Double Finesse


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A double finesse is a finesse that's taken against two opposing honor cards:

Dummy
AQT
WestEast
K98 J765
South
S432


South is on lead and needs two spade tricks. A double finesse can be taken by leading a low spade to dummy's ST. If East shows up with either the SJ or SK, South can take a second spade finesse upon regaining the lead.

This is superior to finessing the SQ whenever West has both the king and jack.

However, when faced with a 9-card holding, it may slightly better mathematically to finesse the queen:

Dummy
AQT83
WestEast
??? ???
South
H6542


In this layout, South is in hand and needs all 5 heart tricks. It's best to finesse the HQ and then play the HA. (Note that if South only needs 4 heart tricks, the correct line is to lead to the HA first.)

See also

  • Backward Finesse
    A finesse that's taken in the "opposite" direction of a regular finesse.

  • Chinese Finesse
    The lead of an unsupported honor as a pretense to a legitimate finesse.

  • Intra-Finesse
    A type of finesse against three opposing honor cards.

  • Marked Finesse
    A finesse made obvious by the auction or play of the hand.

  • Obligatory Finesse
    A type of ducking play that finesses an opposing honor.

  • Ruffing Finesse
    A finesse for an enemy card (usually an honor) by threat of a ruff.

  • Simple Finesse
    A finesse for a card (usually an honor) held by the opponents.

  • Triple Finesse
    A finesse against three opposing honor cards.

  • Two-Way Finesse
    A card combination in which either defender can be finessed for a queen.

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Bridgebum began in 1999 and covers a large set of descriptions of bidding conventions, declarer play and defense, and more.

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