Use a little finesse to win at bridge

Let us explore the art of the finesse. No, I am not talking about social grace, but rather, finesse is a specific technique for creating a situation where a lower-ranked card can become a winner.
The ideal example is when you hold the A-Q in one hand (let’s say in dummy) and a lower-ranked card (say the five) in your hand – you lead the five from your hand toward the A-Q. Assuming your left hand opponent (LHO) does not play the king, do you play the ace or the queen? There are only two possibilities – either your LHO holds the king (but didn’t play it) OR your right hand opponent (RHO) holds the king and it will win regardless. Without any additional information, you have a 50-50 chance either way you go. What that really means, is that 50 percent of the time, your LHO DOES hold the king, so your queen is safe to play and will become a winner … leaving your ace as a second winner 50 percent of the time.
True, 50 percent of the time, your RHO will hold the king and you will lose your queen. But the other 50 percent of the time, you will win one extra trick – and that can be the difference between making your contract or going down one trick.
A variation of this technique is when you hold the king-small in one hand (assume in the dummy) and at least one small in your hand. In this situation, you hope that your LHO holds the ace, so you lead from your hand toward the king. If your LHO plays the ace, you duck. But if your LHO plays low, then you play your dummy’s king which becomes a winner. Again, this technique will fail about 50 percent of the time, but that also means that you will win 50 percent of the time. Again, this could be the difference between making your contract or going down one.
Notice that I keep talking about percentages. Bridge is a game of numbers and uses percentages in most things. For example, you need 25 points to make game – 50 percent of the time. Even with 26 points, you will make game about 80 percent of the time. Finesses work 50 percent of the time. If you’re not comfortable with a lot of numbers, then try to think of the various bridge techniques as “half the time” or “one-third of the time” or “four times out of five” or “most of the time” because bridge is a game is numbers.
Good luck and good bridge.
For entry level instruction or formal play, contact Al at [email protected] or (408) 779-7122.