AUDREY GRANT'S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE May / June 2020

Let’s make a plan when dummy comes down. to make the contract even if the opponents switch to spades. Let’s suppose we get to 4♥ on the following deal and West leads the ♦3. Should we try the diamond finesse? ♣ A 10 6 Not if we want to make the contract when this is the actual deal: ♠ J 7 4 ♥ K 10 7 4 3 4♥ ♦ A Q ♣ K Q 8 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ LEAD: ♦3 K 9 5 9 2 J 8 7 3 2 J 5 2 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♠ ♥ ♦ w w J 7 4 K 10 7 4 3 A Q K Q 8 n s n s Q 6 3 A Q J 8 5 9 5 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A 10 8 2 6 K 10 6 4 9 7 4 3 ♣ A 10 6 If we try the diamond finesse, East wins the ♦K and safely returns a diamond. We can draw trumps and take the club winners, but eventually we’ll have to lead a spade. As long as the defenders are careful, we will lose all three spade tricks. Down one. If we make our plan before taking the diamond finesse, we might recognize we don’t need the finesse! We win the ♦A, draw trumps, and take the club e Q 6 3 A Q J 8 5 9 5 e 4♥ winners. Then we lead a diamond, not caring which defender holds the ♦K. Whoever wins the ♦K will have to lead a spade – or give us a sluff and a ruff. Once they lead a spade, we play low and are guaranteed to get a spade trick. We lose a diamond and two spades, but that’s all. In the next deal, we get all the way to 6NT and West leads the ♥2. Once more, we have the opportunity to take a finesse at trick one: ♣ A Q 7 There’s no hurry to take a heart finesse, hoping West holds the ♥Q. If the finesse is working, it will still be working later on. We won’t need the heart finesse if the spade finesse works. We’ll have three spade tricks, two hearts, four diamonds, and three clubs – twelve tricks. What if the spade finesse loses? We are still in no hurry to try the heart finesse. First we can test the clubs. If they divide 3-3, we won’t need the heart finesse since we’ll again have twelve tricks. Only if the clubs break unfavorably will we finally have to try the heart finesse. We’ll be happy we didn’t try the heart finesse when this is the complete deal: ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 6 3 2 8 6 4 2 10 5 2 J 9 4 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A Q 4 A K 5 Q 8 4 K 8 6 3 w n J 10 7 J 10 9 A K J 9 A Q 4 A K 5 Q 8 4 K 8 6 3 n s e J 10 7 J 10 9 A K J 9 A Q 7 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 6NT LEAD: ♥2 w e ♠ s ♥ ♦ ♣ 6NT K 9 8 5 Q 7 3 7 6 3 10 5 2 If we try the heart finesse at trick one, it loses to East’s ♥Q. When we later try the spade finesse, it also loses and the contract is down one. If we win the first heart, the spade finesse still loses, but now we have time to test the clubs. When they divide 3-3, we no longer need the heart finesse. In our last deal, you reach 4♠ and West leads the ♥4. Are we tempted to take the finesse at trick one? There are two heart losers, a diamond loser, and a club loser. We should be able to promote an extra club winner on which to discard one of red-suit losers, but look what will happen if we take the heart finesse at trick one: ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 10 8 2 J 9 7 4 K J 8 10 6 3 ♠ ♥ ♦ w 7 4 3 A Q 5 7 5 4 3 Q J 7 n s ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A K Q J 9 6 8 6 3 A 9 ♣ K 2 Unfortunately, the finesse loses to East’s ♥K and East returns a heart, driving out dummy’s ♥A. We can lead the ♣K to drive out the ♣A, but East holds up one round and now there is no entry to dummy’s extra club winner. What can we do? Play a low heart from dummy at trick one! East can win the ♥10, but East can’t drive out our heart entry. The best East can do is switch to a diamond. We win the ♦A, draw trump, and drive out the ♣A. Even if East holds up once, we have the ♥A as an entry and can discard a heart loser on a club. In conclusion, the finesse is an important technique for establishing extra winners or eliminating losers. Since finesses sometimes lose, however, we should always start by making a plan to see if we actually need to take the finesse. e BetterBridge.com 4♠ 5 K 10 2 Q 10 6 2 A 9 8 5 4 3

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