We are declarer with hearts as the trump suit and need two tricks from this spade holding with lots of entries to both hands :

♠ ?

Dummy

♠ A Q J

Declarer

♠ 2

With no information from the auction , we have to guess which defender we think holds the missing ♠K . If West holds the ♠K , we can take a straightforward finesse , leading a low card from our hand and finessing dummy ’ s ♠Q or ♠J .

If we think East holds the ♠K , however , we have another option . We can lead a spade to dummy ’ s ♠A and then lead the ♠Q or ♠J . If East covers with the ♠K , we ruff and dummy ’ s remaining honor becomes the second trick we need . If East doesn ’ t play the ♠K , we immediately have our second trick . This type of finesse is referred to as a ruffing finesse . We make use of the trump suit when we have a void in a side suit in which we want to establish tricks . Let ’ s look at examples in full deals .

We reach 4♠ and West leads the ♣2 .

We have no spade losers , but missing the ♥A , we have two potential heart losers . Given the club lead , there are also four likely club losers . That ' s three too many losers .

N W E ♠ ?

S

2 Audrey Grant ’ s Better Bridge | May-June 2023

LEAD :

♣2

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Dummy K J 6 3 8 5 3 K Q 8 6 K 7

W

N

S

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A Q 10 8 7 4

♥ K Q 7

♦ —

♣ 6 5 4 3

On the actual deal , East holds the ♣A-Q and wins the first two tricks . East shifts to the ♥J , we play the ♥Q , but West wins the ♥A and returns a heart , driving out our ♥K . We ' ve now lost the first three tricks . We can ruff our two remaining club losers in dummy , but we still have an extra heart loser .

Let ’ s focus on the diamond suit . We can hope East holds the ♦A on this deal and the full layout is something like this :

Dummy

♠ K J 6 3

♥ 8 5 3 4♠

♦ K Q 8 6

♣ K 7

♠ 5

♠ 9 2

N

♥ A 6 4 2

♥ J 10 9

W E

♦ J 9 7 4

♦ A 10 5 3 2

S

♣ J 9 8 2

♣ A Q 10

Declarer ( Us )

♠ A Q 10 8 7 4

♥ K Q 7

♦ —

♣ 6 5 4 3

After gaining the lead with the ♥K at trick four , we draw trumps in two rounds , ending in dummy . Next ,

E

4♠ we lead the ♦K for a ruffing finesse . If East plays a low diamond , we discard the heart loser . If East plays the ♦A , we ruff . We can ruff a club to get back to dummy and take the established ♦Q and discard the heart loser . We lose only two clubs and one heart , making the contract .

On this next deal , we reach 4♠ after this auction :

West leads the ♣4 . What ’ s our plan ?

LEAD :

♣4

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Dummy A J 5 A Q J 10 5 8 4 3 10 7

W

N

S

Declarer ( Us )

♠ K Q 10 8 7 4 3

♥ 7

♦ K 7 5

♣ A 9

We have no spade losers and no heart losers , but there are three potential diamond losers and one club loser . That ’ s one too many . We could rely on the 50 % diamond finesse , hoping East holds the ♦A . We might also try the 50 % heart finesse , hoping West holds the ♥K . We could then discard one of the losers on the ♥A .

However , the ruffing finesse in hearts gives us a sure thing . We win the ♣A , draw two rounds of trumps , and then play the ♥A and lead the ♥Q . If East plays the ♥K , we ruff , cross back to dummy with a spade and discard three of our losers on the established hearts . If , instead , East follows with a low heart , we discard the club loser . If the ♥Q wins , we can repeat the ruffing finesse , again making two overtricks . Here ’ s the full deal :

E

4♠