Finessing Against Dummy.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 143, 18 June 1931, Page 8

Finessing Against Dummy.

Auction Bridge

By A. E. Manning Foster. the many queries submitted to me by players those concerning finesses against dummy are never failing. B, the player after dummy, is often aggrieved because his partner (quite justly) blames him for playing an unnecessarily high card. In a recent case, A led the 7 of Clubs against a no trumper. Dummy put down K, 5, and played the 5, while B held A, J, 6,2. B played the Ace, and contended that he was bound to do so because any other card would be a finesse against his paitner. B then continued the suit, and Z .won the game from love with ten tricks. The full hands were:—

Now, B was quite wrong. His play should have been the Jack on the first trick, then the Ace, followed by the Ace and King of Hearts, and finally the 6 of Clubs. This would have given A-B the first seven tricks and defeated the contract of one no trump, instead of throwing away the game. iThe Jack of Clubs would not be a finesse against his partner, but against dummy. In fact, tqe Jack was a certain winner. B knew that A was not one of those people who lead their third or fifth best, hoping to diddle the declarer and only succeeding in puzzling their partner. So A is marked with three cards higher than the 7. But those three cards with A cannot be 10, 9,8, because A would then lead the 10 from the combination. Therefore, A must have the Queen, and Z’s one Club higher than the 7 must be lower than the Jack in B’s hand. B can obviously win the first trick with the Jack, and then kill dummy’s King with the Ace. Even if B was not capable of /working out this simple little problem by the Rule of Eleven and was hazy about the location of the Queen, he could at least see that the play of the Ace at trick one could not possibly do good and might do harm. It could do no good, because it ensures a trick to Y-Z in that suit, whether Z has the Queen or not. And it might do harm, because Y-Z cannot win a Club trick without the Queen unless B plays his Ace.‘ A difference of 90 points and the value of a game through (a) not knowing the Rule of Eleven and (b) not using his common sense!