when the chips are downspokenSERIOUS SITUATION in a serious or difficult situation, especially one in which you realize what is really true or important 在重要关头，在紧急时刻 When the chips are down, you’ve only got yourself to depend on. 到了紧急关头就只有靠自己了。
when the chips are down• When the chips were down, you felt he could handle the situation.• As you know, when the chips are down Leslie Bence comes out fighting.• It is disappointing to find that, when the chips are down, your paper is no better than the rest.• The implication, they fear, is that when the chips are down it is only rational human beings that really matter.
→ when the chips are down at chip1(2)