This article is about the card-game technique. In optics, finesse is a parameter characterizing a Fabry-Perot interferometer. A Fabry-Perot etalon. ...

Look up Finesse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Also, in American team sports -- particularly football -- the term is used to denote a style of play characterized by reliance upon the players' speed and quickness rather than physical strength; a team employing this strategy is said to be a "finesse team" -- a label often considered pejorative. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary logo Wiktionary is a sister project to Wikipedia intended to be a free wiki dictionary (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ...

On 15 Fenruary 2006 a new form of high quality audio streaming was introduced by Radio Jackie and named Finesse - full details lower down.

This article concerns Contract Bridge and uses terminology associated with the game. See Contract bridge glossary for an explanation of unfamiliar words or phrases.

In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a technique which allows one to promote tricks based on a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. If one can lead up to a finessable position such as ace-queen, an additional trick can be won if the king is positioned in front of the combination of ace and queen. Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game for four players, usually sitting around a table, who form two partnerships, or sides. The partners on each side sit opposite one another. ... The following terms are used in Contract bridge and Auction bridge. ... Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game for four players, usually sitting around a table, who form two partnerships, or sides. The partners on each side sit opposite one another. ...

A more precise definition of a finesse would be: A play that attempts to win either the current trick or a later trick with a certain card of the suit led, although the opponents hold a higher card in the suit, by taking advantage of the position of the particular cards.

A finesse is said to be on or off depending on whether or not the finessable honor is favorably placed (onside) or not (offside). Many finesses involve a combination of non-touching honors in the same hand, called a tenace.

Direct finesse

A direct finesse is a finesse that gains a trick without losing one, as long as it is "on". For example:

If South (declarer) is on lead he can lead to the queen; that is, he leads a small spade and, if West plays low, plays the queen from dummy. If West is holding the king (it is "onside"), North-South will win two tricks, for a gain of one trick without losing a trick. (If West actually plays the king on the first trick, of course, North-South win two tricks by covering with the ace.)

Indirect finesse

An indirect finesse is a finesse that gains a trick - if it is on - but may involve losing a trick first. A typical example is:

South leads a spade toward the king; if West holds the ace, the king will either win the current trick or will become the highest remaining spade and win a later one. (More precisely, the king is set up as a winner, but that doesn't mean it will necessarily take a trick. It might be ruffed, or at No Trump the defense might run another suit for a squeeze and force it to be discarded. But this article is about finesses, and having acknowledged that such issues exist, we will ignore them henceforth.)
Although the squeeze play (or simply squeeze) was already discovered and described in whist, its use was best described and perfected in contract bridge. ...

Double finesse

A double finesse is a finesse against two outstanding honours. Sometimes it can gain two tricks:

South leads a spade to the 10; if it holds (or later on, if it loses), he reenters his hand in a different suit and then leads another spade to the queen. North-South will take three spade tricks if West has both the king and the jack (probability about 25% in the absence of any information), two if East and West have one each (50%), but only one if East has both (25%).

Other times it can gain one trick:

South leads a spade to the 10. Assuming it loses, he reenters his hand and then leads another spade to the jack. North-South will take two spade tricks if West has either the king or the queen, or both (probability about 75% in the absence of any information), but only one if East has both (25%).

Similarly, a triple finesse is possible, and occasionally desirable, with a holding such as A-Q-10-8. This would be a low-probability desperation play if you needed four tricks in the suit, but you will probably make two or three.

Deep finesse

A deep finesse is a maneuver that allows one additional trick to be won, but only if two cards are favorably positioned. A deep finesse has therefore a probability of only about 25% of success.

South leads a spade and inserts the 10 if West plays low. South will gain a trick if both the queen and the jack are with West. NB: If there are no entries back into the South hand, West can assure himself one trick by splitting his honors, that is playing the queen or jack, on South's original lead.

