What a finesse really is should now be comprehended. It is not merely playing the queen third in hand when holding ace, queen, but it is playing the queen on the chance that the king may be in the hand of the second player. If the second player hold none of the suit, no finesse can be made; the ace must be played by the third player, if second hand has not trumped. It is curious how often bad players will commit the error of playing queen third
hand, holding ace, queen, when the second player has failed to follow suit, and has refused to trump.
The Play of the Fourth Hand.
The fourth player has to win the trick if he can, with the lowest card in his hand. If he cannot win the trick, he plays his most worthless card.
Whist Conventions.
From an examination of the leads, it will be seen that one main object is to convey information to your partner. The king is led before the ace, so that your partner may fairly conclude that, if the king wins the trick, you hold the ace. If, after the king, the queen be led, he obtains an additional piece of information. The science of Whist is in great measure based on this principle of giving information to your partner by means of the cards you play.
Among the conventions now universally adopted, perhaps the most important is—
The Call for Trumps.
If a player be desirous to obtain a lead of trumps from his partner, he can intimate such desire by playing an unnecessarily high card to a trick.
It must be distinctly understood that the play of an unnecessarily high card means a demand on the partner to lead a trump. What, then, is an unnecessarily high card?