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    Danger: Beware!

It is not that the path you are walking on is slippery. You are safe at the bridge table!  It is that the finesse you are about to take would end the hopes of making your contract if it fails.

 

 

2was a standard Weak 2, 6-10 hcp and 6 hearts. 3 asked about your majors with 3NT denying either 4 or 5 cards in a major, here realistically in spades.

West led theK on which East dropped J. If you duck, West continues with 3 on which East plays 2. Over to you?

If you count up your top tricks, the answer comes to 8. Therefore, you only need to develop one extra trick to make your contract. 28hcp between the two hands. You would think that would be enough. However, you do know that West will be very happy to claim four more heart tricks if they can only gain the lead. So, the plan must be to ensure that does not happen.

You did duck the first round of hearts, didn’t you? Otherwise, you will be very fortunate to make your contract. All your worries will be over if the club break is even. Thus, you could start with three top clubs though the news is not good. East started with four. Wisely, West discarded a small heart on the third round of clubs as they knew they had to win the lead before they could cash their heart tricks. They still have three heart winners, enough to beat your contract with the one already taken and the non-heart winner they hope to get.

danger hand leftwards!

So, if spades broke 3-3 and you could lose a trick to East, you can come to 9 tricks that way. Alternatively, you could look to diamonds. The simple finesse is straight into the danger hand, West. You would prefer not to take that finesse if possible.

There is, though, a different finesse you could take in the diamond suit. One alternative is to start with J though you would still be faced with a difficult guess in the diamond suit if West covered with the queen. Another alternative is a low diamond towards the 9. This still keeps alive the chance of finessing East for both the Q if you lose to the 10 but is an alternative way of taking a simple finesse when the 9 loses to the Q.

 

Playing for spades 3-3 is dangerous in that you have little control in avoiding losing the lead to West. Diamonds appeals more though you would rather finesse towards the North hand. As long as you retain K as an entry, you could even lead A and then cover whichever diamond West plays next. If West holds QTx, you are not going to make your contract (though neither were you with a simple finesse) but you will avoid losing to Q10 doubleton in the West hand, a horrible proposition, though you do throw away the chance of a second finesse when East holds QTxx.

Although on the above lay-out, West could play a tricky 10 had you led low towards 9, you would still survive, albeit uneasily!

All up, a line which involves keeping West off lead is preferable and that means avoiding “the slippery surface”, the danger of a normal diamond finesse. Yes, above it worked but you would also succeed (or could) when the Q and 10 were in the opposite hands.

Lots of high card points..but still “beware of the danger”.

And talking of danger. You never started with very much and it sounded for a while that South was really strong.

 

Would you have bid 3? And are you passing the double? If you do, what do you lead? If you choose to bid 4, predict the outcome.

See, 5 hcp…four questions! Oh, it's Teams. Serious stuff!

Richard Solomon

 

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