The theory of opening is to mobilise your forces for the attack in the fewest possible moves. Lasker thinks six moves should be enough for this purpose, and he recommends that only the King’s and Queen’s Pawns should be moved, after which each piece should be placed at once upon the square from which it can operate to the best advantage. He thinks the Knights should be first brought out, and posted at B 3, and then the K’s B, somewhere along his own diagonal. The great mistake made by beginners is that they rush off to the attack and try to capture some of the adverse pieces before they have properly prepared themselves for re-inforcement or retreat. It should never be forgotten that the game is not won by capturing the adversary’s pieces, but by check-mating his King. Take the board and pieces, arrange them with the white men next you, and play over the following simple little game. Remember that the figures above the line are for the white men; those below for the black. P-K4 Kt-KB3 Kt-QB3 B-B4 1 ---- 2 ------ 3 ------ 4 ----- P-K4 P-Q3 P-KR3 B-Kt5 The third move made by Black accomplishes nothing, and is simply a waste of time. He should have continued by bringing his Knights into play. His fourth move is also a mistake; he should develop the Knights before the Bishops.
B. Gomme). See Corsicrown, Kit-Cat-Cannio, Nine Men s Morris. Nur and Spel A boys game in Lincolnshire, somewhat similar to Trap Ball. It is played with a kibble, a nur, and a spell. By striking the end of the spell with the kibble, the nur, of course, rises into the air, and the art of the game is to strike it with the kibble before it reaches the ground. He who drives it the greatest distance wins the game.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Strutt (_Sports and Pastimes_, p. 109) describes this game as Northern-spell, played with a trap, and the ball is stricken with a bat or bludgeon.
My future home. But he wasn t as quick as Sniffles. She had called the turn before the galloping dominoes had bounced from the backrail. The box cars cost me the dice. The next gambler blew on them, cursed, and rolled. I didn t bet, and spent the next couple rolls looking at her. * * * * * The girl was a mess. Some women have no style because they don t even know what it means. Courturiers have taught them all to be lean and hungry-looking. This chicken was underfed in a way that wasn t stylish.
The players at each table cut for the deal, and play begins with the tap of the bell at the head table. Only one deal is played at each table. There are no counters. At the end of the hand the ladies compare their cards, and the one having the fewer hearts goes to the next higher table. The gentlemen then compare their cards in the same way, so that one lady and one gentleman go up from each table at the end of every hand. They take the seats vacated by those leaving the table they go to. All ties are determined by cutting, those cutting the lower cards going up. In cutting, the ace is low. Each player is provided with a score card, to which the gold, red and green stars are attached as in Euchre. The gold stars are given to those at the head table who have the fewest hearts.
Another case is when the score is 4 to 4, and the eldest hand has average trump strength, good side cards, but nothing in the next suit. It is better to order it up, and risk the game on such a hand than to take the chance of the dealer’s turning it down. _=The Pone=_, who is the partner of the eldest hand, orders up at the bridge on exactly opposite principles. The fact that the eldest hand did not order up shows that the dealer cannot make a lone hand. This should indicate to the pone that his partner has a certain trick in trumps, and if the pone holds any good trumps himself, he can often guess what his partner’s trumps are. For instance: The ace is turned, and the pone holds the left bower guarded. The eldest hand must have the right bower, or four trumps to the King. If the eldest hand has passed at the bridge, and the pone has strong trumps himself, especially the ace or left bower and two small trumps, he should order up the trump; not to save the game, but to be sure of winning it by preventing the dealer from turning it down. If the pone does not order up at the bridge, the eldest hand may infer that he is weak in trumps. When it is not a bridge, the pone should be guided by the same principles as those given for the eldest hand, because he may be sure that his partner will make it next if it is turned down, unless he has a certainty of three tricks by crossing.
Mother, will you buy me a milking-can, A milking-can, a milking-can? Mother, will you buy me a milking-can, To me, I, O, OM? Where s the money to buy it with, To buy it with, to buy it with, Where s the money to buy it with, To me, I, O, OM? [Then the following verses--] Sell my father s feather bed. Where will your father sleep? My father can sleep in the boys bed. Where will the boys sleep? The boys can sleep in the pig-sty. Where will the pigs sleep? The pigs can sleep in the wash-tub. Where shall I wash my clothes? You can wash them in a thimble. A thimble is not large enough. You can wash them in an egg-shell. An egg-shell would not hold them. You can wash them by the river side. But what if I should fall in? We ll get a rope and pull you out, To me, I, O, OM.
Mouse and the Cobbler One girl stands up and personates a mother, another pretends to be a mouse, and crouches behind a chair in a corner. The mother says to another player-- Go and get your father s shirt. This player goes to the chair to look for the shirt, and is tickled or touched by the one hiding. She rushes back and calls out-- Mother, there s a mouse. Go and get your father s coat. There s a mouse. Go and get your father s watch and chain. There s a mouse. The Mother then goes to see herself. The second time she is scratched and chased.
The misdealer must deal again with the same pack, after the players have sorted their cards into suits. It is a misdeal if the dealer fails to present the pack to the other players to cut, or neglects to cut it himself. Should the dealer expose any of his own cards in dealing, that does not invalidate the deal. The deal passes in regular rotation to the left, each pack being used alternately. _=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ The deal being complete, the player opposite the dealer cuts the still pack, and the player on his right turns up the top card for the trump. The suit to which this card belongs is called _=First Preference=_, and the suit of the same colour is called _=Second Preference=_, or _=Colour=_. The two remaining suits are known as _=Plain Suits=_ for that deal. The cards having been dealt, and the trump turned, each player carefully sorts and counts his cards, to see that he has the correct number, thirteen. A player having more or less than his right proportion should at once claim a misdeal; for if he plays with a defective hand he cannot win anything that deal, but must stand his proportion of all losses incurred, besides paying a forfeit of four red counters to the pool.
] It is 4½ to 1 against filling a four-card flush. It is 23 to 1 against filling a three-card flush. It is 95 to 1 against filling a two-card flush. It is 3 to 1 against improving a four-card straight flush which is open at both ends. The chances against getting the straight or the flush have been given; the odds against getting the straight flush are 24 to 1. The chance for getting a pair exists; but the pair would probably be worthless. It is 4 to 1 against improving a four-card straight flush open in the middle, or at one end only; the odds against getting the straight flush being 46 to 1. There are several minor or speculative draws which may be of interest. Drawing to an ace and a King, it is 3 to 1 against making a pair of either. It is 4 to 1 against making a pair of aces by drawing four cards to an ace; and 12 to 1 against making aces up, or better.
Whether the highest or lowest cut dealt was also a matter of dispute. “Cavendish” got both these wrong in the first edition of his “Pocket Guide,” but corrected himself without explanation or apology in the second edition. It was then the custom of many players to attach no value to the trump suit until the stock was exhausted; so that until the last eight tricks there was no such thing as trumping a trick in order to win it. Disputes also arose as to counting double combinations, many contending that a double marriage should be as valuable as a double bézique. Time and experience have finally settled all these points, and the rules of the game are now practically uniform in all countries. BÉZIQUE, OR SIXTY-FOUR-CARD BINOCLE. There are two forms of Bézique in common use; the ordinary game, which will be first described, and the variation known as Rubicon Bézique, which is to Bézique proper what Railroad Euchre is to Euchre. _=CARDS.=_ Bézique is played with two packs of thirty-two cards each, all below the Seven being deleted, and the two packs being then shuffled together and used as one. It is better to have both packs of the same colour and pattern, but it is not absolutely necessary.