PHILIP ALDER

The other day, a friend asked me to give him one simple tip for improving his game. My immediate reaction was to recommend counting the high-card points in the unseen hands. However, that isn’t such a simple tip: It requires a conscious effort by the player. Instead, I said, “Always take time when the dummy comes down. Don’t play to the first trick — either as declarer or as third hand — until you have formed a plan and considered the possible dangers.”

I sat and watched my friend play a few deals. The one given in today’s diagram pleased both of us.

Against my friend’s contract of three no-trump, West led his fourth-highest spade. The contract looked too easy, with two spades, five diamonds and two clubs waiting to be cashed. With the actual distribution, though, if declarer follows the normal dictum and immediately plays second

hand low, the contract should die. East puts in the spade nine, forcing South’s jack. Two top diamonds reveal the 4-1 split, and South suddenly realizes that he has no hand entry to take the marked diamond finesse. If South leads the spade queen from the dummy, West withholds his ace.

However, my friend was still thinking. Eventually, he saw the solution. He called for the spade queen from the dummy. After it held the trick, he cashed two top diamonds. When the bad break was revealed, he smiled. Now he calmly led another spade himself. West couldn’t stop my friend from winning a spade trick in his hand, taking the marked diamond finesse and making his contract.