Tournament Bridge for Beginning Players: Fourth Edition 2020

By Ken Casey

This book gives a comprehensive view of the various types of hands a beginning player might expect to encounter in a tournament. The various categories of hands presented will teach you how to play the first card, how to ruff, how to set up a long suit, how to avoid the danger hand, how to avoid being ruffed, how to play for the drop, how to get a count on the hand and how to handle special card combinations. In addition, you will learn about finessing up to a lone honor, the ruffing finesse, the backward finesse and other finessing techniques.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796099690

Ken Casey

Ken served as a Russian interpreter during the Vietnam War and then spent over 30 years practicing as a tax attorney. Ken also has an MBA in accounting and a CPA.

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Copyright © 2020 by Ken Casey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Rev. date: 06/19/2020

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

TIMING

1: COUNTING WINNERS

2: DUMMY REVERSAL: RUFF IN S WITH SINGLETON OR VOID

3: HOLD OFF DRAWING TRUMPS; ESTABLISH SIDE SUIT 1ST

4: WITH LONG SUIT IN N, CONCEDE SURE LOSER EARLY TO SET UP SUIT

RUFFING

5: THROW LOSER INSTEAD OF RUFFING 3RD CARD IN SUIT

6: DO NOT OVERRUFF IF YOU CAN THROW A LOSER

7: WITH NO LOSER TO TOSS, CONCEDE 1ST TRICK AND TAKE 2 TRUMPS

8: BEFORE CROSSRUFFING, TAKE SIDE SUIT HONORS

SETTING UP LONG SUIT

9: SET UP LONG SUIT WITH EXCESS LOSERS

10: SET UP LONG SUIT WITH INABILITY TO RUFF 4TH CARD

11: WITH INSUFFICIENT ENTRIES TO SET UP LONG SUIT, CONCEDE 1ST TRICK

12: WITH TOO FEW ENTRIES, HOPE YOUR INTERMEDIATE CARD SETS UP

13: WITH RUNNABLE SUIT, PLAY THE A&K OF TRUMPS TO TOSS OFF LOSERS

FINESSING UP TO LONE HONOR

14: LEAD UP TO LONE JACK

15: LEAD UP TO LONE Q

16: LEAD UP TO LONE K

FINESSING WITH HONOR

COMBINATIONS

17: FINESSING WITH A-K COMBINATION

18: FINESSING WITH K-Q COMBINATION

19: FINESSING WITH K-J COMBINATION

20: FINESSING WITH A-Q COMBINATION

21: FINESSING WITH A-Q SPLIT; ENDPLAY DEFENDERS

22: FINESSING WITH A-J COMBINATION

FINESSING

23: USE REVERSE (OR BACKWARD) FINESSE WITH 4 HONORS

24: USE RUFFING FINESSE WITH SINGLETON (VOID OR DOUBLETON)

25: WITH 9 TRUMPS, FINESSE INTO SAFE HAND

26: WITH 9 TRUMPS, DO NOT GO FOR DROP IF YOU CAN ENDPLAY OPPONENTS

27: WITH 10 TRUMPS, GO FOR DROP; IF UNSUCCESSFUL, YOU CAN ENDPLAY

28: LET DEFENDER FINESSE FOR YOU BY ENDPLAYING HIM

AVOIDING THE DANGER HAND

29: FINESSE AWAY FROM DANGER HAND WITH WITH TENACE OR Kx(x)

30: DUCK LOW LEAD WITH TENACE OR Kx(x) IN DUMMY

31: DUCK HIGH LEAD WITH TENACE IN S OR Kx(x)

