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Finessing Twice Over!

Remember your bridge teacher saying “Be brave” when you lead towards the AQ of a suit. Put in the queen and if that scores a trick, then it pretty certain so will the ace. A successful finesse! Well, today we are into finessing with a difference!

 

North’s raise to 2 showed 6-9 hcp and 4 hearts. East competed in spades and South felt they had enough to bid 3. North thought. If you can go 3, then I have a pretty good hand as well and decided to bid one level higher! "Game! Great if you make it, partner." 

“Good luck, partner, said North a little hesitantly as they laid down dummy. West led 8 won by East’s K. East followed with A and then a third spade to West’s Q. Naturally, South ruffed in dummy…and then what? You can only afford one more loser. Your minor suits look pretty solid but what about the trump suit?

You are missing the Q and K and cannot avoid losing a trick to one of them but losing two trump tricks would be a disaster. If you played a heart towards the ace and played that card, then that is the likely outcome.

So, step up the “double finesse”. Yes, two finesses in the same suit! Watch:

 

The double finesse

After ruffing the spade in dummy, play 10 and unless East plays an honour card, play low from the South hand. If East had both K and Q, your 10 will win the trick. However, this time, West’s Q does win the trick.

Don’t panic. You have a plan and your plan is the best way to succeed in your contract. West is going now to play a minor suit. Whichever suit they play, win in dummy as that is where you want to lead the second round of hearts. Play 9 and when East plays 5, once more you play a low heart (7) from your hand. Hold your breath. Shut your eyes if you cannot bear to look but when you open them, you will see that 9 has won the trick. Your second finesse has worked! All that remains is to play dummy’s last heart and cover K with your A. You could play out all your minor suit winners or you could even claim the rest of the tricks. That saves you pulling the wrong card by mistake!

Had West held KQ doubleton (just 2 cards), or KQ3 or KQ53, it was not your lucky day. There was no way you could have succeeded with the last 2 holdings. Maybe your teacher would tell you that you had played the trump suit correctly because East should have more high cards than just AK for their 2 bid. That’s true but the double finesse is just the best way to play a suit like the trump suit above, certainly when you and dummy have only 8 cards in the suit.

 

So, next time, you seem to be missing 2 honour cards like KQ, try the double finesse. A neat feeling when it works.

Richard Solomon

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