NEIL HAYWARD BRIDGE

Contract: 3NT by South.

Opening Lead: ♥5. Dummy plays low, East plays the ♥J. What are your plans?

Recommended Line: At the bridge table, doing the “obvious” can be the first step towards disaster. Players tend to grab winners, since they hate to give away a trick that can be won. So, here, the vast majority of declarers would grab the first trick, and then finesse in diamonds. East wins, and returns a heart. Your ace is knocked out sooner or later; West’s ♦A wins a trick after that; and three hearts are cashed. Down you go. However, if you play the movie through in your head, you will see the advantage of ducking at trick one. East’s second (and last) heart follows. You still make two heart tricks, but the difference is that East has no heart to return when the diamond finesse loses. At that point, you realise that the obvious and the successful often share no DNA whatsoever. Careful thought remains the winner.