Chinese Finesse

In bridge, a Chinese finesse is a "pseudo", or fake, finesse:

		Dummy
		A5
West				East
K643				JT92
		South
		Q87

In this layout, South is in hand and has decided that West likely has the K. The normal play of a spade to the dummy's ace, followed by a spade toward the queen, will therefore fail. So South tries a Chinese finesse instead.

The Q is led from hand. West might duck out of fear of blowing a trick if the actual layout is:

		Dummy
		A5
West				East
K643				9872
		South
		QJT

As another example:

		Dummy
		K53
West				East
Q86				AT97
		South
		J42

South is on lead and needs a heart trick. This is impossible double-dummy, but a Chinese finesse might work. South can lead the J toward dummy, intending to play low if West fails to cover. From West's perspective, the layout might be:

		Dummy
		K53
West				East
Q86				9742
		South
		AJT

In that case, West must duck to leave South guessing the whereabouts of the Q.