Bridge

Opening lead — queen of clubs.

One of the very first things a beginner is taught is how to take a finesse. But, strangely enough, one of the last things he learns is when not to take a finesse.

Here is a typical case. South is declarer at six spades, and West leads a club. It seems entirely normal to win with the ace, draw trumps and then take a heart finesse. If East has the king, the slam comes home; if West has the king, the slam goes down since de- clarer must eventually lose a diamond.

However, this would not be the best way to play the hand. By relying strictly on a finesse, declarer would give himself only a 50-50 shot at making the contract. But the fact is that South can improve on his prospects by adopting an altogether different line of play.

He should ruff a low club at trick two, then cash the KA of trumps and ruff dummy’s eight of clubs. He now makes his stab at fame and fortune by playing the A-K and another diamond.

As the cards lie, West would win the diamond and be forced to return a heart or a club, either of which would allow South to score the rest of the tricks.

It is true that declarer needs a considerable amount of luck to achieve the winning position, but it costs him nothing at all to try. If East winds up on lead after the third diamond, South would still have the heart finesse to fall back on.

This type of situation arises in many deals. Declarer notes at the outset that he has roughly a 50% chance for the slam if he relies exclusively on a finesse.

He then seeks a way to improve on this percentage, and once he reaches this point in his thinking, he is only a short step away from finding the winning line of play.