Finesse (3)

(NB this piece is somewhat post-Beginner!)

Finessing is intrinsically about the positionally powerful ploy of leading towards a card you are trying to promote, hoping the opposing higher card is in the hand playing second.

Say you are in 4♥ and this is your trump suit:
 

Many players make the mistake of actually leading North’s♥J. However you can’t promote a card by leading it – if East holds ♥Q, he will simply cover♥J with ♥Q and you’ve achieved precisely nothing.

You must lead ♥3 towards ♥J. Only by doing this do you restrict West to one trump trick. Whether or not he plays ♥Q, North’s ♥J is promoted.

Say you are in 4♠ and this is your trump suit:

You’ll need to be skilful – and lucky – to restrict your heart losers to one. You’ll have to find West with the ace and just one other card. You need to lead ♠3 towards the short ♠Q, West playing second hand low, ♠10. ♠Q wins (meaning that you know West holds ♠A) and you now lead back ♠2. When East plays ♠9, you must “duck” (ie play low) from hand, hoping, as here, West’s ♠A takes nothing. On regaining the lead, you can lead ♠K felling ♠J and you’ve picked up the suit for just one loser.

Probability enthusiasts amongst you may like to consider that the chances of this favourable layout are ½ of 68% [the probability of a 3-2 split is 68% and only half of that will work – we need West to have the doubleton] x 2/5 (the chances that the ace will be in the doubleton rather than the trebleton). That’s 13.6%: about a one in seven chance.