By a doubtful card is meant a card of a suit of which your partnermayhave the best.
Whether you should trump or refuse to trump a doubtful card depends almost entirely on your strength in trumps. It has already been mentioned that it is an advantage to trump when you are weak, for you thus make a little trump, which is not available for the other uses of trumps, and which, if not used for trumping, will presently be drawn by the strong hand. It is conversely a disadvantage to trump a doubtful card when you are strong in trumps, for by trumping you weaken your numerical power, and diminish the probability of your bringing in a suit. If, instead of trumping, you throw away a losing card, you inform your partner that you have strength in trumps, andalso, by your discard, what your strong suit is; and if your partner has any strength in the suit led, you leave him in a favourable position.
If you refuse to overtrump, or to trump a certain winning card, your partner should conclude either that you have no trump, or more probably four trumps and a powerful hand besides. If he concludes that you are reserving your trumps to bring in a suit, he should assist you by leading trumps as soon as he can. A refusal to be thus forced is seldom requisite if you have more than four trumps; with six you are mostly strong enough to trump and to lead trumps; with five you may do the same, if your suit is established; but if not, it is generally best to take the force, and to lead your suit.
The situations in which it is most necessary to refuse to overtrump your right-hand adversary, or to refuse to trump a winning card, occur when you have four trumps and a very strong suit, or a suit established early in a hand. For then, by trumping, you prejudice your chance of bringing in the suit in order to secure one trick. By refusing to part with a trump in these cases, you obtain the advantages just enumerated, at the time when they are most likely to become of service; and, where you refuse to overtrump, your adversary is left with one trump less, by which your hand is strengthened.
Many players run into the extreme of always refusing to be forced by a winning card when they are strong in trumps. The situations, however, just indicated, are almost the only ones in which it answers to holdup; and these even are liable to several exceptions. For instance:—1. You should not persist in refusing to be forced if you find that the adversary has the entire command of his suit. 2. You should not refuse if your partner evidently intends to force you; and, 3. You should not refuse to overtrump if you have reason to believe that your left-hand adversary is strong in trumps.
With an untaught partner it is useless to refuse to trump; he will not understand it, but will continue to force you. With such, the best course is rather to make tricks when you can than to play for a great game.
From what has just been said, it is evidently an advantage to