HINTS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 32

HINTS ON AUCTION BRIDGE

Finessing (II) (\Tritten tot TUb SUS by “Caliban.Cupyris/tii in Sew Zealand.) THE rematVs that I have so far had to make, in regard to finessing, ODcern solely the play of the declarer; X will deal in a subsequent article with the employment of the finesse (or rather of the so-called finesse, for it is not one in the true sense of the term) by the declarer's adversaries. This week X will continue my statement of the general principles which the declarer will be well advised to bear in mi’nd. (1) Do not finesse on the first round of a suit if you can do so equally well on a subsequent one.

If, for example, the cards in a particular suit (say, Spades) are distributed as above, vou should, as a rule, begin by leading out the Ace and should then take your finesse up to the King, Knave. The reason for this is fairly obvious, via., that you may find the unguarded Queen in B'a hand or the Queen only once guarded in A>, and in either of these cases it will not be necessarv, if vou play properly, to take a finesse at all. 1 2) If you have the option of taking your finesse in two ways, (i.e., of finessing either through A's hand up to Dummy or through- B’s hand up fo vour own) give yourself a second chance, should the threat to finesse Dot produce the missing card the first time.

Thus, if Hearts are . I ist r i but e.l as in the diagram, and jou have m> information as to the position of the Queen, you should lead out the 10 from vour own hand (threatening A with the finesse), and if A does not play the Queen, vou should put up Dummy's Ace and then lead through B 3 hand up to the King, 9. The reason for this manoeuvre is, of course, that A, if he has the Queen, will probably put it up, so that if he does not do so it is more likely than not to be found in his partner's hand. (3) Do not take it for granted (as many beginners do) that because you hold a tenace in one hand or the other you must finesse as a matter of course. Whether you do so should depend, in point of fact, upon the relative attractiveness (considered with reference to expectation) of finessing and of such alternative lines of play as may present themselves. If. for example, you held five of a suit to the Ace, King, Knave in Dummy, and four to the 10 in your own hand, you would be wrong to finesso (against the Queen) even on the second round, unless the player on your right had shown himself void of the suit on the first one. The reason for this is that you are more likely than not to drop the Queen if you play out the Ace and King straightforwardly; whereas, if you finesse, you are giving yourself more than an even chance. This is a comparatively simple case, but more difficult propositions often present themselves which can only be handled satisfactorily in the light of experience or of a comprehensive knowledge of probabilities. To illustrate this, I will offer, for the consideration of my readers, the following conundrums:— (i) You hold in Dummy the Ace, King, Queen, 10 of a suit, and in your own hand two small ones. Should you finesse against the Knave on the second round? (ii) You hold in Dummy five of a suit to the Ace, Queen, 10, and in your own hand three small ones. How should you propose to play the hand? (You may assume that you have in your own hand what entry cards you want, and that no risk, other than it 3 own risk of failure, attaches to the finesse.) (iii) You hold in Dummy the Ace, 8. 5,2 of a suit, in your own hand the Quern, Knave, 6, 3. W'hat is your most promising line of play? In my next article I. will try to explore in detail the complexities of this last conundrum.