a practice finesse

Practice is always a good thing, right?

A variation of this hand came up about a month ago. After a spirited auction, you are declarer in 7♣.

North

♠ Q J 6 4 ♥ Q J 8 2 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 5

South

♠ A 8 ♥ A K ♦ 7 3 ♣ A K 9 8 7 4 3

West leads the 6♦. Do you take the diamond finesse now, or play the A♦ and take the spade finesse instead?

ANSWER: Don’t take either finesse!

You have 13 top tricks here: 7 clubs, 4 hearts, and the other two aces. Play the A♦ on the first trick. Then play two rounds of trump ending in your hand, unblock the ♥ A K, and cross to the Q♣ in order to cash dummy’s ♥ Q J, discarding the spade and diamond losers from your hand. The only possible way you can go down is if one of the opponents has a singleton heart and all three of the missing clubs – less than a 5% chance of that. Compare that to the 50% chance of a losing finesse. And oh by the way, if the diamond finesse works, you still have to deal with the spade loser. If you put your hopes on both finesses working, your chances are only about 25% -- bleah!

A “Practice Finesse” is a derogatory term meaning a finesse that gains you nothing if it wins, and puts you in worse shape if it loses. If you take the time to think the hand through, you can avoid taking those practice finesses.

THE PRINCIPLE: As declarer, before playing to the first trick, remember to ARCH. Analyze the lead, Review the bidding, Count your tricks, and decide How to play the hand. Then, only after all that, play to the first trick.