Example 1
Dummy ♦ K 6 2 | ||
| West | East | |
| You ♦ 9 7 3 | ||
It is unwise to lead a king when it is not backed by an additional honor.
For instance, in this situation, leading the ♦K would be a mistake. There is little to no chance of winning a trick by doing so. Your opponents will simply play their ace to capture your king, leaving you with no benefit. Moreover, leading the king will not help you establish a future trick, as it might if you also held the ♦Q. Without the necessary support, the play is unlikely to yield a positive outcome and could weaken your position in the suit.
A card like this is referred to as a “losing honor”—a high card that your opponents can capture without helping you establish a trick in return.
However, holdings like this are not without potential. Consider the possibilities if you lead a small card from the South hand toward the losing honor. While you cannot be certain who holds the ace, think strategically about which opponent you would prefer to have it. By doing so, you can plan your play to maximize your chances of developing a winning trick or minimizing your losses in the suit.
On Sides – Off Sides
Imagine leading a small diamond from the South hand. If West holds the ♦A, they must decide whether to play it or hold it back before you decide what to do with your ♦K.
If West plays the ♦A, you should follow with a low card from the North hand, leaving your ♦K as the highest remaining diamond and ensuring it will win a future trick. If West chooses to withhold the ♦A, you can play the ♦K, which will win the trick. Although East may want to capture your ♦K with the ♦A, they cannot do so because they do not hold the ace.
When a critical card, such as the ♦A, is in the opponent’s hand where it works to your advantage, it is said to be “on side.” Conversely, when it is in the less favorable position, it is referred to as “off side.”
Lead toward losing honors
Example 2
Dummy ♦ K 6 2 | ||
| West ♦ 4 | East | |
| You ♦ 9 7 3 | ||
This is how it will actually look. You lead a low card, and West also plays a low card. Now what?
You can’t tell who holds the ♦A. But you should play as if the critical card were “on sides.”
Example 3
Dummy
♥ K Q 2
You
♥ 8 6 3
This ♥KQ2 example is repeated from the section on driving out the opponents’ masters. You can lead the ♥K and drive out the ♥A, establishing your ♥Q as a future trick.
You might be able to improve your results if you lead from the South hand toward your honors. If the ♥A is in the West, the opponents will not be able to play it on top of either honor.
If the ace plays, follow low, establishing two future winners.
If the ♥A is withheld, your ♥K will win the first trick.
After winning with your king, do you lead your queen?
Example 4
Dummy ♣ 8 5 2 | ||
| West ♣ ? | You ♣ K 7 5 4 | |
| Declarer ♣ ? | ||
It’s a different situation when you’re on defense. In this case, you can hope that your partner holds the ♣A in their concealed hand. If they do, they won’t play it over your ♣K, allowing your ♣K to win the trick. Your partner will then be able to win a future trick with their ♣A. After all, the game is a partnership effort, and a good partner should support this strategy.
So, should you lead the ♣K?
No! If your partner has the ♣A, leading a low club is a better choice, as it still allows the partnership to win two tricks with the two high clubs. If your partner doesn’t have the ♣A, leading low is still preferable. This way, your ♣K isn’t immediately captured by South’s ♣A, keeping it in play for a potential future trick.
Example 5
Dummy
♠ Q J 8 4
♥ 4 3
♦ K Q 9 5
♣ A K Q
You
♠ A K 3 2
♥ K 7 6
♦ A J 2
♣ 4 3 2
The opponents lead a club against your 6N contract. You need 12 winners to make 6N. How many do you have?
That leaves you short of your goal. So you need a trick from a losing honor. Which king is a losing honor?
Which player do you want to have been dealt the ♥A?
When should you lead toward your losing honor, the ♥K?
Immediately. It’s crucial not to cash your other high cards first, as doing so would establish new winning cards for your opponents while they still hold the ♥A to take control of the lead.
For instance, if you first cash the ♣A, ♣K, and ♣Q before leading hearts, your opponents would end up with a winning club (perhaps the ♣J). Once they capture the lead with the ♥A, they could play their established club winner, and your contract would fail—even if the ♥A were favorably placed. Leading toward the ♥K early prevents this scenario and gives you the best chance to succeed.
Example 6
Dummy
♠ Q 8 4
You
♠ A 7 6
You have one master, the ♠A. The ♠Q is a losing honor.
How do you play this card combination?