Leading high for a finesse

If the length of a particular suit in both the declarer and dummy hands is less than the total number of high cards in the suit in the two hands, then at some point you will have to play two high cards on the same trick. In that case, if you are going to finesse in the suit, it is often desirable to start by leading one of the high cards, in order to retain the lead in the same hand if the finesse is on.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Examples 1 and 2 play the same way. If you intend to finesse, you normally should not start by leading to the queen: if you did and it held, you would still have to reenter your hand in order to take a total of three spade tricks. Instead you should finesse by leading the jack, and if West plays low, playing the small spade from dummy. This is called running the jack. Now you are still in your hand and can simply repeat the finesse by leading low to the queen. Or if West does have the king and covers your jack with it, then you can put the ace on the same trick and, because you started with four high cards, you still have the queen and 10 to win the two remaining tricks as well.
Example 3:

Example 4:

Examples 3 and 4 show that when you lead high for a finesse, the honors do not have to form a tenace that you lead toward. Example 3 can be played exactly like examples 1 and 2, by running the jack (or queen or 10). In Example 4, you can take a double finesse by running the 10 (or 9).

Marked finesse

A marked finesse is one that cannot lose, because the position of the opponents' honor is known.

If South begins by leading the king-queen, he learns on the second trick that East has no more spades. The finesse of the 10 is now a sure thing.

Two-way finesse

A two-way finesse is a situation where you can finesse by leading from either hand toward the other.

You may start by playing the king of spades (or if in dummy, leading the 2 to the king) and then running the 10; this makes three spade tricks if East has the singleton queen or if West has the queen, and if that's not the case, then East will be on lead. Or you may start with the ace and jack, making three tricks in the opposite situation, or leaving West on lead. You may decide which way to finesse based on which opponent is more likely to have the queen, or on which opponent it would be safer to give the lead to, if you must. Or, of course, you also have the option of not finessing.

This holding similarly presents a two-way finesse, but along with a suitable entry it will always produce 5 spade tricks no matter how the opponents' spades are placed.

You simply play the ace on the first spade trick. If both opponents follow suit, you know that the jack will drop with no finesse needed; if one shows out, you have a marked finesse available against the other. For example, if East shows out, next play a small spade to the queen, then score the K and 10 via the marked finesse; finally enter the South hand in another suit and cash the 13th spade (or if spades are trump, use it by ruffing).

Ruffing finesse

The ruffing finesse is a variation of a finesse in trump contracts where the finessing player chooses to ruff or not, rather than choosing which card to play from a tenace. The word trump has a number of meanings: Trump cards are cards which rank above non-trump cards, and which automatically prevail over them unless a higher trump is played. ...

In this example, hearts are trumps and South's 2 is the last one remaining, and the lead is with North (dummy). Then North-South can take all tricks if East holds the ace of spades. A spade is led from the North hand; if East plays low, a diamond is discarded and the lead is repeated. If East never covers, North-South get three spade tricks and a trump. If East plays the ace, South trumps and leads a club to return to the dummy, which is high, so taking two spades, a trump, and a club trick.

Note that while a conventional finesse is "on" if the opponents' critical honor is positioned before yours, the reverse is true for a ruffing finesse. Consequently, there is a form of two-way finesse where you can take a ruffing finesse against one opponent or an ordinary finesse against the other. If there is no other reason to choose one play or the other, the ruffing finesse may be a superior alternative because it allows you to lead high and retain the lead. Let us look at a complete hand:

East plays a contract of 4 hearts. After the opening lead of a diamond, he wins the ace and plays the two top trumps; they break 3-2. He leads a spade to the queen, but the finesse is off, and the opponents now cash two diamonds. With a trump still to lose, one down.

Out of luck? Not at all. The contract is cold as long as trumps break 3-2 (and the defense cannot get an early ruff). The correct play is to win the ace of diamonds and to continue with the ace of spades, followed by the queen for a ruffing finesse. If North does not cover with the king, declarer pitches a losing diamond. If North does play the king, declarer ruffs and later pitches a diamond on the jack of spades. Even if the king is with South, declarer loses 3 tricks only, if trumps are 3-2. And if trumps are 4-1 the game will still make if the king of spades is sitting with North. The advantage of the trump finesse over the ordinary finesse here is the gain of tempo if it loses.

