Lesson 12
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Illustration Deal
  Advice of the Day Glossary Hand-out

Play of the Cards - The The indirect finesse

Contract : 4
 Lead: Queen of Spades

A 4 2
Q 10 6 3
K 5 4
Q 8 2
Q J 10 5 3
N
W
E
S
K 8 7
J 4 8 7
10 7 6 J 9 8 2
K 9 4 J 10 7 6
9 6
A K 9 5 2
A Q 3
A 5 3

The bidding:
South opens and North transmits: (3 - 4 - - 3) and 11 H points.
South counts up: 17 H points + 1 + 1 for the ninth Heart, a total of 30 DH points in the two hands; so 5.


Your pupils now experienced in finding losers will rapidly find three (advice 12.1)…

It is probable that this contract will most often be lost; when you ask them how they dealt with Clubs, a number of your flock will tell you that they led the Queen in order "to finesse the King"….

You must show them that it was a total delusion to play like that because the necessary condition for this finesse was lacking: the Jack in one of the two hands, either declarer's or dummy's.

So you will lead them to the solution to this little problem: to hope that the King in on the left and play accordingly, i.e. lead the 3 towards the Queen and to play the latter if West's King does not appear. Re-explain that you act exactly as for a finesse, that is a 50/50 bet on the position of the King; this is what is called an "indirect finesse" whose principle is as follows:

With A x x opposite Q x x you must ply a low card towards the Queen and hope that the King is before it: if the first opponent does not lay the King, you lay the Queen: thus you will have succeeded in an "indirect finesse".

Now come back to the position of Clubs and ask what would have happened if East had held the King of Clubs and South had played the Queen. Show that it is East's interest to lay the King and explain, for the defence, the principle: honour on honour. Show the two cases:

a) you are before dummy where there is a higher honour: "obey" by playing the missing honour (advice 12.3) and make them think why: to put them on the right track, remind them that Bridge is a team game if they take too long finding the right answer, and conclude thus: "I don't know what the declarer possesses but I do know that he will still play the finesse: I therefore sacrifice my honour hoping that my partner will win a trick".

Demonstrate again with this example of "refusal to obey" and make them see that the 10 of partner is "sterile" if you don't play above the declarer's Queen:

  A J 2  
K 9 3
10 8 7
  Q 5 3  

 

b) you are after dummy where there is:

- one isolated honour which the declarer plays: if you have the honour just above, play it because it is "dead" in any case (it's the case a )
- a sequence: refuse to obey, it is useless and it would be catastrophic in this type of situation:

  Q J 10 5    
A
K 3 2 (you)
  9 8 7 6 4