The Basics of Play Line Exploration
For any deal, Deep Finesse allows you to navigate down whatever play line you want to explore. Just click on the cards you want played. At each turn, the card marks show you which plays are good and which are bad. If you click the wrong card by mistake, just click on it again to return it to its owner, then click on the card you meant to play instead. As an expedient, you can just click on a card in one of the player's hands, and it will be swapped with the card currently played to the trick.
When a trick has been fully played, click the Next button
in the lower right corner of the screen to move on to the next
trick. Deep Finesse erases the cards played in the current trick,
then labels all the cards in the lead hand of the next trick with
a or
and asks you to select one. You can also
click on the table surface near the cards played in the current
trick to "grab" the cards, turn them over, and advance
to the next trick.
To back up and explore different avenues, click the Back button and change the line of play by clicking on different cards. Deep Finesse re-computes and re-labels the card marks as you change the line of play. To start over from the beginning, click the First button and Deep Finesse redraws the deal before any cards have been played. Deep Finesse always remembers the most recent play line you have selected. You can navigate back down that play line by clicking the Next button.
The status bar at the bottom shows the deal name and contract currently under analysis. It also shows the trick number and total number of tricks taken by North-South and East-West. If at any point during the play Deep Finesse notices that one team can cash enough top tricks to make or set the contract, it pops a window and announces that fact. Typically the play from that point forward is uninteresting but if you want to continue, click the Next button or a card to proceed.