The Ace-Queen Finesse at Bridge

A Single Misplayed Situation, Which is One of the Greatest Trick Losers in the Game

R. F. FOSTER

THE congress of the American Whist League, which meets at the Mohican Hotel, at New London, during the first week of July, will be the first at which the play for the various Auction Bridge championships will be inaugurated as part of the official program for all future meetings of the League.

At this meeting, there will be ample opportunity for players, both men and women, to display their ability, whether as members of teams of four from the same club, or playing as a pair, always with the same favourite partner, or as individuals, playing with all kinds of partners, in the progressive games.

It is hardly necessary to say that there will be some interesting hands, and some very different results achieved on the same cards. We shall probably find a good deal of light thrown upon the question of the value of some of our modern conventions, especially the negative double and the take-out. Original calls on four-card suits, which I have advocated for years, but which have always been condemned by the "authorities", are now rapidly becoming established as perfectly sound opening bids, and are being tried out by many of the best players throughout the United States.

In a tournament like this in New London, every bid will influence the decision, and every trick will count. Grantland Rice says that the bad scores continually made by some golf players, who can drive and approach and putt as well as the average, are due to the fact that there is one particular shot which they do not know how to play, which is the one needed to get out of trouble.

There are many bridge players like this, who have some one weak spot in their game. Their losses are due to some one simple situation that they do not know how to play, and they continue to make the same mistake day after day, because they do not know it is a mistake, and have never stopped to analyze the situation.

Take such a simple thing as the ace-queen finesse. Probably not more than ten players in a hundred understand it. They play it mechanically, and they can gliby tell you why they play it that way, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

IF the ace and queen are in one hand, only small cards in the other, every one knows that the play is to lead from the weaker hand and to finesse the queen if the second hand plays small. Why? Because if the king is on the left of the lead, the queen and ace must make two tricks, whether the king is played second hand or not, and because, if the king is in the fourth hand, it is impossible to make two tricks by leading the suit.

But, if the ace and queen are divided between the two hands, not one player in fifty, take them as they come, knows that the situation is precisely the same. That this is so, any one may see for himself by watching the thousands of players who continually lead the queen when the ace is in the other hand, under the impression that it is the same thing. If the king is between the ace and queen, and is not played second hand for fear of that ace in the dummy, the queen wins, but never against good players.

There are no trumps, and Z leads. Y and Z want four tricks only. How do they get them against any defence? The solution will appear in the August number of Vanity Fair.

They forget the jack and ten, neither of which cards they hold, and they also forget the rule about covering an honour with an honour. They fail to see that in the first case the only chance to make two tricks, by leading the suit when both ace and queen are in one hand, is that "the king is to the right of the queen". They also fail to see that precisely the same thing is true of the situations in which the ace and queen are divided. The only chance for two tricks is that the king is to the right of the queen. It does not matter where the ace is.

I had an opportunity recently to watch the play of three particular hands in a duplicate match in which a player, who was otherwise a very sound bidder and a sharp player, lost no less than 520 points, simply through ignorance of this simple rule. Here is one of them, Mrs. Finessky at the bat.

MRS. FINESSKY dealt and bid no trump, JXX which held. The Orphan led the spade king and shifted to the ten of clubs. Mrs. Finessky won the trick with the jack and led the queen of diamonds, under the impression that it was just the same as the usual acequeen finesse with both the high cards in the same hand. The Widow won the trick with the king. "I seem always to get those finesses wrong," sighed the declarer, as she played a small club and dummy's ace won. (The final result would be the same if the Widow had returned a spade.)

The student's attention may be called to the fact that, had the queen been in the same hand with the ace—that is, in dummy—the finesse would equally have failed. But the rule is that the finesse will not fail if the king is to the right of the queen, which is the position in this case. The position is favourable for a successful finesse, but the play is wrong.

Dummy led a small diamond and the Orphan won it with the ten. This play shows that Mrs. Finessky knew how to manage reentries. The clubs were cleared, and dummy made the two diamonds. The regulation heart finesse held, and the spade jack was established by leading the queen; but two odd was all that was made on the play.

Those who understood the proper management of the ace-queen finesse went game on the hand. On winning the club lead with the jack, a small club put dummy in to lead a small diamond for the finesse of the queen, which must succeed if the king is on the right of the queen. When the queen won, a small diamond was returned and ducked, as before, the Orphan winning with the ten.

