Count Your Top Tricks

[@paulbernadini431]

Thanks!

[@TheSuzberry]

Hand #1 is so delightful - play it right and get an overtrick. 😎

[@andrewwebb9426]

in hand 3 the 2Cl lead is almost certainly 4th down so he/she has only 4. Therefore East also has 4. Therefore 9 tricks definite!

[@blueninjasix]

It took me a while to appreciate why the diamond finesse is better than the the club finesse as it's hard to describe in words. In my head I justify it by thinking about the INCREASE in top tricks after each finesse. So diamonds originally had only ONE top trick and after the failed finesse there are now FOUR top tricks. That's an increase of THREE. Compare that to the club suit which always had TWO top tricks and after the failed finesse has FOUR top tricks. That's a lesser increase of only TWO............. Three extra top tricks is better than two!

[@peterwentworth8993]

Agree. I saw it a bit differently in my head. You've already counted two top winners in clubs, lose one to the Q and at most two extras. But you've only counted one top winner in diamonds. Lose one, three extras.

[@SmileyEmoji42]

On the 6H hand I would bid 4NT HOPING for a 5C response as 7H could be on if you then get a good response asking for kings with 5NT

[@Richard-u4n]

Assuming the choice is between finessing the clubs and diamonds, then diamonds is better. However, wouldn't first going after the clubs by playing the A and K to see if the Q drops be even better? If the Q does drop, then I can cash the clubs and then take the diamond finesse. If the Q doesn't drop, I can still take the diamond finesse.

[@TonyStawBridgeClass]

The Diamond fitness will always lead to success. You can either try the diamond finesse first, and later cash the ace king of clubs, or cash the ace king of clubs first. I think it works out better to try the Diamond finesse first because if that succeeds you can later also try the club finesse while you still have a spade stopper.

[@kiwi1fruit]

After further analysis, if the lay of the cards would have been different the clubs would likely be fine. So just some luck entered into which suit to play. I'm over 80yo and just learning the game. Also, had the Spades been swapped in the opponents had you were a goner if Spades had been led. Luck is often the decider.

[@umtatraining]

@kiwi1fruit: although luck is definitely a factor, in this case there is logic in choosing the diamond suit: there are TWO sure tricks in the club suit even after losing the diamond finesse, whereas the other way you would get one less.

[@umtatraining]

When considering both the minor suits, if you lose the ♣ finesse, you only get 8 tricks. Whereas, even if you lose the ♦ finesse, you still get one extra trick from the ♣ suit, as there are two top tricks in the ♣ suit (♣Ace/King), whereas the ♦ suit only has one - the ♦Ace. So, even though the _lower_ minor appears to be better (8 cards in ♣ against only 7 in the ♦ suit), but the presence of TWO top honours in the ♣ suit means, that there is one extra trick there, even after the ♦ finesse loses.

[@checkvideo12]

What would be the reason to cross over to club A & play diamond Q rather than lead to to it? Trying to figure out if west ducks leaving N to lead D 2 or will N then switch to low C?

[@kiwi1fruit]

Whoops, so diamonds it is.

[@williamthurl2607]

You should count certain extra tricks from the 2 Minor suits. Assume both finesse are wrong - playing on Diamonds will get you to 9 tricks , playing on Clubs only to 8.

[@kiwi1fruit]

Actually I think the clubs would have been better as we have 8 clubs and 7 Diamonds. So a possibility to create a squeeze or misplay would be more likely with no chance of losing the lead.

[@ingvarwistrom2433]

How van I reach your Bridge Base ?

[@TonyStawBridgeClass]

Click on the More... link below the video to see the links that allow you to repay the hands.