removes your heart entry before you have a chance to establish the diamonds . Even if you play the ♥J on the first trick , East will win the ♥Q and play another heart to remove the ♥A . This means that you will have to be careful to keep the ♦A as an entry . After you win the ♥A , take advantage of being in the dummy and lead a low diamond towards the ♦Q . If East plays the ♦K , you play a low card . The next time you get the lead , you can play the ♦Q , the high card from the short side first and then go over to the ♦A . When the suit breaks 3-2 , you can take another diamond trick to make the contract . If East does not play the ♦K , be careful . Play your ♦Q , which wins the trick . Now you must duck to preserve the entry . Play a low diamond from your hand and another low diamond from dummy , giving up a trick . East will win but now the diamonds are established and you have the ♦A left as an entry . The finesse is a good team player .
APPLYING ‘ EIGHT EVER , NINE NEVER ’
Suppose that you need to take all four tricks in the following suit :
DUMMY
♥ A 6 5 3
DECLARER
♥ K J 4 2
How do you go about it ? You are missing the ♥Q and there are two possible ways to avoid losing a trick to it . First , you can take a trick with the ♥A and a trick with the ♥K , hoping that one of the opponents started with a doubleton ♥Q and will have to play it . Now you can take a trick with the ♥J and , since the opponents ’ cards have broken 3-2 , your remaining low heart is also a winner .
An alternative is to take a trick with the ♥A and then lead a low card toward your hand , intending to finesse the ♥J if right-hand opponent plays a low card . You have to hope that right-hand opponent started with the ♥Q . Which is the better choice ? The maxim Eight Ever , Nine Never suggests that you should try the finesse . The first part , Eight Ever , suggests that with eight or fewer cards in the combined hands , when missing the queen it is usually best to take the finesse . The second part to the maxim is Nine Never and suggests that with nine or more combined cards in the suit , you should play the ace and king and hope that the queen drops . Let ’ s consider two hands : in one hand if you apply to guideline you will get a good result . In the other you won ’ t . The guideline needs to be used with care . Let ’ s see why . In this first deal , you are in 6NT and West leads the ♥10 :
♠ 9 7 6 ♥ 10 9 7 4 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ A 6 2
♠ A J 4 ♥ K Q J ♦ K J 6 5 3 ♣ J 3
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♠ K Q 5 ♥ A 8 2 ♦ A 7 4 ♣ K Q 10 5
6NT
♠ 10 8 3 2 ♥ 6 5 3 ♦ 10 2 ♣ 9 8 7 4
You need to take twelve tricks . You start with three spade winners , three heart winners and two diamond winners . You can promote three club winners by driving out the opponents ’ ♣A , but you still need one extra trick from the diamond suit . Should you plan to play the ♦A and ♦K , hoping that the ♦Q will be a singleton or doubleton ? Well , you have eight diamonds in the combined hands .
EIGHT EVER TELLS YOU THAT YOUR BEST CHANCE IS TO TAKE THE DIAMOND FINESSE .
This advice succeeds with the above hand and gives you enough winners to make your slam contract . Here is the second example . This time the contract is 3NT and the lead is the ♦K :
♠ 8 4 2 ♥ J 5 3 ♦ K Q J 10 8 ♣ Q 8
♠ K 9 3 ♥ A K 6 ♦ 7 5 3 ♣ 9 5 4 2
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♠ J 10 6 5 ♥ Q 10 8 2 ♦ 9 4 ♣ 7 6 3
♠ A Q 7 ♥ 9 7 4 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ A K J 10
You need nine winners . You have three spade tricks , two heart tricks , one diamond trick and two club tricks . One more trick needs to be developed . The only suit that provides this opportunity is clubs . You have eight of them , missing the ♣Q and would usually plan to take the finesse … Eight Ever , Nine Never . There is a problem . West has led a diamond and once your ♦A is gone , if the opponents win a trick , they may be in a position to take enough diamond tricks to defeat the contract . So you first start by using the holdup play and take the ♦A on the third round of the suit . Now you can see that East has no diamonds left to lead . It is time to consider the clubs . If you try the finesse and it loses , then West gets the lead . Instead , you should play the ♣A and ♣K , planning to play a third round if the ♣Q hasn ’ t appeared . The only time you will lose with this approach is if West has three or more clubs including the ♣Q . If East has the ♣Q and wins a trick with it , it won ’ t matter because East cannot lead any card to defeat your contract . On the actual deal , West ’ s ♣Q falls on the second round of the suit and you are rewarded with an overtrick for not taking the finesse !
So you need to be friendly with the finesse , but not too friendly . It has its place .
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3NT
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