Utente:Mgiach/InCorso

Quando muovere la carta alta per un sorpasso

Se la posizione lo permette (quando le due mani hanno un numero sufficiente di carte intermedie da permettere di conseguire le prese rimanenti anche se sono giocati tre onori nella prima presa), è spesso opportuno iniziare con la carta più alta per rimanere in presa e risparmiare i rientri laterali.

Esempio 1:

♠ A Q 10

N↑ S↓

♠ J 4 3

Esempio 2:

♠ A Q 4

N↑ S↓

♠ J 10 3

Negli esempi 1 e 2 si agisce nello stesso modo. Per operare il sorpasso, di norma è preferibile non muovere la Dama così che, se la manovra riesce, può essere ripetuta immediatamente senza che sia necessario tornare in mano in un altro seme. Si muove quindi il Fante e, se Ovest sta basso, si lascia in presa (ciò viene chiamato far correre il Fante) e si ripetere la manovra immediatamente. Se invece Ovest copre con il Re, si prende con l'Asso e la Dama e il 10 sono ancora sufficienti per fare le altre due prese.
Esempio 3:

♠ A 4 3

N↑ S↓

♠ Q J 10

Esempio 4:

♠ A Q 4

N↑ S↓

♠ 10 9 3

Gli esempi 3 e 4 mostrano che non è necessaria la presenza di una forchetta nella mano verso cui si muove purchè si abbiano onori sufficienti nell'altra mano .

L'esempio 3 può essere giocato sattamente come gli esempi 1 e 2, muovendo cioè una carta qualsiasi da Sud. Nell'esempio 4 si può fare un soerpasso doppio muovendo il 10 (or il 9).

Esempio 5:

♠ A 5 4

N↑ S↓

♠ Q J 3

In questo caso non ci sono carte alte sufficienti e non è mai possibile fare tre prese. Infatti, anche se il Re è in Ovest, è sufficiente che copra Dama o Fante per consentite al 10 di fare la terza presa. (L'unica eccezione è rappresentata dal Re secco).

Sorpasso di taglio

Il sorpasso di taglio è una variante, applicabile solo nei giochi a colore, nella quale un giocatore, anziché scegliere quale carta di una forchetta giocare, sceglie se tagliare o no.

♠	K Q J
♥	-
♦	-
♣	A
N S
♠	-
♥	2
♦	3 2
♣	2

In questo esempio cuori è il seme di atout e il 2 nella mano di Sud è l'ultimo rimasto. Se Nord è in mano si possono conseguire tutte le prese a condizione che l'Asso di picche sia in Est. E' sufficiente infatti nuovere il Re di picche e tagliare solo nel momento in cui viene coperto dall'Asso. Successivamente si torna in Nord con l'Asso fi fiori e si fanno le prese rimanenti.

Da notare che, contrariamente al sorpasso normale, nel sorpasso a taglio l'onore mancante è piazzato se è posizionato dopo gli altri.

Casi speciali

Sorpasso segnato

Un sorpasso segnato è quando non si può perdere perché si sa che l'onore dell'avversario è piazzato.

	♠ A 10 5 4
♠ J 9 8 7	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ 6
	♠ K Q 3 2

Se Sud comincia col muovere Re e Dama, si accorge alla seconda presa che Est non ha più picche. A questo punto il sorpasso al 10 è sicuro.

Sorpasso a due vie

Un sorpasso a due vie è una situazione in cui si può effettuare il sorpasso da ciascuna delle due mani.

A 10 2

N↑ S↓

K J 3

Si può partire giocando il Re e poi effettuare il sorpasso alla Dama in Ovest oppure giocare prima l'Asso e poi effettuare il sorpasso alla Dama in Est. La decisione su quale strada intraprendere può dipendere da qualche inferenza sulla posizione della Dama ottenuta dalla dichiarazione o dal gioco oppure dalla convenienza di impedire che un determinato giocatore entri in presa.

This holding similarly presents a two-way finesse, but along with a suitable entry it will always produce 5 spade tricks no matter how the opponents' spades are placed.

(SS)  A K 10 3

N↑ S↓

(SS)  Q 9 5 4 2

Play the ace on the first spade trick. If both opponents follow suit, the jack must drop and no finesse will be needed; if one opponent shows out, there is a marked finesse available against the other. For example, if East shows out, a small spade is played to the queen, and the K and 10 score via the marked finesse; finally the South hand is entered in another suit and the 13th spade is cashed (or if spades are trump, used for a ruff).

But weaken the holding slightly and the finesse is no longer two-way:

(SS) A K 8 3

N↑ S↓

(SS)  Q 9 5 4 2

Now the opponents have the jack and 10. Here, if entry considerations permit, the queen must be played first to discover if the spades split 4-0. Then, if they are 3-1, the play goes as before.

