March 2024 - 56
Intermediate Players
Build Better Bridge
Just don't do it! Finesse, that is - part 6
W
ith what would you be
happy working 50% of the
time? Your computer? Your
car? Your phone? Your finesse? We've
spent the last few lessons trying to
improve your odds by not relying on a
finesse. " Show me a player who goes
out of his way to avoid a finesse, and I
will show you a winning player. "
Setting up a long suit is often a
better way to take more tricks than
that 50% finesse. If the declaring side
has a seven-card fit in a side suit, the
cards held by the opponents split 4-2
about 48% of the time and 3-3 about
36% of the time. If we can arrange to
combine those odds, we have a whopping
84% chance of setting up the suit
for extra winners.
Let's look at some long-suit establishments
that can help you avoid the
finesse. Consider this deal:
Dlr: East s K Q 2
Vul: Both h A Q
IMPs
After East cashed three diamonds,
he switched to a club. The non-finessing
declarer won the cA and
led the queen right back. Basically,
declarer is unblocking the ace to give
an added dummy entry. He won the
heart return with the ace - still no
finesse - ruffed a club, led a trump to
dummy and ruffed another club. He
drew trumps ending in dummy and
discarded the heart loser on the fifth
club.
Here's a suit-establishment example
from Eddie Kantar's " Thinking
Bridge " articles that he so generously
shared with teachers before he died.
I love his quote: " Finesses are for
peasants when there is a long suit in
the dummy. "
Dlr: East s J 2
Vul: None h Q J 10
IMPs
d 8 5 2
c 8 6 4 3 2
s A J 10 7 6 5
h 8 4
d 7 4 3
c A Q
West North East
1d
Pass 2d(1)
Pass 3s
(1) Limit raise
Lead: d10
I tell my students to always look at
a five-card suit in dummy for a source
of potential tricks. But you need entries
to set up that suit, and you need
timing.
56 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2024
Lead: dK
The opponents cash three diamonds,
and East switches to a spade.
Given the takeout double, the spade
finesse is not even 50%. But there's
that combined seven-card suit again:
clubs. If we can win two club tricks
acbl.org/confirm
Pass
All Pass
South
1s
2s
Dbl
s K 10 4 3
h 7
d K Q 10 2
c Q 10 9 7
d 9 7 3
c K 6 5 4 3
s 9 8 7 6 5
h 8 3 2
d A J 8
c 8 2
s A Q
h A K 9 6 5 4
d 6 5 4
c A J
West North East
Pass
Pass
2h
All Pass
South
1h
4h
BY MARYANN BOARDMAN
and ruff two clubs, we can handle
both a 3-3 and a 4-2 split in the
opponents' hands. We will need three
entries to dummy (two for ruffs and
one to get to the good, fifth club). So
win the sA (no finesse), play the cA
and cK (first entry), ruff a club, enter
dummy with a trump (second entry),
and ruff another club. Draw trump,
ending in dummy, (third entry) and
discard the sQ on the fifth club.
Watch for those long side suits to
greatly increase your odds and help
you avoid that 50% finesse. 2
http://www.acbl.org/confirm
March 2024
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2024
March 2024 - 1
March 2024 - 2
March 2024 - 3
March 2024 - 4
March 2024 - 5
March 2024 - 6
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