BRIDGE

The bidding: South West North East

1 NT Pass 3 NT Opening lead — six of spades. . When and when not to finesse is one of the most common problems encountered by declarer. Its very frequency of occurrence makes this segment of the game a subject worthy of close study. Consider this deal where West led a spade against three notrump, taken by South’s jack. Assuming West had the spade king, declarer could count three spade tricks, three hearts and two clubs as sure winners, leaving him one trick short of his goal. South saw there were two ways he might acquire a ninth trick. One was to play West for the ace of diamonds, in which case a lead towards the king would produce trick number nine. The other was to finesse against East for the queen of clubs. Since it was too dangerous to test the diamond situation first, South cashed the ace of clubs at trick two, crossed to dummy with the queen of spades and led a club to the jack. Unfortunately, the jack lost to the queen, and West, having no other hope, shifted to the queen of diamonds. The defence then rattled off four diamond tricks, and declarer went down one.

Of course, if South had seen West’s hand, he would have cashed the A-K of clubs, caught the queen and made four notrump. The question is whether South should have played this way without the benefit of a peek at West’s cards. Strange as it might seem, this is the correct line of play. If the matter is considered objectively, it is clear that South should not have taken the club finesse. Obviously, the basis for the finesse is the hope that East was dealt the queen of clubs. But if East actually has that card, declarer is sure to make the contract by playing the A-K-J of clubs. East may take the queen if he has it, but dummy’s ten becomes South’s ninth trick without running the risk of West gaining the lead for the potentially killing diamond shift. At the same time, cashing the A-K guards against the Q-x of clubs in West’s hand, and thereby adds significantly to South’s chances. . Next Hand — South dealer North-South vulnerable