Put the black King on K B square; the white King on K B 6, and a white Pawn on K 6. If it is Black’s move, White can win easily; but if it is White’s move it is impossible to win, because whether he checks or not the black King gets in front of the Pawn and either wins it or secures a stale-mate. Put the Pawn behind the King, on K B 5, and White wins, no matter which moves first, for if Black moves he allows the white King to advance to the seventh file, which will queen the Pawn. If White moves first, and the black King keeps opposite him, the Pawn advances.
Addy). (_b_) A number of children stand against a wall, and a row of other children face them. They walk backwards and forwards, singing the first and third verses. Then the children who are standing still (against the wall) answer by singing the second and fourth verses. When these are sung the moving line of children take Mary and dance round, singing some lines which my informant, says Mr. Addy, has forgotten. (_c_) I have no description of the way Miss Chase s game is played. It, too, is probably an incomplete version. The words Ring ding di do do show a possible connection between this and games of the Three Dukes a-riding type. They may or may not be variants of the same game.
_=PLAYING TO THE SCORE.=_ This is a most important element, and there is no surer indication of a careless or weak player than his inattention to the score. One cannot be too early impressed with the importance of saving the game before trying to win it; although great risks may be taken to win a game that cannot be lost that hand. Never risk a sure contract in the hope of making more; unless the two will win the game, and the odd trick will not win it. Never risk a trick that will save the game in the hope of winning more, and always set a contract while you can. _=DISCARDING.=_ This is one of the still unsettled questions of bridge tactics, some believing in discarding the weak suit always; others the strong suit always, and others one or the other according to the declaration. Against a trump declaration almost every one agrees that it is best to discard the best suit, so that if your partner gets in before you do, he may have something to guide him as to what your best chance is for any more tricks. Against no-trumpers, the majority of players hug every possible trick in their long suit and discard their weak suits, on the ground that it is folly to throw away cards that might win tricks. While this is true, it is also true that in discarding their weak suit they too often enable the declarer to win tricks that they might have stopped.
When a declaration has been doubled or redoubled, any one of the three succeeding players, including the player whose declaration has been doubled, may, in his proper turn, make a further declaration of higher value. 56. When a player whose declaration has been doubled wins the declared number of tricks, he scores a bonus of 50 points in his honour score, and a further 50 points for each additional trick. When he or his partner has redoubled, he scores 100 points for making the contract and an additional 100 for each extra trick. 57. A double or redouble is a declaration, and a player who doubles or redoubles out of turn is subject to the penalty provided by Law 49. 58. After the final declaration has been accepted, the play begins; the player on the left of the declarer leads. DUMMY. 59.
There are two ways to settle: Each may pay a certain amount to the pool, and the first man out take it all; or, after one is out, the two remaining finish the game, and the loser pays both or settles for the refreshments, as the case may be. If the first man goes out when it will be his turn to deal, he must deal the next hand. FOUR-HANDED SIXTY-SIX This game is sometimes called _=Kreutz-mariage=_, owing to the German fashion of dealing the cards in the form of a cross; but as the cards are not dealt that way, and marriages are not scored in America, the name is not appropriate in this country. The pack is increased to thirty-two cards by the addition of the Sevens and Eights. After the cards are cut by the pone, the dealer gives three to each player on the first round, then two, and then three again, turning up the last card for the trump. In Germany the dealer first gives two cards to his partner, then two to his left hand adversary, then two to his right hand adversary, and finally two to himself. This is continued for four rounds, so that each player receives eight cards, and the last is turned up for the trump. The turned-up trump belongs to the dealer, and cannot be exchanged. In this form of the game the players must not only follow suit, but must win the trick if they can, and must trump and over-trump if possible. A player is even obliged to win his partner’s trick.