Example 7
Dummy
♦ A Q 4
You
♦ 8 6
What if the ace and queen are in the same hand?
The ♦A is a master. You can win a trick by leading it. However, the ♦Q is a “losing honor
“. If you lead it, it will lose to their ♦K.
So, how will you play?
Example 8
Dummy ♦ A Q 4 | ||
| West ♦ 2 | East | |
| You ♦ 8 6 | ||
This is what it will look like. You play a spot card, and so does West. Now what?
Play the ♦Q – play your losing honor, hoping East doesn’t have the ♦K. If it’s on sides
, the ♦Q will win the trick.
The finesse
These plays, where you lead toward a losing honor and win a trick when the critical card is favorably placed, are known as finesses.
There are different ways to describe this play. You might say you “finessed the queen,” “finessed with the queen,” “finessed for the king,” “finessed the king,” or simply “finessed,” depending on the context.
It’s worth noting that bridge terminology can be a bit ambiguous, as players often use phrases like “finessed the queen” and “finessed the king” interchangeably to describe the same play. While it might seem more logical to distinguish between the honor you are playing and the honor you are targeting, the meaning is usually clear from the context.
Example 9
Dummy
♥ K J 7
You
♥ A 6 2
You have two masters, the ♥A and the ♥K. But you have three hearts in each hand. If hearts are played three times, your ♥J is a losing honor. So…
How do you play this card combination?
Example 10
Dummy
♣ Q 7
You
♣ A 4
Your ♣A is a master, and the ♣Q is a losing honor. So you lead toward your losing honor, the ♣K is played on your left, and… Hey! Wait a minute. This isn’t working.
What went wrong?
Spot cards matter
When your master card and your losing honor are in different hands, you will need enough spot cards so your masters don’t crash after the opponents take a trick with their on-sides critical card.
How many extra spot cards do you need?
Is one more enough? Does it matter which hand?
Let’s try one more in the North…
Example 11
Dummy ♣ Q 7 2 | ||
| West ♣ K | East ♣ ? | |
| You ♣ A 4 | ||
You lead toward your losing honor (♣Q), and West plays the ♣K. This creates two high cards in your hand, giving you control of the suit and just enough lower cards to ensure you can play those high cards on separate tricks.
To capitalize on this, you’ll need another winner in the North hand to transfer the lead there. This will allow you to cash the ♣Q after unblocking the ♣A (playing the ♣A and a low club, such as the ♣7, together). Purposefully transferring the lead to another hand in this way is called “crossing” to that hand.
If the extra lower card were instead in the South hand, the sequence of play would need to adjust to maintain control and timing.
Example 12
| Dummy ♣ Q 7 | ||
| West ♣ K | East ♣ ? | |
| You ♣ A 4 2 | ||
Your winners would still be blocked, but this time you need to “cross” to the South hand to cash the ♣A after you unblock the ♣Q.
Example 13
Dummy
♣ A Q
You
♣ 7 4
The challenges of managing spot cards, unblocking, and transferring the lead to the correct hand to cash your remaining high card are greatly simplified when your losing honors are in the same hand as your high cards. In this case, you can simply lead toward your losing honor and finesse.
As long as West holds the ♣K, your “losing” honor will win a trick, making the finesse successful.
Example 14
Dummy
♠ A
♥ Q 5 4
You
♠ 2
♥ A 6 2
The hand is nearing its conclusion, and all the minor suit cards have been played. The opponents are left with only spades and hearts, including the ♥K. You currently hold the lead in the South hand.
Is it possible to win a trick with your ♥Q?
Example 15
Dummy
♠ A
♥ Q 5 4
You
♠ 3 2
♥ A 6
Imagine we change a spot card in the South hand. This seemingly small adjustment introduces a risk that should influence your strategy.
What could go wrong?
If you lead toward your losing honor, the ♥K will be played, leaving your two heart winners blocked. If West then returns a heart, it would help you unblock your high cards, so they are unlikely to do that. Instead, they will likely return a spade.
Without the ♠A, you’ll have no way to cross to the dummy to cash your ♥Q after unblocking your ♥A. This scenario highlights the importance of carefully managing your entries and timing.
There is a way out of this mess. See if you can figure out how to prevent West from taking advantage of your blocked heart masters.
The double finesse
Example 16
Dummy
♠ A Q T
You
♠ 8 6 3
This time you have two losing honors. If you lead them, your ♠Q will lose to the ♠K and your ♠T will lose to the ♠J. So, lead toward your losing honors, and….
