The Welsh words, bach, and cammen; or the Saxon bac, and gamen, signify “a little battle;” while the Chinese and Japanese names for Chess signify “mimic warfare.” The Welsh and Saxons undoubtedly got Backgammon from the Romans, who played it under the name of Scripta Duodecimo. They seemed to have got it from the Greeks, who are known to have used a table called Abacus, very much like a backgammon board in form, with lines drawn upon it, and the men were moved from one line to another according to the throws of the dice. There is no trace of Backgammon among the games of the Egyptians or the Hebrews, although the chief factors in the game, the dice, have been known to all nations, and are probably the oldest gaming instruments in the world. As to the respective merits of these table games, there is little to be said. Curiously enough they are played by entirely different classes of people. Backgammon has always been highly respectable, and seems likely to retain its position as the fashionable game. Draughts is peculiarly the game of the middle classes, popular at the workman’s dinner hour, in the sitting-rooms of cheap hotels, in country clubs, and in fire engine stations; the latter being a favourite training ground for our checker champions. Chess is probably the most universal game of all, and its general character is understood by almost every educated person in the world. CHESS.
In America, it is usual to play for so much a game; but in some cases the tricks are the unit, deducting the loser’s score from seven, or playing the last hand out and then deducting the loser’s score. A very popular method is to play for a triple stake: so much a trick, playing each hand out; so much a game; and so much a rubber. These three stakes are usually in the proportion of 10, 25, and 50. In clubs it is customary to have a uniform stake for whist, and to fix a limit for all betting on the game beyond the “club stake.” Good usage demands that those at the table should have the refusal of any bet made by a player, before it is offered to an outsider. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The player on the dealer’s left begins by leading any card he chooses, and the others must all follow suit if they can. Failure to follow suit when able is called _=revoking=_; the penalty for which, under the American laws, is the loss of two tricks; under the English laws, three tricks or points. Any player having none of the suit led may either trump it or throw away a card of another suit, which is called _=discarding=_. When it is the dealer’s turn to play to the first trick, he should take the trump card into his hand.
The actual sound followed the idea the way that thunder on an ocean beach follows the lightning inward from far out over the seas. The Fighting Room is ready. Clear to planoform, sir. THE PLAY Underhill was always a little exasperated the way that Lady May experienced things before he did. He was braced for the quick vinegar thrill of planoforming, but he caught her report of it before his own nerves could register what happened. Earth had fallen so far away that he groped for several milliseconds before he found the Sun in the upper rear right-hand corner of his telepathic mind. That was a good jump, he thought. This way we ll get there in four or five skips. A few hundred miles outside the ship, the Lady May thought back at him, O warm, O generous, O gigantic man! O brave, O friendly, O tender and huge Partner! O wonderful with you, with you so good, good, good, warm, warm, now to fight, now to go, good with you..
Invite, F., leading a small card of the long suit. Irregular Leads, leads which are not made in accordance with the usual custom, as distinguished from forced leads. Jack Strippers, two bowers, trimmed to pull out of the pack. Jenny, a fine losing hazard, made off an object ball close to the cushion, between the side pocket and the baulk. Jetons, F., the counters which represent money at any game. Jeu, F., derived from jocus, a game. The word is variously applied to the game itself; to the player’s expectation of success; to his plan of campaign; or to the cards in his hand.
Marque, F., a score which is kept upon the table by means of counters. Martingale, any system which controls the amounts wagered on a series of events. (See chapter on Chance and Probability.) Massé, a shot made with the cue held nearly perpendicular. Master Card, the best card remaining of a suit which has been played. Matsch, G., to win all the tricks, a slam. Mechanic, a dealer who can make the cards come any way he pleases at Faro. Melden, G.
Both then turn down the cards already played, and the one whose turn it is to play begins all over again with his remaining cards or card, announcing its face value, his adversary playing after him until their cards are exhausted or they reach another 31. To continue the foregoing example, let us suppose the dealer to play one of his Nines. The pone plays a Jack, and announces “Nineteen.” The dealer plays his remaining Nine, and calls “Twenty-eight.” The pone tells him to go, and he pegs one. These three cards are turned down. The pone then plays a Ten, and the dealer marks one for the last card. The hands and crib are then shown. If either player can reach exactly 31, he scores two points for it, whether he has been told to go or not. Suppose the pone begins with a Nine.
=_ The game is usually played for so much a point, the player having won the majority of the tricks receiving the difference between the number of his tricks and those of his adversary. Each game is complete in one hand. In many respects the game resembles single-handed Hearts, except that in Hearts none of the cards drawn are shown. CHINESE WHIST. _=CARDS.=_ Chinese Whist is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing. _=MARKERS.=_ Ordinary whist markers are used for scoring the points. _=PLAYERS.=_ Two, three or four persons can play Chinese Whist.