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 6 of Oren's series on Finesses.
If you missed the previous articles, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5
Take these hands and see if you choose the right finesse:
Start the test now!
51. You play 6♠ on a ♦Q lead. When you win and pull out trumps, West shows out on the second round. Why is this hand here (what does it have to do with finesses)? How do you play?
You play 6♠ on a ♦Q lead. Win with the ♦A and play ♠AK. West shows out on the second Spade. Now it is time to be careful: Continue with the ♣A and with another club from dummy.
If East ruffs - it will be his last trick as you will win any return, pull out the last trump and claim (ruff Diamond in dummy and the rest is high).
If East discards (best) - Win with the ♣Q. Play the ♦K and a diamond ruff, then continue with another club from dummy. Again, if East discards - Win with the ♣K, and ruff the last club in dummy. East can overruff, but that will be his only trick.
So... playing a club from dummy is like a finesse (it's called expass here): playing from dummy towards a high card in hand when the second hand opponent has a higher card in hand. This time opponent had a trump instead of the ace, so if he ruffs – he ruffs "air", and if he doesn't – you score your honor.
52. You play 3NT and the ♠Q is led. You duck once and win the second
spade with the ♠K. How do you play the diamond suit?
You play 3NT on a ♠Q lead. Hold up once and win with the ♠K on the second round. Play the ♦A and then a low diamond to the ♦Q. If West wins - You have 4 diamond tricks. If he plays low - Win the ♦Q and when you see that West shows out - switch to Clubs. You make 2 Clubs, 2 Diamonds, 3 Hearts and 2 Spades. This line is good also against ♦KTxx with West: After East shows out on the second round of diamonds, your ♦Q loses to East's ♦K but you can finesse later to the ♦9 and make 4 diamond tricks. If you try to run the ♦Q – East will get the ♦K and play a third spade. You will go down now, as neither diamonds, nor clubs are high.
53. You play 6♣ on a ♥Q lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play 6♣ on a ♥Q lead. Win in hand, play two rounds of clubs and play a LOW diamond from dummy.
If East has the ♦K and plays it - You score all the other diamonds and can discard 3 spades.
If he plays low - You don't lose any diamonds. If the ♦K is with West and your ♦J loses to West's ♦K, West cannot play the Spade suit and you are able to check if diamonds are 3-3, allowing you 3 spade discards. If not - You can still attempt the spade finesse.
If you play the ♦J after pulling trump, and the finesse loses to East, East plays a spade and now you need to guess whether to finesse, or play for the diamonds to split 3-3.
54. You play 6♠ on a ♥K lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play 6♠ on a ♥K lead. Win with the ♥A and continue with the ♥J, throwing your club loser when East fails to cover. West wins with the ♥Q but your ♥9 in dummy is promoted now. Win whatever West plays next, play ♠A and another spade to dummy's ♠K, and throw your diamond loser on the promoted ♥9.
If you try the diamond finesse – You go down. If you try to ruff diamond – You still go down. Same if you try to play a club to dummy.
55. You play 4♥ and West, who overcalled 1♠, leads the ♠K.
Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play 4♥ and West, who overcalled 1♠, leads the ♠K. Win the Ace, and play ♥KQ. When all follow, you have a 100% successful line: Ruff low spade with the ♥T, play ♦AK and throw your third diamond on the ♠J. West wins, but he is endplayed now in three suits: a club return will establish your ♣K, a spade will give you a ruff/sluff, and a diamond (if he has any) will promote either your ♦J or the fourth diamond if diamonds are 3-3.
56. You play 6♥ on a ♣9 lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play 6♥ on a ♣9 lead. Win in hand and play a low diamond to the ♦Q . East wins and plays another club. Win in hand and play the ♥Q, to protect yourself against ♥JTxx in West. Play another heart and cover it if West tries the ♥T. Return to hand on the ♦A and finesse hearts again. Pull West's last trump, and play ♠A and another spade, finessing if East plays low. That line will be successful if the ♦K is with West, or if the ♠Q is with East, and also if trumps are 4-0 with West.
57. Against 4♥ West lead the ♠J. Which finesse do you take, if any?
Against 4♥ West lead the ♠J. Cover the ♠Q but let East win the ♠K. That way you avoid West later on, as a diamond shift from West is unwelcome. Win the spade return with the Ace and play a heart to the ♥T if West plays low. That way you will avoid again allowing West to win the trick in heart, in case he has ♥QJx. If East has a heart honor you will lose no more than one diamond, one heart and one spade. As cards lay – You make now 11 tricks.
If you play the ♥A – You go down, losing one heart, one spade and two diamonds.
58. You play 3NT and the lead is ♥8. You tried the ♥J but East covered with the ♥Q. Plan your play.
You play 3NT on a ♥8 lead. You tried the ♥J but East covered with the ♥Q. You have 8 tricks off the top: 5 clubs, 2 hearts and the ♠A.
Win the first trick in hand. Go to dummy on the ♣Q and play a diamond to the ♦K.
If the ♦A is with East – The ♦K will be your 9th trick. If not, you could still try later the spade finesse for your 9th trick (not likely that you lose 5 diamond tricks).
But if you try the spade finesse first and it fails, East can continue with another heart. If you duck East will switch to spades and the defense will set up 3 spades, one heart and one diamond (or all the hearts if you don’t duck once). All this before you get to set up your ♦K.
59. You play an ambitious 6NT and West leads a diamond. Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play an ambitious 6NT and West leads a diamond. You have 9 tricks off the top. In order to know how to play the spade suit, you need to find out how many tricks you need in that suit. So to find out – You need to start with the club finesse. If it works – You need only 4 spade tricks to make your contract and then the best play is a spade to the ♠J, losing only one spade if spades split 3-3 or if East has ♠Qxxx. But if the club finesse fails – You need ALL 5 spades to make your 12 tricks. Your ONLY chance now is to find West with ♠Q10x: Play the ♠J and when West covers – win it with the ♠K, come back to hand and play another Spade to the ♠9.
60. You play 3NT on a ♣J lead. Which finesse do you take, if any?
You play 3NT on a ♣J lead. Win with the ♣A, play the ♦K and finesse diamond to the ♦T. Why? To avoid losing the lead to West. That is why you need to play this way. If you play ♦AK and a third diamond, and West wins the trick – a heart return from him will be most unwelcome. But, if the diamond finesse fails and you lose the trick into East's hand – your ♥Q protects you in case of a heart shift.
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