When you’re playing in a suit contract and you’ve seen your dummy, count your probable losers before playing a card. If you see too many losers, find a way to eliminate one of them.
Here’s a test case: Sitting South, with North dealing and North-South vulnerable, you hold:
♠️ A 10 9 5 2
♥️ Q 10
♦️ A J 8
♣️ K 7 6
The bidding proceeds as follows:
North East South West
1♣️ Pass 1♠️ Pass
2NT Pass 3♦️• Pass
3♠️•• Pass 6♠️ All Pass
• New minor forcing, which asks if partner has three spades or four hearts
•• Shows three spades
Opening lead: ♦️3
Now you can see the dummy:
North
♠️ K J 3
♥️ A K 2
♦️ Q 7 4
♣️ A J 3 2
You got a break and won with the ♦️J, but there still may be a loser
in the suit. In addition, you could lose finesses in spades and clubs. Any way to get rid of a loser?
Yes. Cash the ♥️Q, ♥️A, and ♥️K, then discard a diamond from your hand. Suddenly you have no diamond losers. As a result, you only need to win a finesse in spades or clubs to make the slam. That’s a 75% success rate.
Here are the hands:
NORTH
♠️ K J 3
♥️ A K 2
♦️ Q 7 4
♣️ A J 4 2
WEST EAST
♠️ Q 6 4 ♠️ 8 7
♥️J 9 8 3 ♥️ 7 6 5 4
♦️ K 10 5 3 ♦️ 9 6 2
♣️ 10 9 ♣️ Q 7 6 3
SOUTH
♠️ A 10 9 5 2
♥️ Q 10
♦️ A J 8
♣️ K 8 5
As you can see, the spade finesse works, and you’ve got your 12 tricks. What made it possible? The discard of the diamond loser.
This article appears in July 3, 2026.
Chances may actually be a little higher than three in four. If after stripping away the hearts, you also strip away the diamonds (perhaps ruffing high), then even a losing finesse in spades may endplay East.