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Deep finesse
No, the headline is not a reference to the fine software created by Bill Bailey and used by bridge writers (sometimes to excess) all over the world. The phrase does apply to the fine declarer play exhibited by Ahsan Qureshi of Pakistan on this deal from round two of the Open series. Pakistan’s opponent was Romania.
| Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul. |
| | ♠ Q J 4
♥ A 8 7
♦ K Q 5 4 3
♣ 8 3 |
♠ A K 5
♥ Q 10 9 6 5 4
♦ 6
♣ A Q 6 |  |
♠ 9 7 6
♥
♦ A J 10 9 7
♣ J 10 7 5 2 | | | ♠ 10 8 3 2
♥ K J 3 2
♦ 8 2
♣ K 9 4 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| | | Pass | Pass
|
| 1♥ | Pass | 1NT | Pass
|
| 2♣ | Pass | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 3♠ | Pass | 4♣ | Pass
|
| 4♥ | Pass | 5♣ | All Pass
|
North led the ♦K, taken in dummy with the ace as South signaled with the 8. Qureshi looked at dummy’s nearly solid diamond suit and ran the 7 to North’s queen, pitching the ♠5 from hand. North played the ♠Q, won by Qureshi in hand. A heart ruff was followed by the ♦J, ruffed by South with the 9 and overruffed by Qureshi with the queen. Qureshi cashed the ♠K, ruffed a heart to dummy and played the ♦10. South ruffed with the ♣K, declarer overruffed with the trump ace and followed with the ♣6 to dummy’s 7, necessary if North had started with three trumps. Qureshi pulled trumps and conceded a spade at the end for a well-earned plus 600.
Unfortunately, the team lost 13 IMPs on the deal anyway. At the other table, this was the bidding:
| West | North | East | South
|
| | | Pass | Pass
|
| 1♥ | Pass | 1NT | Pass
|
| 2♣ | 2♦ | Dble | All Pass
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That was five down and minus 1400.
Three rounds later, Qureshi’s partner, Jahangir Ahmed, had his own chance to shine.
| Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul. |
| | ♠ K J 9 6 5 2
♥ 8 7 6
♦ 9
♣ A K 8 |
♠ A Q 8 7
♥ 10 5 4 2
♦ A 2
♣ Q 3 2 | |
♠ 10 4 3
♥ Q 3
♦ J 10 7 6 4
♣ J 9 4 | | | ♠
♥ A K J 9
♦ K Q 8 5 3
♣ 10 7 6 5 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| |
Ahmed | |
Qureshi
|
| | | | 1♦
|
| Dble | Redbl | Pass | 1♥
|
| Pass | 1♠ | Pass | 2♣
|
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 3♦
|
| Pass | 3NT | All Pass
| |
East started with a low diamond. Ahmed could have done very well by ducking, but he put up dummy’s king. West won the ♦A and shifted to a low spade, taken by Ahmed with the jack. Three rounds of clubs put West back on lead, and he continued with the ♦2. Ahmed pitched a spade and took the ♦J with the queen. The top two hearts brought the good news when the queen dropped, but the defenders still had a stopper. Ahmed cashed the ♥J and put West in with the ♥10. With nothing left but spades, West had to surrender the ninth trick to declarer.
This time, the good result was a push.
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