forms of lead now come under consideration, viz., first, when the cards led are winning cards of the suit; second, when the cards led are not winning cards. Winning cards will first be spoken of.
Suppose a player led the ace of clubs. His partner would at once be justified in concluding that the original leader did not hold the king of that suit; and if this ace were trumped by the fourth player, the partner would place the king in the hand of the original second player. If, however, the king had been led originally, and had been similarly trumped, it would be right to conclude that the ace was in the hand of the original leader.
Again, if the king of a suit were led, and won the trick, and the queen were led, and also won, the ace would be placed in the hand of the original leader. If, however, the king had been led originally, and followed by the ace, then the queen would be placed by the leader's partner in the hand of one of the adversaries.
These simple cases serve to show the general principle on which leads should be made. The first lead gives a preliminary indication; the second lead reveals the whole or nearly the whole secret.
This being the case, it is most remarkable to find that there are certain persons at the present time who claim to be reasonable, and to play scientific Whist, who yet strongly object to any extension of the principles of leads beyond those to which they have been accustomed. These objectors admit that to lead the king, with ace, king, is correct play, as the lead of the king indicates that the leader holds the ace also. They stop, however, at a certain point, and assert that to lead the penultimate from
a suit of five, an anti-penultimate from a suit of six, to call for trumps, or to echo to a partner's lead of trumps, is like kicking your partner under the table. Why is it not like kicking your partner under the table to lead the king, with ace, king, instead of leading the ace? The cases are exactly similar, and are based on the same principles of play.
The whist-player who wishes to hold his own with modern players must learn the modern leads. These leads are based on reason, and convey, by each card, intimation to an intelligent partner as regards the number and strength of the suit from which the card was originally led.
As one among many examples of the information conveyed by a lead, the following may be given:—
My partner being a good player, I conclude he leads from his strongest suit. He is original leader, and leads the seven of spades, hearts being trumps.
In my hand there are the ace, queen, five, and two of spades.