The Art of Declaring 1NT - Avoid the Finesse

When we see a tenace (a broken sequence of honors, like AQ), then we want to try more than just our top winners. Early in our bridge careers, we learn how to do this: take a finesse by leading up toward the honors and “hope” that the missing honor is onside.

However, many players tend to take finesses too often and too early in the play. This is understandable! The finesse is a technique that we learn early in our bridge careers and thus feel that we can execute it. But just because we can take a finesse does not mean that we should take a finesse. I believe that many players choose to take finesses early in the play (often too early in the play, when playing a contract like 1NT) because they do not know enough alternatives. My goal here is to give you some other options for how to play in these situations.

Alternative to a Finesse – Simple Improvement

Let’s look at how to play a common finessing situation.

Example 1 – Improved Line of Play

When we play this suit, the way that most players tackle it is to lead up to the Q, taking a finesse. And this is a reasonable and “normal” play. If the suit splits 3/2 – we will win 3 tricks if the King is onside and 2 tricks if it is offside.

But there is no way to win all 4 tricks in this suit. An improvement on this play is actually to play the A first and then come back to your hand and lead up toward the Q. If the King is onside and this suit splits 3/2, then we will still take the same number of tricks (as if the King is offside and the suit splits 3/2). But we gain one small advantage on this line of play.

If we then have the transportation to enter our hand and extra time, then this line of play will allow us to avoid losing a trick to the singleton King.

This is just a small optimization, but it is an improvement on the traditional finesse.

Know the Finesse is Going to Fail – Other Information

Sometimes we know that the finesse is going to fail. My advice is simple: “Do not take a finesse that you know is going to fail.” Every player has taken a finesse and, when it failed, said to themselves, “I knew that wasn’t going to work…” The reason many players continue to do that is that they do not feel confident about their other options for how to play the suit.

Example 2 – Count Points

Let’s say this is our auction.

And now we must deal with the ♥ suit.

If our LHO shows up with 10 HCP in the other suits (♣, ♦, and ♠), then we know that our RHO must have the ♥K. Once we know RHO has the ♥K, we know the finesse won’t work. But what can we do about it?

Well, we can play the Ace and see if it is a singleton King (as we did in Example 1). But we can also play the Ace and then low. This will be a better line of play if RHO holds Kx as their King won't eat our Queen – and the Queen will become a winner.

Example 3 – Jack Denies

Some players play an opening lead style where the Jack denies any higher honor cards (sometimes called coded 9s and 10s). One of the flaws with this method is that it tells the opponents where the missing honor is located.

Let’s say our LHO leads the ♦J against our 1NT contract.

If they play that the Jack denies the K, then we know not to take the finesse. Instead, we can duck the opening lead and even duck (or play the A) on the second round. If RHO has the K, Kx, Kxx, then by holding onto our Queen we will win a second trick in this suit.

Avoid the Finesse

Sometimes we can find a better line of play than taking a finesse – whether the finesse is working or not.

Example 4 – End-Play

If we can force our RHO to lead the Club suit for us, then we are guaranteed two tricks from this suit.

In a NT contract, if we can eliminate all the other suits (so that both opponents have only clubs remaining), then we play a club and insert the 8. If RHO wins this trick, then they must return a club into our AQ. We will win two tricks whether RHO or LHO has the K. We say that RHO was end-played, and this is an excellent way to increase our chance of winning a trick with our Q – avoiding the finesse.

The finesse is a familiar and comfortable way of winning a trick with a “smaller” honor. But it is not the only way to win a trick with these cards. Make sure you work on developing more techniques for doing so and put in the work to develop your judgment about which method you should use on each deal.

Read the first article in this series here.

About the Author

Robert Todd is a professional player and teacher who you’ll find all over North America (and the world). He's the founder of Adventures in Bridge and you'll find him hosting events, either virtual or in-person, almost every week of the year! Robert's also the president of the ACBL Educational Foundation where he's working to build an institution to shepherd the long term good of bridge!