32: DISCARD LOSER TO AVOID ENTRY TO DANGER HAND

33: DUCK TO SET UP 5-3 OR 4-3 SUIT TO AVOID LEAD THROUGH VULNERABLE SUIT

AVOID BEING RUFFED

34: DUCK FIRST LEAD TO CUT COMMUNICATION

35: DISCARD LOSER TO CUT COMMUNICATION

36: DON’T LEAD OUT A&K TOGETHER WITH RISK OF RUFF

37: WITH SINGLETON OR DOUBLETON LEAD, TAKE N’s HONOR

38: TO AVOID RUFF FROM LEAD OF A, AQ OR KQ, DUCK W’s (OR E’s) LEAD FOR UP TO 3 ROUNDS

39: WITH SPLIT AK&Q, LEAD UP TO YOUR QUEEN ON 3RD TRICK, e.g. Kxx-AQxx

40: SPURN FINESSE IF RUFF IS THREATENED

PLAY FOR DROP

41: PLAY FOR DROP OF Ax(x)

42: PLAY FOR Kx(x) DROP

43: PLAY FOR DROP OF KQx, Qx(x) OR Jxx

44: AT SLAM, TRY TO DROP Qx WITH AK; THEN FINESSE IN OTHER SUIT

COMBINING YOUR CHANCES

45: WITH SPLIT A-Q, 1ST LEAD UP TO LONE Q

46: WITH SINGLETON OPPOSITE K(x)(x), LEAD TO K

47: HOPE FOR 3-3 SPLIT BEFORE FINESSING

48: FIRST HOPE FOR DROP OF A(x)(x), K(x)(x), KQx, QJx, Q(x)(x), Jxx or 10x

49: FIRST HOPE TO SET UP 5TH CARD IN N’s SUIT

50: WITH 2 FINESSES, 1ST FINESSE IN THE UNBALANCED SIDE SUIT

51: WITH VOID, DUCK LEAD & USE PITCH TO SET UP SUIT

52: WITH RUNNABLE SUIT, PLAY TRUMP A&K 1ST & RUN SUIT TO DISCARD LOSER

53: USE DUMMY REVERSAL WITH SINGLETON (OR VOID)

54: AT SLAM, TRY TO DROP Qx, THEN FINESSE IN OTHER SUIT

55: ENDPLAY WITH FROZEN SUIT OR 2-WAY FINESSE; CONCEDE J OF SPLIT AKJ

56: ENDPLAY WITH 9+ TRUMPS; STRIP & CONCEDE LOSER

57: ENDPLAY WITH 9+ TRUMPS; STRIP & FINESSE LONG SIDE SUIT

58: ENDPLAY W WITH 3-4 SUIT WITH TENACE IN S & HOPE FOR 2-4 SPLIT OR ENDPLAY E WITH 4-3 SUIT WITH TENACE IN N & HOPE FOR 4-2 SPLIT

TRANSPORTATION

59: TO REACH DUMMY, CONCEDE A TRICK

GET A COUNT OF POINTS

OR DISTRIBUTION

60: AT GAME, GET A POINT COUNT

61: AT SLAM, GET A COUNT OF DISTRIBUTION

SQUEEZE PLAY

62: ENDPLAY SQUEEZE: CONCEDE TRICK TO LONE ACE

OVERCOMING A FORCING DEFENSE

63: DON’T RUFF WITH LOSERS TO DISCARD OR WITH ACE OPPOSITE SINGLETON

64: CONCEDE ¹ST TRUMP & PRESERVE 1 TRUMP IN DUMMY

INFERENCES

65: INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s BID

66: INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s OPENING LEAD

67: INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s PLAY

68: INFERENCES FROM DEFENDER’s DISCARDS

MY FAVORITE HANDS

69: SLAM HANDS

70: PITCHING WITH A VOID

71: PITCHING TO AVOID RUFF

72: PITCHING TO SET UP SUIT

73: DISCARDING OR DUCKING TO SET UP SUIT

74: JETTISONING

75: PLAYING FOR DROP OF Kx(x)

PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

76: PROBABILITY CONSIDERATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DEDICATION

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Issac Newton

Normally I try to avoid showering praise on a single individual since most projects are a group effort. Nevertheless, I will make an exception here. Frank Stewart, a world-renowned bridge columnist has done more than anyone I know to advance the science of bridge and to inspire others. A large part of my learning has come from Frank even though we have never met nor even know each other. My books are infused with his teachings. There is no one to whom I owe more. Thank you Frank; I can never repay you for all you’ve taught me. Frank is the champion of counting points and distributions. My two favorite books of his are called Who Has the Queen? and Play Bridge With Me. Other award winning books published by Frank are Winning Defense for the Advancing Bridge Player, Frank Stewart’s Bridge Club and Frank’s World of Bridge.

