WHIST.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9520, 12 September 1896, Page 3

WHIST.

"Weekly Press and Referee." SOLUTION OF PERCEPTION PR'OBLI-M. The remainder of the cards are placed as follow s :— N holds qn, 7 ; E, 9; of diamonds. E holds qn, 7; W, 9,10 -.S, 5, 4; of clubs. N holds kg, 8 ; W, kn, 5 ; S, 6 ; of hearts. N holds 2 ; W, kn ; S, ace, 6 ; E, qn, 5 ; of ppades. The remainder of the play is as follows, viz. :—

The leader- in each trick is underlined.

The inferences drawn by South from his own hand and the fall of the cards are as follows:—

Trick I—East has led from exactly four clubs. He has not qn, kn, 10. His hand generally is weak for this, his best suit, is weak. West has not qn. Trick 2—East has not 10, therefore West must have it and is returning the lowest of three; he has left the 9 and 10. North's best plain suit is hearts. He" mu3t have at least four trumps and may be beginning a call. East has left the qn and 7. Trick 3—l lead to my partner's suit, not being sure of a call from him. North's hearts (at least three left) are all above tho 7.

Trick 4 -West must have the 5 of hearts and possibly the kn. North has the kg ; he has not the kn. East has no more or kn single. Trick s—North has turned the 3, and must be leading from at least five trumps ; he has three higher than 6. Trick 6—West's discard of the 7 of spades makes it probable that he has the kn of hearts, for he certainly has the 5, and if that card were alone he would have thrown it now ; he is probably holding kn guarded. East must have one trump higher than the 6. Trick 7—West's continued discard of spades establishes the fact that he holds the guarded kn of hearts. This round places all the trumps. The 9is marked in East's hand single, and North has left the Q and 7.

Trick B—North must think the last trump is in my hand, or he would have drawn it. He has led the spade, hoping to give mc a chance to lead another heart, which he wants to finesse in case West does not play the kn ; this, however, I must not do, because if 1 do East will make his 9 of trumps. The 2of spades single is marked in North's hand, East must hold the 5 and either qor kn. West has only one spade remaining, either kn or q. It is probably kn, for he would not have discarded his guards to a q, and he has shown excellent judgment in keeping his guarded kn of hearts. This analysis places all the cards in the hands, and in order for us to win all the tricks it is necessary for mc to force North with a club. He may then take the hint and draw the last trump, in which case the rest of the play would be as above.