Danger Deep Finesse at Work

Board 18. Dealer East. North/South Vul
	♠ J 10 5 ♥ A 3 ♦ K Q J 6 3 ♣ A Q 10
♠ K 8 4 ♥ J 8 7 5 4 ♦ 5 ♣ K J 6 2		♠ A Q 9 7 6 3 ♥ K Q 9 ♦ 10 7 4 ♣ 9
	♠ 2 ♣ 10 6 2 ♦ A 9 8 2 ♣ 8 7 5 4 2

The commentators are a lazy lot; show them a tough deal and they immediately call up Deep Finesse, to try to crack the problem. Sometimes even that is not enough.

On the above deal, 12 declarers played and made four spades. A number were in five without success, but let's look at what should happen to the game - given that DF tells us that nine tricks are the limit.

On a diamond lead declarer can play to ruff two diamonds in dummy and a club lead opens channels of communication for declarer. The heart lead (found at the only table where four spades went down) has to be ducked by North, and East wins with an honour. Now declarer plays a diamond, or else the defence get a ruff. Whichever defender wins this has the choice of going passive or leading trumps. A trump play by South runs to the ten and queen and a top heart back leaves North on play. If he returns a diamond, declarer ruffs high and finesses in trumps to make 11 tricks! If he returns anything else declarer can draw trumps.

The winning play is to lead a trump to trick one. Declarer takes the ten with the queen and returns a top heart, ducked by North. Now the defence are threatening a heart ruff, so the diamond ten travels round to North, who plays back a trump, won by declarer in hand. What is declarer to do now? If he plays a top heart, North wins and returns a diamond, locking declarer in dummy to lose a club and a diamond. If he plays a club, North wins and plays a third trump, leaving declarer with losing diamonds.

Incidentally Fantoni/Nunes defended to five spades, on a club lead to the jack and queen. Fantoni immediately found the single-dummy defence to trouble declarer the most, a low spade. Declarer not unnaturally put up the ace, and now was two down. Fantoni ducked the heart king, won the first diamond, and returned a diamond. When declarer ruffed and played a heart, a third diamond by Fantoni promoted a trump for himself.