The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-04-11
FOR LOVERS Or WHIST
Diedrich Continues the Discus
sion Of the Finesse.
CLAY's REMARKS UPON THE PLAY.

Can BE Made With Low as Wen IS High
Carda-Posaible With ANY Cards Not In
sequence-When and Where Go Einesse.
Illustrative Cases.
It viii be we'll to give up the whist col
umn this time to a quotation upon the
subject Of the dnesss from Clay, the old
time master Of subtle play, ranking in this
next to Doschappeles, whose pupil he
might be said to be. In fact, the whist
world of today may be said to be returning
to the method of play pursued by these
adopts,
With ace, knave, 10 and one or two
others in trumps cannot think it wrong,
unless there lis obvious reason for making
sure of two rounds in the suit, to fnesse
the 10. 1T is a dnesse against two cards,
the king and the queen, but unless both
these cards are with your left hand adver-
sary you have preserved to yourself the
tenace.
81 have spoken of the fnesse in the high
cards, but it must be remem bered that
when these cards have been played the
hnesse Of the lowest say, Of the 5, with
the and the 2 against the g, is as valu-
able as that Of the queen from ace, queen
against the king.
I'm order to dnesse it is not necessary
that you should hold the best and third or
fourth best, etc, of a suit Finesse is pos
64D48 ana may Dc 1OIG6Q on you Wild al
most any com bination of cards, sequences
excepted, say with king, knave against
queen, the ace being in, or with queen, 10
against the knave, the ace and king being
both in, or with com binatiOns of less i'm
portanoe.
Il would offer the following opinions,
not, I fancy, very generally entertained,
for the consideration of experienced play
ers. With ordinary hands fnesse may be
deep at their commencement and should
contract as they go on until in the last four
or five cards there is scarcely any opportu-
nifty left for fnesse, properly so called.
When weak in trumps, say even with
no trumps at all, hnesse deeply in the suit
in which you believe your partner to be
weak in order, as long as you can, to pro
tect him from a force.
again say that you have led from
king, 9 and small cards and that your
partner, having taken with queen, returns
TO you the 8. You know he has returned
to you the best card he holds in the suit
and that you have to contend not only
against the ace which you know to be be-
hind you, but against the king and TO-
neither of which cards can be with your
partner The position is difficult but
there is no help for it. You must pass
your partners g. 1t is a fnesse AGAINST
two cards, but one or possibly both of them
may be with your right hand adversary in
each of which cases you will have played
to advantage, and oven in the worst case,
that you find both king and 10 along with
the ace behind you, you have yet retained
your king guarded and have not given up
the entire command of the suit.
This leads to the consideration of an
other numerous class of cases, which, al
though not dissimilar, cannot strictly be
called fnesse. Take the same cards as given
in the last example. Your partner equally
takes with the queen and returns the 8,
but your right hand adversary renounces
the suit. You now know that the ace, 10
and king are all three behind you and it
is true that there is no dnesse against
hand which has none of the suit played.
Still you would do very wrong to play
your king. You must pass your partners
8 and you still hold your king guarded,
which prevents your left hand adversary
from going on with the suit without either
giving up his command or forcing his
partner. Your king, thus guarded, may
still be of great value to you, as your part
ner viii certainly not continue the suit
and your right hand adversary cannot. To
have played your king would have given
the entire command of the suit to your left
hand adversary, than which no position
could be worse. Cases similar to this are
of frequent occurrence and should be
treated on this principle. p DIEDRICH
Knickerbocker Whist Club, New York