Batemans Bay Bridge Club

Here you are in 3NT, East leading a spade to West's Ace, spade return taken by your King. How do you plan the play? Both minors give you a finesse for their Queens, and Hearts for its King. How do you manage it all?

 

 

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I expect you have heard the old addage that when you are missing the Queen in a suit you should finesse for it if you have a total of eight cards in the suit, but that you should play for its drop if you have nine. Statistically that is so.

However, faced with two eight carders as here, the statistics are that it is odds-on that one of the Queens will fall and allow you to run the suit for the ninth trick. So play Ace and King of both minors, ending in hand to take the heart finesse if neither Queen obliges. Len Dixon has pointed out that if you do need to take the heart finesse, then you must start by running the nine, and if that holds, run the Queen.

This hand comes form a super little book "Problems in Play" by Denis Priest. If you think you are getting good at card play, try his series of puzzle deals and you might be brought down to earth, like me! It is in the library.