My second hero is Eddie Kantar. No one comes up with more interesting hands in the Bridge Bulletin. I avidly read his Chalk Talk and his Test Your Play in every edition. I love his books, Take All Your Chances at Bridge, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. Some of his other great books are Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense, Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense, and Eddie Kantar Teaches Topics in Declarer Play at Bridge. When it comes to defense, you will always find yourself immersed in Eddie Kantar’s hands. He is a genius at all aspects of bridge, not just defense.

My third hero is David Bird. He is the king at giving tips. His 3 books, 52 Great Bridge Tips, Another 52 Great Bridge Tips, and 52 Great Bridge Tips on Declarer Play are 3 books that must be included in any expert’s bridge book collection. These 3 books alone would make David one of the greatest bridge authors. Then David published Winning Suit Contract Leads, and Winning Notrump Leads, two books which destroyed all previous thinking on leading. David would be my first to be included in any Bridge Hall of Fame for bridge authors. David has also written several other award winning books including Notrump Contracts, Miracles of Card Play, Win at Bridge in 30 Days, Secrets of Expert Card Play, Secrets of Expert Defense, and Defensive Signaling at Bridge. Two other excellent books are Squeezes for Everone, Yes, Even You and Bridge Endplays for Everyone, Yes, Even You.

William Root is another favorite author of mine. Reading William Root’s books is like dancing with a fine dancer. He anticipates your every move. He anticipates your questions before the question even arises in your mind. His explanations are always succinct and to the point. At one point, bridge players wanting to learn how to play bridge would read Louis Watson’s book, Watson’s the Play of the Hand. Today that honor goes to William Root for his book, How to Play a Bridge Hand. He has also written three other fine award winning books: Modern Bridge Conventions, Commonsense Bidding, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand."

My favorite books on bidding are Betty Starzec’s Bidding in the 21st Century, Audrey Grant’s Better Bridge Bidding, and Audrey Grant’s Opening the Bidding.

My favorite books on conventions are Barbara Seagram & Marc Smith’s, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know, William Root & Richard Pavlicek’s Modern Bridge Conventions, and Audrey Grant’s Popular Conventions.

My favorite books on the 2/1 System are Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell’s 2 Over 1 Game Force, Mike Lawrence’s Workbook on the Two-Over-One System, Max Hardy’s Two-Over-One Game Force, Max Hardy’s Standard Bridge Bidding for the 21st Century, Paul Thurston’s 25 Steps to Learning 2/1, Paul Thurston’s The Rest of the Story, and Marty Bergen’s Understanding 1NT Forcing.

My favorite books on slam bidding are Marty Bergen’s Slam Bidding Made Easier, Ron Klinger & Andrew Kambites’ Understanding Slam Bidding, and Eddie Kantar’s Roman Keycard Blackwood. If you buy Marty Bergen’s book on Slam bidding, you also get a full explanation of the Bergen point count system, which I find to be the best point count system.

Some other favorite books of mine are Ned Downey & Ellen Pomer’s Standard Bidding with SAYC, David Berkowitz & Brent Manley’s Precision Today, Andy Stark’s The Weak Notrump, Ron Andersen’s The Lebensohl Convention Complete, Victor Mollo’s Card Play Technique and Ruth Harrison’s The Player’s Guide to the Rules of Duplicate Bridge.

