Lookin' For Trouble

Suggested soundtrack: Steve Goodman, "Lookin' for Trouble"

	♠ A 9 3 ♥ — ♦ J 10 7 6 4 ♣ A K Q 9 2
	N W E S
	♠ K J 10 5 2 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ A K 9 5 ♣ 7

You are in 6 ♠. The opponents were silent during the auction. 

The opening lead is the ♦Q, an obvious singleton. How will you play the hand? Most importantly, how will you play the spade suit?

You could play the ♠A and the ♠K, hoping for a singleton or doubleton queen in one of the opponent's hands. Alas, with an eight-card suit the queen falls only about one-third of the time whereas a finesse gives you a 50-50 chance. That's part of the basis for the adage "eight ever, nine never" when in search of a missing queen. Furthermore, if you play for the drop and the spades split badly -- queen-fourth -- it will be almost impossible to prevent the opponents from collecting a trump trick and the heart ace for down one.

So, a finesse it shall be. You can finesse against either opponent. Do you finesse against the queen on your left, or against the queen on your right? How will you play the spade suit?

ANSWER: Look before you leap; your right hand opponent is dangerous! You can't afford to lose a finesse to your right-hand opponent, lest she return a diamond for her partner to ruff. If you lose to the queen on your left, that opponent can't do any further damage; you can pull the remaining trumps before cashing out in clubs and diamonds.

THE PRINCIPLE: In a two-way finesse situation, consider which hand might be more likely to hold the missing card, and also what might happen if you guess wrong. Keeping the dangerous hand off lead is known as an avoidance play:

BONUS MOMENT: When finessing against a queen, it is usually best to cash one of the high honors first. There is about a 6% chance that the queen is singleton, saving you the trouble of finessing.

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)