Contract Bridge

What is that special something that makes one a good cardplayer? Mostly, it’s the ability to avoid simple mistakes.

Consider this deal where West leads the king of hearts against four spades. Declarer’s first test comes at trick one, when he should allow West’s king to hold the trick. Nothing can be gained by taking the king with the ace, and in the actual case doing so would cost South the contract.

Furthermore, when West next shifts to the nine of diamonds, declarer should reject the temptation to finesse. If he does finesse, East wins with the king and returns a heart, and South finishes down one.

Instead, declarer should win the diamond with the ace, draw trumps and force out the ace of clubs in order to establish a parking place for his heart loser. If South does all these things, he makes the contract, losing only a heart, a diamond and a club.

But if South slips by winning the opening heart lead with the ace, or by taking the diamond finesse at trick two, he fails in his mission. He loses two hearts, a diamond and a club, assuming best defense.

It is true that by refusing the diamond finesse, declarer gives up any chance of making 11 tricks. But it is also true that if he takes the finesse, he might ( and would) wind up with only nine tricks. Finesses are not intended to be instruments of self- destruction.