INTRODUCTION

In playing a tournament, be aware that the hands are designed to thwart the average player. You cannot depend on a finesse working 50% of the time. In most cases, the finesse will fail. For example, if dummy has the ♥AQxx and you, as declarer, have 4 hearts, your best bet is to concede the 1st trick in the suit, expecting E to have a doubleton ♥Kx. If you can win the contract without depending on a finesse, go with that approach; this often involves setting up a long suit.

If there is no alternative, finesse, and if successful, plan on the other defender as having the key honor. If you have a doubleton honor, e.g. A&Q, take that finesse first since it may help with the endplay or at least remove one exit card from the defenders. Of course, if you have a frozen suit, take the Ace and concede the Q. If the contract looks too easy, plan on trumps splitting 4-1. If you have a two-way finesse, the average person will lead up to the hand with the longer suit. It is best to lead up to the shorter hand or lead your J from your J10 combinations, e.g. AJ10x-Kxx (lead your Jack). Sometimes, you will simply have to make a reverse finesse with 4 of the top 6 honors.

You should be alert to inferences. If W bid a major suit, he probably has two honors in that suit as well as a 5-card suit. If W opened, W probably has two Aces and a King. Knowing W has points can help you endplay W. You may also want to take a deep finesse of dummy’s suit if W has bid and shows length in a minor. Or you may wish to try for a drop of W’s doubleton honor. If W fails to open and shows 11p, you can be sure E has the missing Ace. If W preempts, he is probably short in trumps so finesse E for the trump Queen.

You can also draw a lot of inferences from W’s opening lead. If W leads a weak suit or leads trumps, it means W may have the missing Ace. If W must have a particular Ace for you to make the contract, then plan your play accordingly. If you and dummy have 8 combined cards in a suit and W leads that suit, assume that W has led a singleton. If you and dummy have 7 combined cards in a suit that W leads, assume W has a doubleton (and E has 4). If W has two singletons, finesse him for length in the other key suit. If W leads a poor suit and E shows several honors, plan for W to have the missing Queen. If W leads a long suit in a Notrump contract, he probably has an entry in another suit.

If E starts discarding cards in a suit, it probably means that E is not protecting the Q of that suit. If E discards a card in a suit on S’s trumps, it probably means that E is discarding from a long suit. If dummy has 4 cards in that suit, E probably started with 5 cards in the suit and is trying to keep parity with dummy. If you want more information on inferences, see Chapters 57-60 of my book, Playing Intermediate Bridge.

You should be mindful not only of points but also of distribution. If a defender shows out, stop for a moment to recalculate the distribution. Try to concentrate just on W’s distribution; it will make it easier for you. If one defender shows more than 7 points at a game contract, assume that the other defender has the remaining top outstanding honors; plan on each defender holding about 7p in a game contract.

The programmers who make up the hands, prearrange the hands based on the average player’s habits. For example, most players play 2nd hand low and 3rd hand high. Most players also cover an honor with an honor. There are exceptions for all these rules and you should be aware of those exceptions. For example, if dummy leads a suit from a sequence, you should not cover the 1st card in the sequence. Everyone has rules of thumb. If you need to speed up your game or you are feeling tired after playing both the morning and afternoon sessions, you will find yourself relying on rules of thumb. This is sometimes referred to as the heuristic approach to bridge. Here are some common rules of thumb.

With respect to ruffing, always throw a loser instead of ruffing if you can. The same is true for overruffing; throw a loser instead. With no loser to throw in dummy and a sure loser in your suit, e.g. AKxx-xxx, take out 2 trumps and concede loser if the trump split is 3-2 and hope that the defender with the 3 trumps also has 4 cards in the key suit; this assumes you have no boss trump in dummy. This will allow you to ruff the 4th card in the suit.

With respect to setting up a long suit, if you have just one entry in the dummy, concede 1st card in the long suit. If you have 2 losers to discard, also concede the 1st card in the long suit even with 2 entries. If you have a 4-card runnable suit and the A&K of trumps, take out the A&K of trumps and run the suit, throwing off a loser.

