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If you remember_just one_thing
In this series Andrew, features one improtant point per Article. Bit by bit the reader will improve their game.
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Andrew:
The Ruffing Finesse
Consider:
| North | ||
| ♠A Q J | ||
| West | East | |
| ?♠K? | ?♠K? | |
| South | ||
| ♠2 |
You can take a normal finesse, leading the two to the jack (queen). However, unable to repeat the finesse (for the lack of a second card in South’s hand), even a successful finesse (West holding the king) will yield just two tricks.
The other approach, assuming there is a trump suit, is to take a “ruffing finesse”. This involves cashing the ace, and then running the queen, planning to discard a side-suit loser from hand should East play low; if East covers with the king, you ruff, cross back to North, and discard a loser on the promoted jack.
If East holds the king, North’s queen/jack will be promoted without losing a trick; even if West holds the king (and the ruffing finesse loses), you have disposed of a loser from hand on the second round of the suit. The ruffing finesse is therefore a very attractive technique - and generally more so than a normal finesse.
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South Deals Both Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| 3 ♦1 | |||
| Pass | 6 ♦2 | All pass |
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What happened
Seeing finesses in every suit apart from trumps, declarer began by inserting ♥ Q at Trick One. East won ♥ K and returned a passive second heart. Good guesswork in the black suits would still have prevailed, but when declarer took the combination line (as good as anything from here) of cashing ♣ AK (in case ♣ Q fell), and then playing to ♠ Q, East won ♠ K, and cashed ♣ Q. Down two.
What should have happened
6 ♦ is 100% guaranteed, regardless of the position of the three missing honours (♠ K, ♥ K, ♣ Q). Rise with ♥ A (key play - spurning the finesse), draw the trump, then cash ♠ A and run ♠ Q, planning to throw ♥ 7 if East plays low. On the above layout (East holding ♠ K), you are finessing ♣ Q for the overtrick. Even if West holds ♠ K, and wins with it, you can ruff his heart return, cross to dummy in trumps, throw a club on the promoted ♠ J, and claim 12 tricks. Slam made.
If you remember just one thing...
Prefer a ruffing finesse to an ordinary one: a bad outcome is less disastrous, as you have thrown away a loser in the process.
