Auction of To-day

by Milton C. Work

PLAYING FOR GAME

The Declarer should never take a finesse or make any other play which, if it succeed, gains one or more tricks, but which, if it fail, risks the fulfilment of an otherwise assured contract. Having once made sure of his bid, he should apply a similar rule to the winning of the game. An extra trick counts comparatively little, but the failure to carry out a contract or to capture a game may alter the result of the rubber.

The game is, of course, far more important than the contract, and the Declarer, when he has a reasonable chance of obtaining it, should, if necessary, risk his declaration. On the other hand, his opponents should save the game beyond peradventure, even if by so doing they lose an opportunity to defeat the Declarer.

A couple of examples will show this more clearly than pages of explanation.

Suppose, the score being love, the Declarer, who has bid three Royals, has about exhausted the possibilities of his cards. He has won eight tricks and has the lead in his own hand, with an Ace and Queen of the same suit in the Dummy. One more trick will fulfil his contract, two will give him game. The development of the play has shown that the adversaries will make the rest of the tricks whenever they obtain the lead, and consequently, if he finesse and lose, the eight tricks already taken will be all he will secure, his Ace will "die," and he will be "one down."

He is without information as to the location of the King; neither adversary has declared, and neither has by discard or otherwise in the play given a reliable hint as to the absence or presence of the all-important card.

His duty is plain. By finessing he may lose 27 points and a penalty of 50, 77 in all, but the finesse gives him an even chance to win the game; and whether it be the rubber, with its premium of 250, or merely the first game, but still a most important advance toward the goal, he should take his chance, realizing that the value of the object for which he is striving is far greater than the 77 he may lose.

Under similar conditions, however, if the Trump be Diamonds, the finesse should be refused. It would then take three more tricks to make game, and but two are possible. One completes the contract, and winning the finesse adds only 7 points, less than one-tenth of the 71 placed in jeopardy.

The 21 points in the trick column assured by refusing the finesse are, viewed from a practical standpoint, just as near a game as 28 would be, but 21 makes the bidding for game on the next deal much easier than if the effort to win the extra 7 had resulted in the score remaining at love. In this case, therefore, not only when the chances are equal, but even when unmistakable inferences of declaration and play indicate that the success of the finesse is almost assured, the opportunity should be refused.

"Penny-wise and pound-foolish" aptly characterizes a player who would risk advantage of position and 71 points for the chance of gaining a paltry 7.