With respect to finessing, always finesse up to a lone Jack, lone Queen or lone King. With a split A-Q combination or a frozen suit, try to endplay opponents. With a split K-Q combination, take finesse of 10 if you have to break the suit yourself, e.g. K10xx-Qxxx (lead up to Q and finesse 10). If you can finesse in either direction, finesse into the safe hand with a tenace or Kxx, e.g. finesse K9x combination. If you have 4 of the top 6 honors in a suit, plan on a backward finesse or a deep finesse. With a singleton, use a ruffing finesse if defenders have been silent in their bidding. With 9 trumps, finesse into the safe hand; otherwise go for the drop. If W leads a suit, hope E’s Q will drop as Qxx or hope E’s Ace will drop as Axx. With a singleton in your hand, always use the dummy reversal.

If you have 6 cards in a suit and W leads high, assume it is a doubleton. If you have 7+ cards in the suit, assume W’s lead is a singleton. Spurn trump finesse, e.g. AQxx, if ruff is threatened; lead out A&K of trumps even with only 8 combined cards in the trump suit. Also spurn trump finesse if you have a vulnerable Kxx and can set up a long suit.

With respect to ducking, if you have a sure loser in your doubleton, duck W’s lead; it will cut communication between the defenders. If you have a singleton and dummy has the Ace, plan on ducking the 1st lead. If W leads his King or Queen, duck if you have a tenace in your hand, e.g. if W leads K, duck with your AJxx for the Bath Coup. If W plays a low card, duck the trick to E if you have a tenace in N. If you have a singleton in W’s led suit and W continues the suit, always duck the continuation if you have a 5-3 suit, e.g. Kxxxx-Axx. You can discard from your 3-card hand and set up the suit if it splits 3-3.

If you have a solid suit, try to lead it out after taking any necessary finesses. Defenders may throw a key card which lets you run another suit or lets you endplay the defender by allowing you to strip that suit. If you have a singleton, lead that card out early; it will often cut communication between the defenders or prevent you from being marooned in dummy before all the trump have been drawn.

If you lack the trump Ace, always lead out your singleton or dummy’s singleton right away before touching trumps. If W has led from an apparent doubleton, let E take the 1st trick to deprive E of a later entry. If W leads from an apparent singleton and you have the A-K split, take the Ace in your hand; don’t take dummy’s King.

If you have a blocked suit in dummy, always duck W’s first lead. If the blocked card is in dummy, run your trumps and unblock the key card with your 3rd or 4th trump (you may need to ruff once in dummy). If the blocked card is in your hand and dummy has a longer suit than you have, use dummy’s suit to unblock your card.

With respect to transportation to a dummy with few entries, always preserve your lowest card in the trump suit. If trumps split, you will be able to get over to dummy with your preserved low trump. If you can’t reach dummy and dummy has some winners, consider using trumps as an entry by conceding a trump. If you have a singleton, play it early. You may need that suit for later transportation.

At a makeable game, you will normally find you have 4 potential losers. Your first hope is that you can ruff a potential loser or set up a long suit to discard the loser. Your 2nd hope is that a finesse may establish an extra trick. A finesse may constitute leading up to a lone Jack, Queen or King or KQ combination. If these options are not available, your next best bet is to look for an endplay. If that is unavailable, then you have to fall back on the squeeze play, especially if you have a 6-card suit of you have two suits headed by the AK&Q.

Many teachers will not even bother to teach advanced techniques such as endplays and squeeze plays. If you use rules of thumb, you can play these techniques without even knowing it. You will win an extra trick and wonder how you did it. Typically, you will endplay the opponents without knowing you did so. If you have a hand with 9 trumps, such as 5 trumps in your hand and 4 trumps in the dummy, start stripping right away. This may mean you are playing a dummy reversal.