But if the spades split 4-0, someone has (SS) J 10 7 6. If East holds all four outstanding spades, there is nothing to be done; East must take a spade trick. But if West has all four spades, declarer can still take 5 tricks: after East shows out on the lead of the queen, a small spade is led toward dummy for a deep finesse.

The point is that if an opponent might hold two minor honors, such as the jack and 10 here, declarer should not weaken a two-honor holding before it's clear how to use it. In this example, nothing is lost by cashing the queen first, because declarer can never cope with those four spades in East's hand. But declarer can cope with four spades in the West hand, so long as the A-K is retained over West's holding until West has played to the second spade trick.

Two-way position with a ruffing finesse

As noted above, a ruffing finesse is "on" if the opponents' critical honor is positioned after yours, the reverse of an ordinary finesse. Consequently, there is a form of two-way finesse where a ruffing finesse can be taken against one opponent or an ordinary finesse against the other. If there is no other reason to choose one play or the other, the ruffing finesse may be a superior alternative because it allows leading high and retain the lead. For example:

♠	A Q J 5	O             E	♠	3
♥	K 6 5 4		♥	A 7 3 2
♦	A 7 5		♦	9 6 3
♣	6 5		♣	A K 9 4 2

East plays a contract of 4 hearts. After the opening lead of a diamond, he wins the ace and plays the two top trumps; they break 3-2. He leads a spade to the queen, but the finesse is off, and the opponents now cash two diamonds. With a trump still to lose, one down.

Out of luck? Not at all. The contract is cold as long as trumps break 3-2 (and the defense cannot get an early ruff). The correct play is to win the ace of diamonds and to continue with the ace of spades, followed by the queen for a ruffing finesse. If North does not cover with the king, declarer pitches a losing diamond. If North does play the king, declarer ruffs and later pitches a diamond on the jack of spades. Even if the king is with South, declarer loses 3 tricks only, if trumps are 3-2. And if trumps are 4-1 the game will still make if the king of spades is sitting with North. The advantage of the ruffing finesse over the ordinary finesse here is the gain of tempo if it loses.

Ann Gallagher finesse

An Ann Gallagher finesse is a special sort of two-way finesse. Instead of deciding which way to finesse, though, declarer finesses both ways. This is the classic example:

Against South's 4Template:Hs contract, West leads the (SS) K, removing an entry that might have proven useful later. South leads the Template:Hs2 and finesses the Template:HsJ. West can see that, with the clubs probably running, South will have no problem if West wins his Template:HsQ. So West ducks smoothly.

A trusting player sitting South would now lead the Template:Hs8 to the Template:HsK, preparing to finesse East again for the Template:HsQ, but East's discard would come as a shock. After taking the Template:HsK, South can't knock out West's Template:HsQ without allowing the defense to take at least two spades, a heart and a diamond.

After the Template:HsJ wins at trick 2, South's only correct play is to finesse West for the Template:HsQ, even though he has apparently and successfully finessed East for the same card. The point is to guard against West's clever holdup.

The reason for the term Ann Gallagher finesse is found in a New York Times article. Ann Gallagher was a movie actress in the 1930s. She enjoyed bridge, and when she won a two-way finesse she would repeat it in the opposite direction, saying "Now let's see if I'm really lucky."

Free finesse

A so-called free finesse is not technically a finesse at all, as it is not dependent on the position of the opponents' cards, but only on their choice of lead. A free finesse occurs when an opponent leads a suit, so that the hand containing a tenace position plays last to the trick. In the first example:

♠ A Q

N↑ S↓

♠ 7 2

the normal finesse only works if West has the king, but if East leads spades, the declarer simply plays the lowest card that will win the trick, and so gets two tricks no matter whether East or West has the king. Similarly, in the first two-way finesse example, three spade tricks are taken automatically on a free finesse if either East or West is the first to lead spades.

Free finesses often happen due to the defense guessing wrong about high cards in declarer's hand, especially on the opening lead. But it is also possible to force the defense to give you a free finesse, by endplaying them. Consider the two-way finesse example again, but with an additional card:

♠	A J 2
♥	2
♦	-
♣	-
N S
♠	K 10 3
♥	3
♦	-
♣	-

Nobody has played any spades at any point, so the defense is known to have 7 of them, and their other card is known to be a heart. Declarer leads a heart, losing to whichever defender holds the high heart; and that defender is now on lead with nothing but spades. North-South will take 3 spade tricks for certain, and declarer need not guess which way to finesse the suit.

