Deal 18	♠ 9 4 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ 7 6 3 ♣ A K 6 5		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH 1♦ pass pass 1NT pass 3NT pass pass pass South is to play 3NT. West leads the ♦K. Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
	♠ A Q 5 ♥ K J 9 ♦ A 10 4 ♣ Q J 9 2

 

Deal 18      3NT OL: ♦K	♠ 9 4 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ 7 6 3 ♣ A K 6 5		South is to play 3NT. West leads the ♦K. Winners:   ♠ = 1   ♥ = 2   ♦ = 1   ♣ = 4   Total = 8 You only need one more winner. If East has the ♠K or the ♥Q a simple finesse will give you the trick. There are two problems though. The first one is that if West gets in he may take too many ♦ tricks. But the bigger problem is that East cannot possibly have either of those two high cards. You and dummy together hold 28 HCP and West must surely hold the other 12 since he opened the bidding. Neither simple finesse will work so you must try what is called a Backward Finesse. Hold up the ♦A until the third round to confirm that East has only 2. He does. Then play four rounds of ♣s ending in your hand. Click NEXT .
	♠ A Q 5 ♥ K J 9 ♦ A 10 4 ♣ Q J 9 2

 

Deal 18      3NT OL: ♦K	♠ 9 4 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ ♣		South is to play 3NT. West leads the ♦K. Winners:   ♠ = 1   ♥ = 2   ♦ = 1   ♣ = 4   Total = 8 You only need one more winner. If East has the ♠K or the ♥Q a simple finesse will give you the trick. There are two problems though. The first one is that if West gets in he may take too many ♦ tricks. But the bigger problem is that East cannot possibly have either of those two high cards. You and dummy together hold 28 HCP and West must surely hold the other 12 since he opened the bidding. Neither simple finesse will work so you must try what is called a Backward Finesse. Hold up the ♦A until the third round to confirm that East has only 2. He does. Then play four rounds of ♣s ending in your hand. Now play the ♥J. If West doesn't cover, you will let it ride for your ninth trick. But West does cover so you must take dummy's ♥A. Next play a small ♥ from dummy and finesse the ♥9, hoping East has the ♥10. This is the Backward Finesse. Click NEXT for the complete Deal to see if it worked.
	♠ A Q 5 ♥ K J 9 ♦ ♣

 

Deal 18      3NT OL: ♦K	♠ 9 4 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ 7 6 3 ♣ A K 6 5		The Backward Finesse if a pretty rare play. It is against the odds so you only try it when you are absolutely certain that a normal finesse is doomed to fail. Like this time. By the way. Those of you with great short-term memories might think they have seen this hand before. Well, you ALMOST have. Deal 8 has an almost identical layout but a much simpler theme. Check it out.  Deal 19
♠ K J 3 ♥ Q 7 3 ♦ K Q J 9 5 ♣ 8 4		♠ 10 8 7 6 ♥ 10 6 4 2 ♦ 8 2 ♣ 10 7 3
	♠ A Q 5 ♥ K J 9 ♦ A 10 4 ♣ Q J 9 2