Contract Bridge

When a contract depends solely on the favorable distribution of a suit or the success of a finesse, all you can do is hope that the fates will be on your side. But in some hands that appear to depend on luck, the luck element can be reduced or eliminated entirely by good play.

Take this case where South is in five clubs and West leads a spade. East wins and continues with a spade, ruffed by South.

Declarer starts with an excellent chance to make the contract. He can draw trump, lead the king and another diamond, and finesse the jack. If the finesse wins, he is home. But even if it loses, his prospects are still good. The diamonds may divide 3- 3, or, failing that, the heart finesse may work.

All these chances added together make South a strong favorite to bring in his contract. Yet, as the East- West cards lie, South would go down if he followed this line of play. He would lose the diamond finesse, and later the heart finesse, and suffer a one- trick defeat.

However, declarer can improve his chances if he varies his play slightly. After drawing trump, he should cash the ace and king of diamonds rather than attempt a finesse in the suit. In the actual case, this safety play succeeds, since East was dealt the doubleton queen.

Note that playing the diamonds in this fashion does not harm South one bit. Had East held the x-x of diamonds instead of Q-x, declarer would still make the contract by next leading toward dummy’s J-x and establishing the jack as a trick on which to discard a heart.

The diamond finesse is thus not necessary even if West has the queen, and so should not be taken. The recommended approach enables South to make the contract whenever West has the queen, whenever the diamonds are divided 3- 3, and, most importantly, whenever East has the doubleton queen, which adds significantly to his chances.