NEIL HAYWARD BRIDGE

Contract: 3NT by South.

Opening Lead: ♥6, East follows with the ♥8, your ♥Q wins. What now?

Recommended Line: East has defended well, since the play of the ♥J at trick one would have given you three heart tricks, with the help of a later finesse. That would have meant an easy nine tricks. As it is, there is work to be done. And many players would tackle the diamonds right away, allowing East to win and continue with the ♥J. This leads to defeat. You might attribute that to East’s clever defence plus bad luck in the diamond suit. But that would overlook an error on your part. You must lead a spade before playing on diamonds. If West ducks, you switch to diamonds. If West wins the first spade, you duck the heart continuation, win the next heart, and finesse in diamonds only after that. East wins, but is out of hearts. Timing is everything.