Try to eliminate at least two cards in each suit to establish an endplay. In other words, assume the player who is endplayed will have two cards in that suit. For example, if you have Axxx-xxx, you will want to concede one trick in the suit and then take your Ace. To be on the safe side, you may want to concede two cards in the suit before you execute the endplay. If you have the A&K of trumps, draw both of them hoping to drop the Queen. If you have a triple tenace, such as AQ9, AJ10 or K108, play that suit last and take a deep finesse. If you have a frozen suit and a suit with AK&J, play the A&K and concede the Jack. If dummy has 4 cards in W’s led suit, strip 3 of these cards and concede the fourth. With a loser in doubleton or tripleton suit, concede last card.

A frozen suit is one in which you are missing at least two of the top six honors. If you play the suit, you will only win one trick but if defenders play suit you may win 2 tricks. The typical combination of a frozen suit is Jxx-Qxx, AJx-10xx (as above), AJx-K10x, AJx-K9x, A10x-Jxx, A9x-Q8x, Qxx-K109, Q9x-K8x, and Jxx-Kxx. If you try to play the club suit yourself, you will lose 2 tricks. The solution to a frozen suit is to let the opponents break the suit. If E leads a spade, W will win the 1st trick and you can then finesse E for his Q. If W wins and leads a spade, you can take the 1st spade and simply concede one spade making the contract.

With respect to squeeze plays, always squeeze with a 6-card trump suit; opponents often throw a key card. If you have a 4-1 or 4-2 suit with the length in dummy and two honors in the suit, plan on a trump squeeze, i.e. run all but the last trump. Assume W will be the guard and plan on winning a card in your 4-card suit, e.g. AKxx-Qxx. If you have a suit with a tenace, plan on conceding the other threat card to W, e.g. if you think defender has bared his Ace, throw the defender in with that suit.

With respect to a forcing defense (one in which the opponents have a solid suit), throw losers instead of ruffing. If you have to ruff in your hand, concede one trump keeping at least one trump in dummy. Then start running your long solid suit, letting the defender ruff, i.e. take out trumps with your solid suit. The defender who ruffs will have the long trump suit, so you will be safe. If you are faced with a 4-1 trump split with 4 trumps in E, play a dummy reversal.

In playing a Notrump hand, take W’s 2nd lead with 6 cards in the suit or take W’s 3rd lead with only 5 cards in the suit. Take your finesse into W first. If you have a suit with K-Q split, play that suit 1st if you have no finesse into W. If you need a 9th trick and you have a suit with K-Q split, play through the defender with the Ace in that suit; when in doubt, play E for the Ace. With 2+ stoppers in W’s suit and another suit with AQxx, concede a trick 1st in the other suit. If you have a suit with AJxx-Kxx or KJxx-Axxx, play A&K and lead up to J (the Jack must be in a suit with 4 cards). With an 8+-card suit and Jxxx-Axxx, lead Ace and hope Qx or Kx drops; otherwise play Ace and concede a trick, then lead to dummy’s Jx if W has the remaining honor. If you have a solid suit, play it out first unless you need the entries; you may squeeze the opponents. If W leads from a 4-card suit and you have a tenace, throw W into the lead with his led suit after stripping W’s other suits. After considering the above rules, try to set up your long suit as soon as possible. The top board will invariably go to the declarer who can set up a long suit.

When I discuss a hand, I try to present the hand with more than one way to play it. Being a good player means you have to make good choices. Some of these choices are based on lots of experience or lots of hard work reading books on how to play hands. When you start making mistakes, you will often feel frustrated. You may want to blame your partner. Try to avoid that scenario. Oftentimes a partner can help you from making mistakes, so be good to your partner.

When in doubt as to how to play a hand, let the opponents take your sure losers. It is amazing how often an opponent will lead into your strength or make a mistake such as giving you a ruff and sluff. If you have a long, solid suit, lead it out. It may squeeze the opponents. If you are in a possible endplay situation, lead out the A&K of a suit, hoping that this strips the defender of that suit. Oftentimes, your solid suit will cause a defender to throw the 3rd card in a suit allowing you to strip the defender of that suit with your A&K.

