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A Partly True Saying.

“Why do good players take fewer finesses than we do? When they do, they seem to work more often than ours!” Such laments are often heard and indeed they are partly true. Which part?

 

 

The above bidding was exciting in its own right. South was always going to bid 4 but with a strong hand, they decided to double first. You never know what partner might say. Indeed, North, a passed hand, made a strength-showing 2 call. They had interest in game themselves, though were not sure where.

So, despite East’s nuisance 3 bid, South used 4NT ace ask. The answer they got was 5, showing 2. Suddenly, South got more ambitious and tried for slam as they knew their partner had the all-important A, as well as A.

West, dutifully, led 8. What’s your plan to make 12 tricks?

Well, most North-Souths did not reach 6 and that was just as well as most only made 11 tricks. They won the A, drew trumps, crossed to A and took the diamond finesse. Well, East was the opponent bidding. They just had to hold the Q! They did not! Was that bad luck or bad play?

It was certainly the former though maybe South could just have done a piece of investigation before they took the finesse they knew was going to work. At the very least, play A before crossing to dummy. It would be very unlikely that West held the singleton Q but you would have some “egg on your face” if they did and you had not played a high diamond before finessing!

However, since East was marked to hold Q, they should have both KQ as well. “So what?” you might say?

Well, why not win A and play a no-cost A? You can use a trump later on to return to dummy to take that diamond finesse. Then, ruff a club. East plays K. Let’s see all 4 hands:

Do not be put off by that K. Play A and a spade to J and then a third round of clubs. You ruff and then play another trump to dummy, not to take the diamond finesse but to play the high J. 12 tricks made, whether you were in slam or not…and that extra overtrick was very useful in game playing Pairs…and no finesse taken!

 
There was a very valuable gain, this time. 

The above club play was no risk and would have come to nothing had West held Q. However, that was not the case.

So, let’s destroy one illusion about good players. They take as many, well nearly as many (!) losing finesses as other players. They probably, though, do not take as many finesses as they explore other possibilities first, only resorting to a finesse when all else fails.

You may not have reached 6 on this deal but you should be able to make 12 tricks…and not take another losing finesse!

Richard Solomon

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