The clubs were cleared, dummy made two diamonds, the heart finesse held, and the spade lead established the jack, all precisely as in the first play given; but the one important trick that won the game and made a difference of 140 points was gained by the correct management of the ace-queen finesse. Here is another of the hands, in which the result of mismanagement was more disastrous.

MRS. FINESSKY dealt and bid no-trump, which held. The Orphan led two rounds of diamonds, king and jack, which shows that Mrs. Finessky knew the game well enough to stay off the diamonds until the Widow was out of them. Three rounds of clubs followed, playing for splits, a hope which the Widow encouraged by dropping the ten on the second round, as if her partner had the eight. The Orphan discarded a heart.

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The stereotyped ace-queen finesse lost to the king, and the Widow made the dub trick, her partner discarding spades, dummy a heart. As Mrs. Finessky had not led the jack of hearts for the finesse, according to her usual custom, the Widow placed that card with the Orphan, and led a small heart, which dummy won with the ace.

The next lead was the queen of spades, repeating the old error of leading a queen to an ace; and the Orphan promptly returned the jack, to force Mrs. Finessky to lead diamonds. Knowing that danger, the declarer took a chance on the hearts and led a spade, so that the Widow won the last three tricks. This set the contract, as Mrs. Finessky failed to win the odd trick.

When this hand was correctly played, the declarer followed the same plan in letting diamonds -come along a second time, to exhaust the leader's partner; but, instead of running off the clubs, which will be good any time, a small spade was led, to finesse the queen, which must win if the king is to the right of the queen, which it was. (This still holds command of the suit with the ace, if the finesse loses. It is only when the suit is so long that the king might be dropped that the ace is led first.)

The queen winning, a small spade was returned, won by the ace, and a third round played to establish the seven in dummy. For fear of establishing the ten of diamonds, a heart was led through. Dummy put the ace right on, and made the lone spade, the player on the left completing an encouraging heart echo with the deuce. The declarer shed a heart. Three rounds of clubs followed, and the fourth club went to the jack, forcing that player to give dummy a heart trick, but winning the game with three odd, instead of being set one. This is a difference of 210 points, all traceable to the error in playing the acequeen finesse when ace and queen are separated. Here is the third example:

MRS. FINESSKY dealt and bid no trump, which held. The Orphan led the eight of hearts, and dummy's jack won. The same old lead of the club queen, covered by the king and won by the ace. A small club returned was won by the jack, and the Orphan cleared the hearts, dummy holding off one round to exhaust the Widow. Mrs. Finessky now realized that she would have to discard a club. The regulation spade finesse followed, taking a chance on the hearts. On the two hearts, the Widow blanked her ace of diamonds, and her partner led a spade. Now the declarer is forced to lead the diamond, and the Widow makes the ace and two spades.

This sets the contract for three tricks.

At other tables, when correctly played, dummy led a small diamond for the second trick, and the jack held. Now a small club to the queen lost to the king. The heart is returned, dummy passing up one round, as before; but the declarer discards the spade queen, as a finesse in that suit would let in the hearts. A diamond from dummy, and the ace is still held up, but must win the third round.

The spade jack brings the declarer's ace and the fourth diamond makes. The declarer then lays down his ace of clubs for the odd trick and the contract. This is a gain of 10 points, instead of a loss of 150.

In all three of these hands, the "swing" is due to one thing, and only one: the correct play of the ace-queen finesse.

Answer to the June Problem

This was the distribution in Problem LX, in which a variety of clever defences had to be met:

There are no trumps, and Z leads and Z want five tricks. This is how they get them starts with a small diamond, which wins.

B has four lines of defense. The immediate return of the diamond being obviously a surrender, as it would set up Z's suit and still leave B in the lead, the three good defences are:

1. If B leads a spade, Z plays small, A passes it up and Y wins with the ace. V leads a diamond, which Z wins, and leads a third round, be fore losing his re-entry in clubs. The rest is obvious.

2. It B leads the higher of his two clubs, instead of the spade, at the second trick, Z wins the club and leads the ace of diamonds, following with the heart, which V wins and returns, throwing the lead into As hand, Z discarding a small diamond. Now, A must lose two spade tricks, no matter what B discards on the hearts.

3. If B leads the club six for the second trick, A gives up the king. Now, if Z goes on with the diamonds, he is lost; so he plays the heart, which Y B discarding a spade. Y returns the heart, and B is in a hole. if he discards the club, he must dis card again if A leads the winning club, and either Z makes two diamonds and Y a spade, or they make two spades and a diamond. If B discards either spade or diamond, so as to keep the club nine, he unguards the suit he discards.