BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

THe contract is 7 ♥ by South, doubled by east, and West leads the ♠ K. How would you plan the play? AT FirST sight this looks simple and it is, provided that you don’t rush impetuously into playing the hand before counting your tricks, and taking any necessary precautions against bad breaks.

You have only four losers, and dummy’s aces will take care of them. You can ruff a club to take care of another, and might be tempted to rely on the diamond finesse if the clubs don’t break, which you might confidently feel will be the case. After East’s double, the finesse is likely to be wrong.

Win the ♠ A, discarding a diamond from hand. Now play a trump to check there is not a 4-0 break; both opponents follow, so cash the ♣ A and ruff a club; then ruff a spade and ruff a second club with ♥ J. Now return to hand with another spade ruff and draw trumps, claiming the remaining tricks with ♣ KQ and ♦ A.

No sympathy for those who don’t follow the basic principles.