When you first look at your hand, count sure losers and potential losers. If you are at a slam contract, also count winners as a double check. Always treat a suit with AKx, as being a potential loser, not a sure loser; you may be able to endplay the opponents. The same is true of a suit with Axxx-xxxx; one of the defenders may be blocked. If you have too many losers, look for a long suit, i.e. any suit with 4-3 or longer distribution (an unbalanced long suit). If you have decided to set up dummy’s long suit, check to see whether it might be blocked, e.g. AK5432. Also make sure you have enough entries to that suit; if not, concede a trick in the long suit.

TIMING

CHAPTER 1

COUNTING WINNERS

When playing a suit contract, you are always told to count losers; this determines the order of your play. You can usually do this quite rapidly. If you have a singleton (or void) in your hand (or vice versa), hold up the play of dummy’s Ace. After playing a card from dummy, you next count winners, while E ruminates on what card to play. I have found that when you count winners, you know what the optimal contract will be. When I count winners, I first assume that all finesses will fail; programmers hate to give you an easy finesse because it does not separate the experts from the beginners. If I have insufficient winners, I then check to see if a dummy reversal might work or look to see whether a long suit might set up. I then go to the finesse as my default plan. I only count a finesse to win if it is the only way to make the contract; in such case I place that card with the appropriate opponent. Lastly, I hope for an endplay to obtain an extra trick (or even a squeeze if I have a 6-card suit).

When you are in a hurry, it is easy to miss that extra trick. For example, suppose W bids and dummy has the ♠KQxx. Do you give that sequence one trick or two? Give it two tricks on the assumption that W has the ♠Ace and reevaluate after you play the suit. Another sequence that is easy to miss is the double finesse. Dummy has 109xx and you have AKxx. This sequence should count for 3 tricks; you have a 75% chance that W does not have the QJ. The same holds true if you have AK109. If you have the AJ10x, count it as 2 tricks; you have a 75% chance of success. You can even protect against a holding of the K&Q by E if you first strip the hand. If you have the Jxxx-Kxxx, I count it as 1 trick; you lead up to the K and if it fails, you lead back to the J. You have a 75% chance of making one trick.

Sometimes the programmers will try to induce you to take a finesse with the Jack. For example, suppose you have AKJ109. You would love to take that finesse since you have top board if it makes. In a tournament, this finesse is a sure loser. Instead, set up another suit for that extra winner. For example, suppose dummy has J10x and you have Qxx. You have a certain extra trick. The same holds true if you hold KJ10x and no entry to dummy. Just concede the Jack and then the King; the 10 is a sure winner.

What happens if you have a trump suit with AKxxxxx and dummy has xx? I count this as 6 tricks initially since a 2-2 split is only a 36% probability. Nevertheless, after you lead out the A&K, you should reevaluate. If the even split works, you may not have to take that losing Jack finesse.

With ♥Ax-KQJxxx, you have 2♠s (1 ruff),

6♥s, 4♦s (5th will set up) & 1♣

Here the contract is 7♥ and W leads the ♠K. You have 6 hearts, 2 spades (including 1 ruff), 4 diamonds (once you ruff out a diamond) and 1 club. Your 1st step is to unblock your ♦Q, after taking the ♠Ace. Now you can ruff a spade, cash the ruff a 2nd spade and draw trumps. You lead to dummy’s ♣Ace and cash the ♥Ace, ruff a diamond (setting up the diamond suit), and play two more hearts. Enter dummy with the ♣Ace, and play 3 more diamonds from the top to discard two spades and one club from the S hand. You next run your hearts for the grand slam.

