As declarer , we are often faced with decisions about which cards to play . Sometimes it ’ s a pure guess , but at other times it shouldn ’ t be . The situation may call for a particular line of play , or we may have clues available to give us the winning answer . Let ’ s see how we go about making the right choice .

Consider this deal . We accept partner ’ s invitation to slam and end up in 6NT . West leads the ♦10 .

LEAD : ♦10

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Dummy J 9 J 10 K J 4 2 A J 8 7 6

W

N

S

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A Q

♥ A 9 6

♦ A Q 5 3

♣ K Q 10 5

We start with eleven top tricks : one spade , one heart , four diamonds , and five clubs . We need one more and it will have to come from either spades or hearts .

In spades , we have a straight 50 % chance of East holding the ♠K . The hearts , however , offer the better chance of a repeated finesse . That will work if East holds the ♥K , or the ♥Q , or both the ♥K and ♥Q . That ’ s a 75 % chance .

When we have two chances , we like to combine them if possible . Here , however , if we start with the spade

E

6NT

2 Audrey Grant ’ s Better Bridge | January-February 2025

finesse and it loses , we can ’ t fall back on the repeated heart finesse since a trick must be lost even if it is successful . We have to start with the heart finesse first . If this loses to the ♥Q or ♥K in West ’ s hand , we have the option of going back to the spade finesse , but that is going against the odds . We should stick with the 75 % plan in the heart suit , hoping the full deal looks something like this :

Dummy

♠ J 9 6NT

♥ J 10

♦ K J 4 2

♣ A J 8 7 6

♠ K 7 5 2

♠ 10 8 6 4 3

N

♥ Q 7 4

♥ K 8 5 3 2

W E

♦ 10 9 8 6

S ♦ 7

♣ 4 3

♣ 9 2

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A Q

♥ A 9 6

♦ A Q 5 3

♣ K Q 10 5 On the actual deal , the first heart finesse loses to West ’ s ♥Q , but the second finesse is successful . We need to be a little careful with entries , since hearts must be led twice from dummy and the heart suit will be blocked if East doesn ’ t cover the second heart . We need to preserve an entry to our hand in either clubs or diamonds .

If West turns up with both the ♥K and ♥Q while East held the ♠K , we go down in a contract we could have made . However , we made the right decision to go with the odds , even if it wasn ’ t the winning decision .

On this next deal , we stop in 3NT , and West leads the ♠4 .

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

LEAD :

♠4

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Dummy 8 5 9 8 3 A Q J A J 10 4 2

W

N

S

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A 9 6

♥ A Q J

♦ 9 8 3

♣ K Q 7 5 We have eight winners : one spade , one heart , one diamond , and five clubs . We need one more . It will have to come from either hearts or diamonds . The suits are identical . Either will provide two extra tricks with the help of a successful finesse . Even if the finesse loses , one extra trick will be promoted . Is it a 50-50 tossup which suit to choose ?

Certainly not ! West has led a spade and we have only one spade stopper . If we lose a heart or a diamond trick and West started with five or more spades , the defense could take enough tricks to defeat the contract . However , we have a technical way to give ourselves nearly a 100 % chance .

We use the holdup play , waiting until the third round to win the ♠A . Then we take the diamond finesse , not the heart finesse . If the diamond finesse loses , it will be to East , the safe opponent . We expect the full deal to look something like this :

Dummy

♠ 8 5 3NT

♥ 9 8 3

♦ A Q J

♣ A J 10 4 2

♠ K J 7 4 2

♠ Q 10 3

N

♥ K 6 4

♥ 10 7 5 2

W E

♦ 7 6 4

S ♦ K 10 5 2

♣ 8 6

♣ 9 3

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A 9 6

♥ A Q J

♦ 9 8 3

♣ K Q 7 5 Even though the diamond finesse loses , East will have no spade left to lead after our holdup play if West started with a five-card or longer

E

3NT