Free finesse

A so-called free finesse is not technically a finesse at all, as it is not dependent on the position of the opponents' cards, but only on their choice of lead. You have a free finesse when an opponent leads a suit, so that the hand containing a tenace position plays last to the trick. In the first example:

the normal finesse only works if West has the king, but if East leads spades, you simply play the lowest card that will win the trick, and so get two tricks no matter whether East or West has the king. Similarly, in the first two-way finesse example, you make three spade tricks automatically on a free finesse if either East or West is the first to lead spades.

Free finesses often happen due to the defense guessing wrong about high cards in declarer's hand, especially on the opening lead. But it is also possible to force the defense to give you a free finesse, by endplaying them. Consider the two-way finesse example again, but with an additional card: An endplay, in bridge and similar games, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks. ...

Nobody has played any spades at any point, so the defense is known to have 7 of them, and their other card is known to be a heart. Declarer leads a heart, losing to whichever defender holds the high heart; and that defender is now on lead with nothing but spades. North-South will take 3 spade tricks for certain, and declarer need not guess which way to finesse the suit.

Bath Coup

Main article: Bath coup

This specific case of a free finesse is important enough to have its own name (after the city of Bath in England). The motive occurs when the declarer holds A J x and the left-hand opponent leads the king or queen of the suit. If the declarer ducks and the opponent now repeats the lead, two tricks with the ace-jack will be gained. Bath coup is a coup in the game of contract bridge, where the declarer, holding AJx in a suit ducks the left-hand opponents lead of a King (or a Queen). ... Bath is a city in South West England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... In the card game of contract bridge, the term duck means to play low to a trick, thus losing it intentionally. ...

The Bath coup is not just a deceptive play. Even if the suit is not continued, the declarer gains a tempo, since he still has a sure stopper in that suit. In contract bridge, coup is a generic name for various techniques in play, denoting a specific pattern in the lie and the play of cards. ...

Trump coup and coup en passant

In positions where a finesse in trumps cannot be taken because the hand that would need to lead trumps has none, a trump coup or coup en passant may be used. See those articles. The trump coup is a contract bridge coup used when the hand on lead (typically the dummy) has no trumps remaining, while the next hand in rotation has only trumps, including a high one that would have been onside for a direct finesse if a trump could have been led. ... Coup en passant is a type of coup in contract bridge where trump trick(s) are stolen by trying to ruffing a card after the player who has the master trump(s). ...

Suit combinations

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge has a long list of suit combinations and how best to play them depending on how many tricks you need. A good player does not need to memorize this, and can usually deduce the correct play at the table. However, it is worthwhile to study the suit combinations table. But remember that the optimal play in a suit may not be best in the context of the entire hand.

Finesse Audio Streaming

A new form of streaming became public on 15 February 2006. It is all described here:

NEWS RELEASE

World First - RADIO JACKIE FINESSE STREAMED AUDIO

Hi-Fi enthusiasts and audio purists will be excited by the latest internet streaming innovation from 107.8 Radio Jackie, The Sound Of South West London. 107. ...

The station has now added a Finesse stream, which preserves the studio output quality even more faithfully.

Radio Jackie already has a range of superior quality advanced MP4 AAC+ streams and the new Finesse stream will appeal to those who want to experience the full dynamic range of the music.

Radio stations process their audio to improve the sound clarity for listeners in cars and noisy work or home environments. If you have large loudspeakers or are in a quiet room you may prefer to hear music as the producer intended. This world first, Jackie's Finesse stream, provides exactly that.

The name Finesse was chosen to describe this new type of streaming for its meaning of distinction, refinement, grace and delicacy of performance.

For Jackie Finesse, just click Listen Now at www.radiojackie.com. [1]

107.8 Radio Jackie is licensed by Ofcom and broadcasts live programmes and news 24 hours a day to South West London and North Surrey.

Radio Jackie engineering is by Trevor Brook and streaming is provided by mouselike.org

Attachment: Jackie Listen Now.jpg Caption: Finesse and the range of other streams on Radio Jackie's website.