Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Choose Your Finesse – Part 2

On many occasions when you are declarer the success of your contract would depend on a successful finesse. Sometimes declarer has a choice between finesses. He has to decide which finesse to take (or whether to take a finesse at all...) This is Part 2 of Oren's series on Finesses. Click here for Part 1.

Test yourselves with the hands below, and see if you can choose the right finesse:

Start the test now!

11. You play 4♠ and West leads the ♣J. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 4♠ and West leads the ♣J. Win in dummy and lead a LOW Diamond to your J. If East has the KQ, you manage to promote a Diamond trick for a club discard. If not... You will still make if the Heart finesse succeeds.


12. You play 6 and West leads the Q. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 6 and West lead the Q. As you want to make your Clubs, you need to pull out trumps first. You cannot afford to play the K and run the 10, as if the Q is with West - you will lose this trick and the Diamonds later. Planning to ruff Diamonds is not too good either due to entry problems.

The best line is to run the 10. If West wins with the Q, your K protects you from a Diamond continuation.

If West returns a Spade - you play the ♠A, pull out trumps, and throw 2 Diamonds and a Spade on the good Clubs. If the 10 holds the trick, continue with the K, a Club to the ♣K, A (if Hearts split 3-2 you can claim 13 tricks) and Clubs, throwing 2 Diamonds from hand. West can ruff the 4th Club and play a Spade - but you take the ♠A and throw your remaining Spade loser on the 5th Club.


13. You play 3NT on a ♠Q lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 3NT on a ♠Q lead. You have 8 tricks off the top. the 9th trick will come from a successful Heart or Diamond finesse.

Question is, which finesse should you take first?

You must take the Heart finesse. Win the ♠A and play a Heart to the K.

Why? If the A is with East - You will score your K as the 9th trick. If not - You still have a chance to try the Diamond finesse later. But, if you try the Diamond finesse first and it fails - East will return a Spade and now you are down for sure, no matter where the A is (you will lose one Heart, one Diamond and 3 Spades).


14. You play 3NT and West leads the 6. Which finesse do you take?






You play 3NT and West leads the 6. Win the A and run the ♣10 for a finesse. As cards lay here – You make 10 tricks as the Club finesse works.

However, if Club finesse fails, you can still try to make the Q if West returns Diamond.

But as cards lay here, if you try the Diamond finesse at trick 1, you will not survive a Spade switch at trick 2 (after East winning the K at trick1).


15. You play 4♠ and West leads the 4. East wins with the A and continues with the Q. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 4♠ and West leads the 4. (East opened the bidding with 1.)

East wins the A and continues with the Q. As the 4 cannot be doubleton (you have the 32) it is most likely a singleton. If you cover with the K, West ruffs, returns a Heart and you lose one Heart, 2 Diamonds and a Diamond ruff.

So play low on the Q. East wins and play another Diamond, but you finesse to the 10 and when West ruffs and returns a Heart - win the A, pull out trumps and throw the Q on the K.


16. You play 4 after West opened 1NT. West leads the 3 and you win with the 9. Play it from here.






You play 4 after West opened 1NT. West leads the 3 and you win with the 9. You need to try to ruff 2 Spades, but also to try to avoid losing the lead to East, as a Heart return from East will sabotage your plan.

So, play Diamond to the A and then a Spade from dummy, covering whatever card East plays (if East plays the ♠Q - Win ♠A and continue with another Spade. East cannot have more than one Spade honor as he has at most 2 points on this bidding).

When West gets the lead, he cannot afford another Heart, else he doesn't make his K. Now you manage to make your two Spade ruffs.

Note: If you play the ♠A and another Spade from hand – East can win the trick and return a Heart – And you are down one.


17. You play 4♠ which East doubled. West, who bid 2, leads the Q. Where is the finesse here?






You play 4♠ which East doubled. West, who bid 2, leads the Q.

Win with the A, play a Diamond to the K and then another Heart from dummy, finessing East (sort of Expass = playing to your K).

If East ruffs - He ruffs "air", as you will follow with a low Heart. If East discards - You win the K and ruff a third Heart. East can overruff and play the ♠K, but you win with the ♠A and ruff the fourth Heart too. Defenders make only 3 Spade tricks.
Note: If you play the K from hand, East will ruff, continue with the ♠K and you will not be able to ruff two Hearts in dummy as East will overruff the third Heart and cash his trumps. That way you will lose 3 Spades and a Heart.


18. You play 6 on the ♣J lead. Which finesse do you take?






You play 6 on the ♣J lead. The best chance is to win the ♣K and finesse spade to the ♠Q.

If the finesse loses to West, use the ♠J to try the Heart finesse. If the finesse wins, play AK and continue with the Q from hand. When West wins his K (this round or the next one – as when you continue with the J he must win), you will have the 10 as entry to dummy in order to throw a Spade loser on the Q.


19. You play 3NT and West leads a Spade. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 3NT and West leads a Spade (East opened 1♠). It is clear from the bidding that West has maximum 1 point, and both missing aces are with East. If you try to establish the Hearts, East will win the A, continue with Spades and you are stuck with 8 tricks, as Diamonds are not splitting 3-3.

Playing a club to the ♣10 is an option (a very bad one...) to try and hunt for 4 Club tricks. Another option would be to play for the ♣J doubleton...

Best line is: Win the lead, play a Diamond to the A, and then a low Club from dummy. East must play low, else you score 4 Club tricks. Win with the ♣ K and start playing on Hearts. That way you steal a Club trick to be your 9th trick.


20. You play 4♠ on the K lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?






You play 4♠ on the K lead. If you win the A and play a trump - You will lose tempo! West will win and switch to the J. You can try the Q but East will cover and now your contract depends on a Club finesse, which fails. You lose one trick in each suit on this line of play.

Best chance is to play the ♣J from dummy at trick 2! Opponents will win but that play will allow you to throw your Heart loser on the third round of Clubs.

A matter of tempo: Establish your trick before opponents establish theirs (and also make sure to keep a Club entry: If you play ♣A and ♣Q, you will not have a quick entry to dummy).


Stay tuned for Part 3 of the test!