AceS On briDge

“Think of success as a game of chance in which you have control over the odds. As you begin to master concepts in personal achievement, you are increasing your odds of achieving success.”

— Bo Bennett

When is a finesse not a 50-50 chance? When you take a finesse, your odds of success can vary enormously, depending on what you know about the rest of the deal, but you can tilt the odds in your favor sometimes by making the opponents lead the suit in which you need to take the finesse.

Today’s deal shows a hand that appears to depend on the diamond finesse, but you can sway the odds in your favor — and in some cases, avoid the diamond finesse altogether. In other cases, you can turn a 50 percent chance into something much better.

Against six hearts (reached after an insouciant but practical jump to slam), you capture the spade king with your ace and draw trumps, ruffing dummy’s spades in hand en route.

The best sequence of plays may be to take two rounds of trumps, then the club ace-king, followed by a spade ruff, a third trump to dummy and a second spade ruff.

Now you lead the club nine from hand and concede the trick that has to be lost, hoping the defenders will give you something in return. If East wins the club, you are safe against any return. If West wins, he must lead a diamond, and you simply cover his card.

The slam will come home if West has either the queen or both the 10 and nine, since you will be able to take two finesses against those cards. In other words, careful play has improved your chances in the slam from one in two to something closer to two in three.

ANSWER: If your partner had doubled in direct seat, you might have thought about jumping to two spades — you are on the cusp for that action. But facing a balancing double, you need a little more to jump. Remember that since partner knows his range starts slightly lower for the reopening call, he will make another bid if he has real extra shape or values — say a king more than an opener.