With ♥Ax-QJ10xxxxx, you have 2♠s (5th

sets up), 7♥s, 2♦s (1 ruff) & 1♣

Here the contract is 6♥ and W leads the ♥4. You take dummy’s ♥Ace. You have 7 hearts, 2 spades (setting up the 5th spade), 1 club and 2 diamonds (including a ruff). Whenever I have 5 cards in a side suit, here spades, I automatically count an extra trick for the 5th card, even before I have checked to see if I have enough entries (usually through ruffs and the 3rd trump). In order to set up the 5th spade, here, you need 3 entries to dummy after the initial lead. You take dummy’s ♠Ace and ruff a spade. You return to dummy with the ♦Ace and ruff a 2nd spade. You next ruff a diamond in dummy and ruff dummy’s 3rd spade in your hand with a high trump. Dummy’s 5th spade is now set up to discard your last diamond. You reach it with the ♣Ace.

With only 10 tricks in the bag, you need to

make the ♣Q finesse and you need to set

up the 5th ♣ to bring home the slam

Here the contract is 6♥ and W leads the ♦K. You have 6 hearts, 1 diamond and 3 clubs (4 if the ♣Kxx drops and the ♣Q finesse works). You need 2 more tricks so count on the ♣Q finesse. Your 1st concern is to throw off your diamond losers after you draw trumps. You hope the ♣Q finesse works and that the 5th club sets up. After taking the ♣Q finesse, you cash dummy’s ♣Ace (discarding a diamond) and ruff a club, dropping W’s ♣K. You get back to dummy with the ♥J, cash the ♥K, and run the clubs throwing off 2 diamonds. You next lead a spade which E wins with the ♠Ace. You now claim. You lose 1 spade, making the slam.

With ♥Kxxxx-Ax, count the 5th heart as part of

your winners as long as you have 2 entries to N

Here the contract is 6♠ and W leads the ♦5. You have 5 spades, 3 hearts (including the 5th heart) and 4 diamonds (with 1 ruff). You win your ♦J, lead the ♠K and get the bad news concerning the 3-0 trump split. You next play the top hearts ending in dummy with the ♥K. You play a 3rd heart. If E ruffs, you throw your losing club. If E declines to ruff, you ruff and go back to dummy’s ♠Ace and play a 4th heart. Again, if E ruffs, you throw your losing club. If E discards again, you ruff, ruff a diamond and play the 5th heart (now good) to throw your club loser. You end up losing the ♠Q, making the slam. Your losing club is effectively thrown on your 5th heart. The moral of the story is that a 5-card side suit will almost always yield the extra trick you need with the 5th card of the suit.

Needing to ruff your 4th spade with N’s

high ♥Q for the 10th trick, do not use N’s

♥Q as an entry to finesse your ♠Q

Here the contract is 4♥ and W leads the ♦Q. You have 5 hearts, 2 diamonds and 1 club. You need 2 spades. It looks like you have a 75% chance of success by finessing 1st with your ♠10 and secondly with your ♠Q. Do you lead a trump to dummy’s ♥Q and start finessing? When W gets in with his ♠J, he will lead a trump and then a second trump when he wins his ♠K. You will have no way to ruff your 4th spade since dummy will be out of trumps. Because of your solid trumps, you have a sure 10th trick; you simply concede the ♠J and ♠K. You then ruff your 4th spade with the high ♥Q in dummy. The moral of the story is to try to ruff as many losers as you can when you have no long suit to run. If you are playing matchpoint bridge, you may 1st wish to lead to dummy’s ♣Ace and finesse your ♠Q, losing to W’s ♠K; E may have the ♠K.

Needing to ruff your 3rd ♣ for 10th trick, lead

low ♣ from N. W will win with his ♣J but will

finesse E’s ♥Q (trump) when he gets in

Here the contract is 4♥ and W leads the ♠J. You have 3 spades and 6 hearts. Where is your 10th trick? You note that you have 3 clubs and could conceivably ruff the 3rd club. If you lead a low club from S, however, the defenders will assuredly win and lead a trump. How about trying to finesse the ♣10. Let’s suppose W wins. If W leads a trump, he traps E’s ♥Q. On a