The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (14 page)

J then Q

AKQ-

Q then K

AK…

if 7+ held, Kthen A, otherwise fourth highest

The rule of eleven Leading the fourth highest (counting from the

top down) enables a partner to get a good idea of the lie of the

cards by applying the ‘rule of eleven’. Assuming your partner to

have led fourth highest, you subtract its face value from eleven to

discover how many higher cards are lacking from his hand. By

further subtracting the number you hold yourself, you discover how

many lie with the other side, and may thereby be able to place key

high cards. For example: your partner leads the Seven of a suit of

which you hold King-Jack. Seven from eleven means there are four

cards against him that lie above the Seven, of which you hold two.

He cannot have the Ace, or he would have led it, so it must lie with

an opponent. So his original holding must have been any four cards

out of QT987 (regardless of anything lower), and the opponents

hold between them the Ace and any one of QT98.

Whist variants

The game described above is the classic form of English Short

Whist. Also to be noted are:

Long Whist

Until about 1800 the game was played up to 10 (sometimes 9)

points, and was subsequently known as Long Whist to distinguish it

from the faster 5-point game, which many experts considered too

chancy.

American Whist

Honours are not counted, and game is 7 points. Very logical.

Suit-value Whist

Odd tricks score 1 point each with spades as trump, 2 with clubs, 3

with diamonds, 4 with hearts. No honours. Game is 10 points.

Drive Whist

At Whist Drives, and in the home game if preferred, it is usual not

to turn a card for trump but to have fixed trumps for each cycle of

four deals, respectively hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs. Sometimes

also every fifth hand is played at No Trump. Suitably pre-printed

scoresheets are obtainable for this purpose. In tournament play it is

usual for each person or partnership to play a predetermined

number of deals, each scoring the total number of odd tricks they

have taken over the number of deals played.

Cayenne

Dating from about 1860, this is worth perpetuating as a stage in the

evolution of Suit-value Whist to Bid Whist to Bridge.

At each deal a suit is established as the cayenne suit by cut ing

either the playing pack or, preferably, a second pack and noting the