BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YOU play West in 3NT, and North leads ♥Q. Plan the play. THIS example of play planning and safety first is the best one on which to test whether you are a sound, cautious declarer, or a bit of a gambler.

Even beginners can count that there are nine certain winners once the ♦A has been removed (three AKs and three diamonds). So the sensible play is to lead diamonds immediately, and then quickly cash out after regaining the lead.

But you will also have spotted the temptation to get a couple of overtricks, if you can pick up ♠Q, which is a 50-50 guess. Overtricks are ‘irrelevant’ at rubber and/teams bridge, but important in duplicate — but not at the risk of the contract. Those who take a losing finesse go two down. In this case, the ‘safety’ players were rewarded with the overtricks, because North held a doubleton ♠Q.