It's best not to take a losing finesse.
Bridge Column for November 12, 2004, Harvey Bernstein
Special To The Plain Dealer
North-South vulnerable.  North deals.
                              North
                              S: K 4              
                              H: J 7 5 2     
                              D: A 9 8      
                              C: A J 6 5
            West                             East
            S: J 9 8                         S: A 10 5 3 2
            H: Q 10 3                        H: 8          
            D: 10 6 5 4 2                    D: K Q J             
            C: 10 4                          C: Q 9 7 2     
                              South                         
                              S: Q 7 6
                              H: A K 9 6 4  
                              D: 7 3   
                              C: K 8 3    
          The Bidding:  
                  North    East    South    West                  
                   1C       1S      2H      Pass
                   3H      Pass     4H      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     West starts things off by leading the eight of spades. 
Declarer takes stock of the situation and finds himself in a very
reasonable contract.  There is, however, a potential loser in
each suit.  The only chance to avoid losing four tricks appears
to be a finesse in the club suit.  East, however, is a favorite
to hold the queen of clubs, based on the bidding.
     Declarer calls for a low spade from dummy and waits to see
what happens.  East is hesitant.  It would have been better for
West to have led the jack of spades, but he did not and East
decides to win the ace.  Good luck for declarer.
     East gets off lead with the king of diamonds.  The ace wins
in the dummy.  The king of spades is cashed and a heart is called
for.  Declarer wins the ace and king of hearts, East discarding a
small spade.  The queen of spades is cashed and a small diamond
is discarded from the dummy.  Here is the critical position:
                              North
                              S: Void              
                              H: J 7         
                              D: 9          
                              C: A J 6 5
            West                             East
            S: Void                          S: 10      
            H: Q                             H: Void       
            D: 10 6 5 4                      D: Q J               
            C: 10 4                          C: Q 9 7 2     
                              South                         
                              S: Void  
                              H: 9 6 4  
                              D: 7     
                              C: K 8 3
     Declarer leads the seven of diamonds and East must win.  As
you can see, East is end-played.  If he leads a spade or a
diamond, declarer will discard the three of clubs and trump the
trick in the dummy.  And obviously, if East leads a club (in the
hope that West has the king), the jack will win in dummy.  
     West will always get the queen of hearts for the third
defensive trick, but the club loser has just gone away. 
     Yes, declarer had some good luck.  East had to win the
second diamond trick, he had no choice.  But his approach was
correct.  He played the hand he was dealt in such a way that he
could avoid the club finesse.  This is one of the reasons that
experienced players tend to do better in competitive situations.  
 
_______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.