Editing Finesse (section)

===Two-way finesse===
A ''two-way finesse'' is a situation where one can finesse by leading from either hand toward the other.
{{BridgeSuitNS|{{Spades}} A 10 2|{{Spades}} K J 3}}
Start by playing the king of spades (or if in dummy, leading the 2 to the king) and then running the jack; this makes three spade tricks if East has the singleton queen or if West has the queen, and if that's not the case, then East will be on lead.  Or start with the ace and 10, making three tricks in the opposite situation, or leaving West on lead.  The decision of which way to finesse might be based on which opponent is more likely to have the queen, or on which opponent it would be safer to give the lead to, if need be.  And there is always the option of not finessing at all.{{Clear}}

This holding similarly presents a two-way finesse, but along with a suitable entry it will always produce 5 spade tricks no matter how the opponents' spades are placed.
{{BridgeSuitNS|{{Spades}}&nbsp;A&nbsp;K&nbsp;10&nbsp;3|{{Spades}}&nbsp;Q&nbsp;9&nbsp;5&nbsp;4&nbsp;2}}
Play the ace on the first spade trick. If both opponents follow suit, the jack must drop and no finesse will be needed; if one opponent shows out, there is a marked finesse available against the other.  For example, if East shows out, a small spade is played to the queen, and the K and 10 score via the marked finesse; finally the South hand is entered in another suit and the 13th spade is cashed (or if spades are trump, used for a ruff).{{Clear}}

But weaken the holding slightly and the finesse is no longer two-way:
{{BridgeSuitNS|{{Spades}} A K 8 3|{{Spades}}&nbsp;Q&nbsp;9&nbsp;5&nbsp;4&nbsp;2}} Now the opponents have the jack and 10. Here, if entry considerations permit, the queen ''must'' be played first to discover if the spades split 4-0. Then, if they are 3-1, the play goes as before.

But if the spades split 4-0, someone has {{Spades}}J 10 7 6. If East holds all four outstanding spades, there is nothing to be done; East must take a spade trick.  But if West has all four spades, declarer can still take 5 tricks: after East shows out on the lead of the queen, a small spade is led toward dummy for a deep finesse.

The point is that if an opponent might hold two minor honors, such as the jack and 10 here, declarer should not weaken a two-honor holding before it's clear how to use it. In this example, nothing is lost by cashing the queen first, because declarer can never cope with those four spades in East's hand. But declarer can cope with four spades in the West hand, so long as the A-K is retained over West's holding until West has played to the second spade trick.