Entry finesse

At times, declarer needs to reach the same hand twice using a particular suit, but that hand doesn't hold the suit's two top cards. In this example, declarer needs to reach the North hand twice by means of the spade suit:

(SS) A J

N↑ S↓

(SS) K 10

Normally, declarer would cash the (SS) A and (SS) K separately. However, two spade entries to North might be needed, for reasons such as setting up North's side suit or preparing an endplay. If West holds the (SS) Q, declarer can reach dummy twice with an entry finesse: lead the (SS) 10 from hand and finesse the (SS) J. If the (SS) J holds, the (SS) K can later be overtaken by the (SS) A for the second entry to dummy. If West is aware of what's going on, though, he can stop it by covering the (SS) 10 with the (SS) Q. Now the suit is blocked, because the (SS) J cannot overtake the (SS) K. As with many deceptive plays, declarer should take the entry finesse as early in the play as possible, before the defense realizes it must play second hand high to block the suit.

Complex finesses

Some positions require correct reading of opponent's holding, and involve a combination of basic finesses with other techniques, such as dropping or pinning opponent's honors.

Backward finesse

In backward finesse, the player attempts to force out a higher card in a suit by means of a high-leading finesse, and then finesses against a lower card in the suit. For example, consider the following layout of the spade suit:

	♠ A 6 4
♠ Q 8 2	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ 10 7 5 3
	♠ K J  9

The standard play would be to finesse East for the queen, either before or after cashing dummy's ace. But South may have reason to believe that West has the queen, perhaps from the bidding. So South begins by leading the jack from hand. Then:

• South passes the jack if West plays low.
• If West covers the jack with the queen, South takes the trick with the ace. Then, South leads the 4 from dummy and finesses East for the 10.
  

There are three reasons that South might choose to play this way, rather than taking the normal course of finessing East for the queen:

• As suggested above, South might expect West to hold the queen because of the bidding or some similar clue.
• South might want to make an avoidance play, so as to keep West off lead.
• South might be shooting, hoping to score well by adopting a line of play that other declarers will not take.

Intra-finesse

Finesses which involve a second-round drop or pin are sometimes referred to as "intra-finesses".

With honor dropping

	♠J 7 5 2
♠ Q 8	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ K 9 6
	♠ A 10 4 3

In the first diagram, the declarer must lead a small card from hand towards the dummy's jack for an "indirect" finesse. If West plays the queen, East's king can be finessed in the next round. If West ducks, the declarer will drop the queen by playing the ace.

	♠ J 7 5 2
♠ Q 8 6	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ K 9
	♠ A 10 4 3

In the second position, the declarer must lead a small card from dummy and play the 10 if East plays low. In the second round, the ace will drop the king.

The bottom line is that in similar positions, the first declarer's play must be a low card through the hand with two cards; thus, he must guess the position to collect three tricks in the suit.

	♠ A 9 5
♠ J 7	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ Q 10 4 3
	♠ K 8 6 2

In order to take three spade tricks, the declarer must first lead low to the dummy's 9, losing to East's 10. Next, the ace drops the jack, and leaves a simple-finesse position against East's queen in the third round. Note that this maneuver will work with the suit divided 3-3 or with any doubleton honor with West. It will fail if all three honors are with East, but this is far less likely.

Pseudo-finesse

A pseudo or "Chinese" finesse presents a declarer's deceptive move to fake a high-leading finesse by leading an unprotected honor, hoping that the defender will misread the situation. Consider the following legitimate finesse situation:

	♠ A 7 4 3
♠ K 6 5	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ 10 8 2
	♠ Q J 9

If South leads the queen first, and West covers, the declarer will be able to subsequently finesse East's ten, losing no tricks in the suit. Thus, he should withhold the king for a round. However, if the declarer leads the queen in the following situation:

	♠ A 7 4 3
♠ K 6 5	W    N↑ S↓    E	♠ J 10 9
	♠ Q 8 2

If West ducks this time, the declarer will lose only one trick in the suit instead of two.

Coups involving a finesse

Bath Coup

This specific case of a free finesse is important enough to have its own name (after the city of Bath in England). It occurs when the declarer holds a suit headed by A-J-x and the left-hand opponent leads the king or queen of the suit. If the declarer ducks and the opponent now repeats the lead, two tricks will be won with the ace-jack.

The Bath coup is not just a deceptive play. Even if the suit is not continued, the declarer gains a tempo, since he still has a sure stopper in that suit.

Trump coup and coup en passant

In positions where a finesse in trumps cannot be taken because the hand that would need to lead trumps has none, a trump coup or coup en passant may be used. See those articles.

Suit combinations

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge has a long list of suit combinations and how best to play them depending on how many tricks are needed. A good player does not need to memorize this, and can usually deduce the correct play at the table. However, it is worthwhile to study the suit combinations tables, having in mind that the optimal play in a suit may not be best in the context of the entire hand.

External links

• BridgeHands.com: The Chinese Finesse
• The Alberta Bridge Site: Intra-finesse