Z returned a spade, which A won with the queen.
A now led two of clubs, B played king, which was also captured by Z with ace. Z returned a small club, which Y, his partner, won with queen.
Y then led a small heart, which Z won with queen, and returned ace, then a small heart. A trumped the small heart, and B's king fell. A, after due
consideration, now led one of his two remaining trumps. B's king was captured by the ace; and thus, by his partner's changes of suit and trumping, B, with four kings, did not win a trick with any one of them.
It is an old and well-known maxim, that a player should be cautious how he changes suits. If the adversaries hold the best cards of a suit, they must make these, and it is far better to let them do so by playing a third round of that suit, and thus placing the lead in the hand of one of the adversaries, than to open another suit in which no high card is held.
The following examples of placing the lead are useful, and should be remembered, because either exactly such cases or others which are very similar are perpetually recurring towards the end of a hand.
You hold the losing trump—one other in against you and to your left (trumps being spades)—the ace, queen of clubs, the ace, queen of hearts.
The king of clubs and the king of hearts are somewhere in the other three hands. Three tricks are required to win or save the game. The diamonds are all out. To make a certainty of winning three tricks, play the losing trump; you must then be led up to either in clubs, or hearts, and must win three tricks out of your own hand.
It is sometimes advisable to throw away what would be the best card in your hand in order to place the lead, or at least to attempt to place it. The following is an example of such a case.
You hold four cards, the ace, queen of spades (trumps), the king and one other heart. The king of spades was turned up to your right, and you know