Bidding : 1NT (N) - 2NT (S) - 3NT (N)
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Opening Lead : Queen of Hearts (E) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (N) can count 6 sure winners : two both in Spades and Hearts plus the Aces of Diamonds and Clubs. He can see two potential indirect finesses, one in Diamonds and one in Clubs.
The Club finesse will at best only produce one extra trick, but the long Diamond suit may provide 3 extra tricks if the finesse against the Diamond King succeeds and also when the Opponents Diamonds are divided 2-2.

Declarer Play
Indirect finesse against the K - Selecting the correct finesse - Refusing a dangerous finesse
Declarer wins the opening lead with the King of Hearts in his hand and then leads a small Diamond to Dummy's Ace (trick 2). Dummy now leads a small diamond for an indirect finesse against the King.
West wins with the King (Declarer of course plays low) and at trick 4 leads his Partner's suit, a small Heart. Declarer wins this trick with the Heart Ace.
He now (trick 5) leads the Queen of Diamond which wins and also catches the last remaining Diamond (J) of the Opponents. Two more Diamond tricks are then won by Dummy, followed by tricks with the Spade Ace and King and the Ace of Clubs, making 9 tricks in total.

Declarer should not attempt the Club finesse, because if he does, East will win with the Club King and cash his three winners in Hearts which would defeat the contract.

Score = 40 + 2 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 400 pts total

Bidding : 1H (E) - 2H (W) - 4H (E)

Opening Lead : King of Clubs (S) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (E) counts 5 possible losers : one each in Spades, Hearts and Diamonds and two in Clubs.
There are possible indirect finesses against the King in Spades and in Diamonds, but there is only a small chance (25%) that both of these will be successful. Instead there is a 100% certainty of making your contract by ruffing the two small Clubs from Declarer's hand. (This is in fact the example Deal from Lesson 9 with the suits shifted around.)

Declarer Play
Ruffing in Dummy before drawing the enemy trumps   -   Avoiding a dangerous finesse
Taking a safe finesse for a possible overtrick trick   -   Covering all the percentages
Declarer wins the first trick with the Club Ace.
Before drawing the enemy trumps Declarer leads a small Club which is ruffed in Dummy with the 6 of Hearts (trick 2). At trick 3 a small Spade played from Dummy is won by Declarer with the Spade Ace ! ! A finesse against the Spade King may put the contract in danger. If the Opponents win the trick they will lead Hearts and deplete Dummy's trumps.
Declarer now leads his last remaining small Club, for a second ruff in Dummy (trick 4). Declarer then draws two rounds of trumps and the 4H contract is secured.
Having drawn all enemy trumps Declarer can now (trick 7) safely lead a small Diamond for an indirect finesse against the Diamond King. This can not endanger the contract, but will provide an extra (11th) trick if successful. The finesse is successful giving deserved reward to the Declarer.

In this case, if Declarer had actually finessed against the Spade King in trick 3 and lost, he still would have just be able to make his contract as the Diamond finesse was successful. However he would only have made 10 tricks in stead of 11 with proper play.

Score = 5 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 450 pts total

Bidding : 1H (S) - 3H (N) - 6H (S)

Opening Lead : Queen of Clubs (W) = top of a solid sequence
A small trump lead is also a good defensive lead, but don't lead away from the Spade King. You will be a cooked goose, and present the Declarer his Slam contract on a silver platter !

Declarer (S) can see 2 possible losers : one in Spades and one in Diamonds. He can perhaps reduce this to one by finessing. There are two indirect finesse possibilities, one against the King of Spades, the other against the Queen of Diamonds. The chance that at least one will work is a good 75%. Can he attempt both and win his contract ?

Declarer Play
Taking 2 finesses to increase the success rate   -   Taking finesses in the right order
Declarer wins the opening lead with the King of Clubs, and then plays two rounds of trumps winning in his hand. What next ?
Playing the Spade finesse will, win or lose, always lose a trick. Therefore if he attempts the Diamond finesse first and it loses, he cannot play the Spade finesse anymore as it will lose a second trick.
Declarer must therefore attempt the Spade finesse first. He plays a small Spade from his hand (trick 4), West goes up with the King, winning the trick while Dummy plays low. But the 12th trick for the contract (SQ) is now secure, and the Diamond finesse is no longer necessary.

West (at trick 5) leads the Jack of Clubs , taken by Dummy's Ace. At trick 6 Dummy plays his Spade Queen which is now a winner. The next trick Dummy leads his King of Diamonds (trick 7), followed by a small Diamond the Declarer's Ace (trick 8).
Declarer now leads his Ace of Spades on which Dummy discards his last remaining Diamond (DJ). Declarer then (trick 10) leads his last remaining Diamond which is ruffed in Dummy. Declarer now only has trumps left in his hands which secure the Slam contract.

Had Declarer at trick 4 attempted the Diamond finesse first, he would have lost the finesse and the contract, even with a successful Spade finesse later.

Score = 6 x 30 trick pts + 800 bonus pts = 980 pts total

Bidding : 1NT (W) - 3NT (E)

Opening Lead : 7 of Spades (N) = 4th card from longest and strongest suit

Declarer (W) counts 8 sure winners : one each in Spades and Diamonds, three in Hearts and three in Clubs. His 9th trick may come from a Diamond finesse or, if the Opponents Clubs break 3-3, from Dummy's 4th Club.

The opening lead is worrying though. It is likely that North holds a 5-card Spade suite (see Rule of 11), and Declarer has only one stopper (the A) in the suit. Therefore if North will regain the lead during the play he may be able to reel of 4 winning Spade tricks.

Declarer Play
'Hold up' play technique   -   Establishing a 4th winner when Opponents cards are divided 3-3
Taking a safe finesse for a possible over trick   -   Covering all the percentages
South plays the Spade King on the opening lead and Declarer plays low, a hold up play (see Lesson 18). At trick 2 South leads the Spade 10. This time Declarer wins with the Ace. If the Opponents Spades are divided 5-2 then South has no more Spades left and cannot lead it again to his Partner in case Declarer's Diamond finesse loses.

At trick 3 Declarer leads a small Club to Dummy's King which wins. Dummy returns a Club to Declarer's Ace, and when (at trick 5) both Opponents follow suit to Declarer's Club Queen, the last remaining small Club becomes a winner.
After winning the small Club Declarer can now afford to finesse the Diamond King for an overtrick. He leads (trick 7) a small Diamond to Dummy's Queen, but South captures it with his King, bad luck this time. However South has no Spade left to lead to his Partner's winners. He leads a Heart instead (trick 8), hoping to reach his Partner that way. But Declarer steps in with his Ace, then plays his remaining winners, conceding at the end two more tricks to South.

If Declarer had not held up the first Spade trick at the beginning, an attempt at the Diamond finesse would have put his contract in danger. He should therefore have cashed all his winners for the required 9 tricks instead.
The hold up gave Declarer the opportunity to try the Diamond finesse, although it did not win this time, he covered the potential 50% chance. This is an important mind set in bridge. When it is safe to do so cover all the percentages for winning that elusive extra trick.

Score = 40 + 2 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 400 pts total