The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-14
BRIDGE TALKS
Written for The Journal by Miss Bessie
Allen Of Milwaukee.
No. 14-P1aying Dummy on No Tr1mper.

The suit which the adversary leads is ordinarily
the you should not pursue when you are playing
the dummy, as II they have the strength, 1t is not
often that you can take many tricks in it, and by
leading off your strength in it you establish their
length.
However, It sometimes happens that you have just
many Of that suit the leader has, and occasionally
more, with enough high cards to make the con-
tnuation Of it profitable. In that you should
play to win the first trick as cheaply possible in
your own hand, reserving whatever strength you
may have 50 that either now or later you may lead
thru the leaders, hand thus placing his high cards at
a disadvantage &1a
Avoid above all things leading off the winning
cards Of any suit and establishing the rest Of that
suit for your adversaries. Keep those winners till
the end, until you have established and made your
long suit; then, having made the length Of suit
do not let the lead escape from either hand until you
there is good card left there to make.
Many tricks lost thru carelessness at this point
and the player suddenly awakens to the realization
that the lead is in the wrong hand with possibility
Of ever getting it back again. a..
The word fnesse means 'ftaking chance" and
the object of the fnesse is to nullfy good card in
the hand at your right # that adversary
has not followed suit, there is fnesse.
When you and the Dummy together have nine or
cards in suit with and king, it is not wise
to hnesse as the remaining four cards may be equally
divided between the adversaries and have to fall
your two leads. El=r -.
With fewer than nine cards you will probably
have to make some fnesse, unless the suit is fully
established or ''set up.''
Never fnesse without considering what will be
likely to happen If you lose If one adversary has an
established suit ready to make and his partner has
more, it would be folly to chance any fnesse which
might let the long suit in. Rather, play to lose if
necessary to the partner who has more he will
have to open some other suit, probably to your ad
vantage Always try so to play that If the fnesse
loses you will lose to that adversary who is less
dangerous. - e.. i. = z.,-
When holding tenace, that suit should be opened
from the other hand and the lower card Of the
fnessed IT, in the other hand, there is card good
the lower card Of the tenace, hat and pass it,
For example: Having ace and queen at the head Of
suit lead from the other hand and nesse the queen,
with jack in the other hand lead the jack and pass it,
if it wins lead again and fnesse the queen. If the
jack loses the ace and queen made good.
With ace, jack and others in hand and queen
in the other, lead the queen and pass 1t.
When holding ace, jack in one hand and king in the
other, king jack in and in the other, 1t is
usually wiser not to fnesse the first time, there may
be development upon the first trick which will sug
ges to you where the intermediate high card lies The
first lead may from either side, but play that
the lone high card WINS then the lead will be in the
hand to lead to the tenace at the second trick.
In fnessng, the lead should generally be the high
est card in the weaker holding to the length Of the
stronger holding %4v
When you hold king and queen in hand and low
cards in the other do not lead the king force
ace but lead low from the other hand up to the king
and queen. If the lies in the second hand you viii
either force it out at once making your king and queen
good or you will make the queen, whereupon you car
put yourself in another suit and again lead thru
the =. ...,,