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      DOWN!

The feeling you get when you make less tricks than you needed for your contract. It’s also the term to describe your result. As usual, the finesse failed and there seemed no recovery. Did it have to be that way?

 

2 was a Weak Jump. After partner's negative double, you show a balanced 15-17 hand and are soon in game. West leads Q and you are some way off 9 tricks. What's your plan? A clue of sorts. Our declarer did nothing particularly wrong but finished up two down. Can you do better?

Some lucky declarers either received a low heart or even the A lead. For them, it was a case of could they score any overtricks?

At the table, it was a pretty standard Q lead. Declarer won in dummy and took the club finesse. West won their Q and played J which was ducked and then South won the heart continuation, discarding a diamond from dummy. Next came four club winners and then declarer had to play a diamond. Before they had any thoughts about whether to play the J or K, West had leaped up with their ace and ran off three more heart winners to beat the contract by two tricks, DOWN by two tricks.

If declarer could only have got to dummy, they could have taken a successful spade finesse and made their contract. West was alive to that!

Nothing particularly wrong with declarer's line. It would have been nice if East had held Q but that was not the case at any table the board was played. Could South have done better?

Right to duck: but wrong time

Although 99% of the time West will hold 6 hearts, occasionally they break the rules and do so with only 5. So, it is a good idea for South to duck a heart but if you are going to do so, then trick 1 is the time.

What happened with the losing club finesse was not an uncommon occurrence. Had East held Q (Qx or Qxx), then declarer could make 5 club tricks 2 in hearts and could simply play A and a second spade to ensure 9 tricks. No diamond play as a wrong guess could see declarer back in trouble.

However, South will still be in a pretty strong position if they play AK and the queen does not fall….as long as they ducked a heart at trick 1 because if it is East who holds Qxx, they will not be able to continue hearts and will presumably play a low spade. Even if the K is with West, South could take 3 spade tricks, 4 club tricks and AK. It is true they will not be so well off if East has QTxx but their chances of 9 tricks are otherwise fairly good...or certainly no worse than taking a losing finesse.

The key, then, is to duck a heart at trick one and play two high clubs. There is another common lay-out of the club suit which would benefit declarer by doing so:

With no line looking very secure when West’s clubs were Qxx, it looks like South can benefit from two common suit distributions, Qx in the West hand as well as Qxx in the East hand plus, of course, where West holds singleton Q. How sad to lose to that holding!  Meanwhile, the finesse only gains when East has  QTxx. You are likely to succeed irrespective if East held Qxx.

Playing AK is certainly no worse than the finesse and because you are still likely to succeed where East has Qxx, is indeed a better line…and as you can see above, would have been a successful line this time.

So, you would come to 9 tricks without taking a finesse in either black suit. That’s why your success rate for finesses will improve as you will not take them so often. So will your success rates in such contracts.

Indeed, if East did not duck the second round of spades, you would make an overtrick!

UP  … but the rest of the saying “up and away” would not apply! UP goes your percentage!

Don’t Let Them Get in Your Way

Why cannot they pass?! You have a nice hand. How do you show it?

Richard Solomon

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