NEIL HAYWARD BRIDGE

Contract: 3NT by South

Opening Lead:

♣Q. What is your plan?

Recommended Line: You count your top tricks: There are six of them. If spades break evenly, you bump the total up to seven. You will then need just two more tricks. If spades are 4-2, say, you will need to find three more tricks. Until you know how many tricks need to be added, you do not know which suit to tackle. Will it be hearts or diamonds? The key is this: you have only one more club stopper, so you don’t have much leeway. While the diamonds look attractive, you might find they lead to defeat. The simplistic advice, tackle your longest suit first, has many exceptions. And this hand is a case in point. Start with spades, to find out what you need. Here, they break evenly, so just two more tricks are needed. You go after hearts, to ensure you develop these two tricks. If spades had broken 4-2, say, you would go after diamonds. You would play ace and another, hoping for a 2-2 split. Moral of the story: don’t believe everything you hear. Especially not at the bridge table!