CONSULTANCY

My specialist knowledge of traditional card and board games derives from over 30 years of research and practice, during which I've compiled a large collection of books and resources. I lead adult education workshops on games appreciation and development, and give talks and lectures on the subject. I've contributed to the planning of games exhibitions and to the running of the annual Mind Sports Olympiad. I've tested and reviewed games, assisted major games publishers with the development of in-house products, and am an accredited consultant on games terminology to the Oxford English Dictionary. I'm also usually willing to advise private individuals freely on the rules and details of particular games - the more obscure, the better - provided they have already tried the obvious places such as Pagat or rec.games. playing-cards. Please note, however, that (a) I have no interest in gambling, and (b) I don't act as an agent for placing or promoting games by other inventors.

Being a film enthusiast, my favourite consultancy work is the staging of indoor games in film and TV productions, especially of historical games for period drama. They include the following.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace centres on the contribution of William Wilberforce (1759-1833) to the abolition of the slave trade. This may sound rather heavy, but it's handled in a light and very human way. The card-playing scene takes place in Brooke's Gaming Club, London, in 1792. The stage directions specify Faro, which would have been authentic, but unfortunately the set and dialogue rather imply some sort of vying game. As Poker would have been anachronistic, I changed it to Brag, though I think in reality it had passed its heyday in this particular social circle by 1792. The film is directed by Michael Apted.

Onegin

Pushkin's drama includes a scene in a tavern where three principals (Ralph Fiennes, Alun Armstrong and Toby Stevens) are supposedly gambling at Faro. Actually, Faro was a casino game requiring a large layout, but Pushkin himself would have played the less elaborate domestic variety, similar to Stuss, so that's what we went for. The tavern scene was beautifully filmed, but to my surprise and regret, was dropped on the cutting-room floor. (At least, it didn't appear in the version shown on television, which is all I've seen.)

Mansfield Park

Jane Austen's novels are rich in references to card games and she evidently knew what she was talking about. Here's the passage from the novel depicted in the film (made at Ealing Studios):

What shall I do, Sir Thomas? [asks his wife]: Whist and speculation; which will amuse me most?'
Sir Thomas, after a moment's thought, recommended speculation. He was a whist player himself, and perhaps might feel that it would not much amuse him to have her for a partner.

Speculation, an obsolete game previously known to me only from the contents pages of some early Hoyles, turned out to be more interesting than most gambling games I've tried, as it rewards a fair amount of judicious calculation. There's also a scene where two of them play some simple but unspecified card game in the background, for which purpose Beggar my Neighbour (aka Beat Your Neighbour Out of Doors) seemed a suitable recommendation.

The Wicked Lady

Magdalen King-Hall's historical romance, set "in Good King Charles's Golden Days", features a game of Ombre, accurately described as being then fashionable at court. It was first filmed in 1945 with Margaret Lockwood and James Mason. In 1982 Michael Winner remade it (on location at North Mimms House) with a powerful cast including Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales and John Gielgud. Teaching the principals how to look as if they were playing the game was slightly uphill work, as they all claimed not to play cards in real life. Still, as Hitchcock said to Ingrid Bergman in another context, "Fake it". Which is what they did.

Stage and television productions

I taught various actors, including Nigel Stock and Clive Swift, how to play classical partnership Whist, and others how to play Pope Joan, in a BBC-TV production of The Pickwick Papers, and Clive Swift (again) how to play Bezique in a play by Noel Coward, which I've now forgotten. I've also forgotten the name of the play by Timberlake Wertenbaker that required assistance with the staging and jargon of Piquet.

Incidentally, and somewhat to my surprise, I've met remarkably few actors who do play cards. Gone are the days, apparently, when everyone on Broadway and in Hollywood played Gin Rummy backstage and between takes.