BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YOu are South, declarer in 4 . West leads the K, which you win in dummy. Plan the play. leaD a low trump and finesse the J. This is a safety play against the possibility that, now West has seen dummy, he will cash three heart tricks if there are no trumps left in dummy.

This will surely happen if you cash the aK and either defender has a winning trump left when you try to run diamonds. if east started with the Qxxx, you will see it on the first trump round when your J wins and you can afford one diamond to get back to dummy to repeat the finesse.

if east is void in trumps, you will see that, too.

let West’s Q win while he can’t damage you with those heart tricks. The same applies if either defender started with Qxx. Safety first is a good motto.