The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1928-04-27
EASY LESSONS IN
AUCTION BRIDGE
BY PAUL II. SEYMOUR
Author of "Highlights on Auction Bridge
Article Twenty-one.
Declarer'. Play of a No Trump
-Einessing
by Hoyle. Jr.)

-Finessing
nECLARER'S play of no trump
II offers opportunity for the exer-
else of all of those faculties which
good player must use. Memory, rea-
soning, deductions and differences all
must be brought to bear upon the
one point-getting the greatest pos
sible number of tricks from the twen-
ty-six cards of declarer and dunn
my. Here finessing is one of the most
frequently used methods of obtaining
an extra trick or two, and thor
ough understanding of 1t is absolutely
necessary.
First let us have definition:
"Finessing Is trying to take trick
with certain card when there Is
higher one unplayed, the location OF
which Is unknown" If the location
of this higher card is unknown 1t
must be held by an adversary; but
declarer does not know which adver-
sary holds it.
The simplest form of finessing Is
when dummy holds Ace, Queen and
others of suit, and declarer has
only small ones. In taking this finesse
or in tinessing against the King, as 1t
is called, declarer leads low from his
hand and If senior plays low, dunn
mys Queen is played. II senior holds
the King the Queen will win the
fri nly hA Go crra fJIl
but if Junior has the King, the Queen
is taken by it and the finesse loses
According to the law Of averages
the King will be held on each side
fore this finesse has even chances
of winning or losing. Ii, however,
u player does not take the finesSe ''be-
cause he is afraid of losing" as some
say, and then is obliged to lead the
Queen he loses 1t ninety-nine times
out of one hundred. Therefore,
finesse of this kind always should be
taken unless some further circum-
stance makes it undesirable to do so.
Another common finesse is when
holding Ace and small ones in one
hand and Queen, Jack and small ones
in the other. Here the Queen should
be led toward the Ace and if the King
Is not played by second hand low
card should be played from the hand
holding the Ace. If second hand holds
the King, the Queen will win the trick
and the Jack should be led. II the
King is still held up the Jack is passed
through and wins and the Ace will
catch the King unless second hand
held three guards for it.
When holding Ace, Queen and ten In
one hand there is an opportunity to
take a double finesse against the
King and Jack) by playing the ten, or
to take the single finesse against the
King) by playing the Queen. Expert
ence has shown that in such a case It
Is advisable to take the double finesse
when holding eight or less cards In
the suit in both hands; but take the
single finesse when holding nine or
more.
When holding Ace and small ones In
one hand and Queen and small ones In
the other, the proper way to lead Is
low towards the Queen. Here again
there is an even chance of winning
with the Queen because if second hand
holds the King up the Queen takes
that trick, and if second hand plays
the King the Queen will take trick
later, while, of course, If fourth hand
holds the King the Queen is lost.
With Ace, King, Jack and others d.
vided between the two hands it is best
to lead the Ace or King first and then
decide whether or not it Is best to
fnesse against the Queen The fall of
the cards on the first trick may give
some indication of the location of the
Queen, or it may even be caught as
there is chance of its being held
alone.
One of the most important helps -
deciding which way to fnesse Is to
think of the bidding and try to Wis
ualize the hands from the information
SO gained. If there has been no bid
ding the best way is to decide where
you would like to find a certain card
and then play just as if you knew
1t was there.
In deciding whether or not to take
a finesse one should consider the gain
which will result from its success
compared with the loss incurred If It
fails. If its success is necessary to Sc
cure game or slam, while its fail
ure will not endanger the contract 1t
should be taken: but IL its success
would mean only fifth odd trick at
a major suit declaration, while its
failure would endanger game or con-
tract, it should not be risked.