Hmm… it seems you have a choice. You can play either one of your losing honors, and you might win a second spade trick. If the ♠K is on sides, playing the ♠Q will win immediately.
And if the ♠J is on sides, playing the ♠T will force the ♠K, promoting your ♠Q to master status.
But if you play the ♠T, and both of the critical honors are on sides, you will be able to win three spade tricks. The ♠T wins immediately, and you can lead toward the ♠AQ later for another winning finesse.
Example 17
Dummy ♠ A Q T | ||
| West ♠ K J 5 | East ♠ 9 7 4 | |
| You ♠ 8 6 3 | ||
This is what it will look like. You lead a spot card, West follows with a spot card (he won’t play an honor when he gains nothing for letting you squish it), and your ♠T wins the trick.
Now you will need a winner in the South hand to cross back so you can once again lead toward your losing honor. This time you finesse with the ♠Q. And you can cash the ♠A whenever you want. Three winners. This is called a double finesse – finessing for 2 missing cards.
Example 18
Dummy ♥ 6 5 4 ♣ A | ||
| West ♥ Q 8 2 ♣ 3 | East ♥ K 9 7 ♣ T | |
| You ♥ A J T ♣ 7 | ||
Here is another type of double finesse. You are missing both the ♥K and the ♥Q. You only have one ♥A to squish an honor with, so you can’t win all the tricks in hearts.
Which cards are your losing honors?
How do you secure two heart tricks?
Begin by leading toward your losing honors and playing one of them, assuming the critical cards are favorably positioned. For instance, your ♥T will lose to the ♥Q. Once this happens, regain the lead when the opponents return a club (or another suit), positioning the lead back in the hand you need.
Next, repeat the finesse by leading toward your remaining losing honor (♥J) and attempting the finesse again. This time, the finesse succeeds. The first finesse essentially sets the stage for the second finesse to succeed, allowing you to secure a second heart trick.
This strategy is both calculated and effective—sacrificing the initial finesse creates the opportunity to turn the opponents’ high card into a stepping stone for your eventual success.
Example 19
Dummy ♠ 8 7 3 ♥ A Q T | ||
| West ♠ 9 6 2 ♥ K J 8 | East ♠ K J 5 ♥ 7 6 3 | |
| You ♠ A Q T ♥ 9 5 2 | ||
It’s your lead in the dummy.
Win all six tricks!
Watch the lead crossing from hand to hand.
- double finesse in spades (play toward the ♠T)
- double finesse in hearts (play toward the ♥T)
- finesse in spades (play toward the ♠Q)
- finesse in hearts (play toward the ♥Q)
- cash your two aces (either one first)
Example 20
Dummy
♦ 9 5 2
You
♦ K J 8
You have two losing honors. Your best bet is to…
lead toward your losing honors.
When East plays a spot card, do you play the ♦K or the ♦J?
If you play the ♦J, there is a chance you will win two diamond tricks – when both critical cards are on sides. You will later cross to the dummy and lead toward your ♦K to promote it into your second diamond trick.
For this to succeed, you need lots of winners in other suits to recapture the lead (in case your first finesse loses) and also a winner in the dummy so you can later lead toward the ♦K.
Togetherness
Example 21
Dummy
♠ K Q 2
♥ Q 3 2
You
♠ 5 4 3
♥ K 5 4
Which of these suits, spades or hearts, might give you more tricks?
If the ♠A is on sides, you can win two spade tricks by twice leading toward your losing spade honors. But in hearts, your honors are divided, so the ♥A can’t be on-sides for both of them. The ♥A will always be able to squish one of your honors no matter which opponent holds it.
Spades are better for you because of the “togetherness” of your honors. Sometimes these are called “married” honors.
Example 22
Dummy
♦ A Q 2
♣ Q 3 2
You
♦ 5 4 3
♣ A 5 4
Your diamonds are better than your clubs, but the difference is less than with married kings and queens.
In both suits here, you will get two tricks if the critical kings are on sides, provided you lead toward your losing honors. In diamonds you will get your tricks without giving up the lead, often important. But in clubs, the opponents will be able to capture the lead when you lead toward your ♣Q, even if the ♣K is on sides. On some hands, you cannot afford to give up the lead, so you would seek your extra trick in diamonds.
Go to the next topic:
The Squishing Finesse