BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

♠ 7643

♥ K82

♦ Q74

♣ K85

N

S

♠ A982

♥ 76

♦ A K862

♣ AQ

You are South, declarer in 3NT, against which West leads the ♠K and East follows with ♠5. How do you plan the play and why? To duck or not to duck, that is the question — but there can’t be any question.

once East follows to one round of spades, West can only have a four-card suit, and the glaring danger is that, if you duck, you will leave him on lead to make a heart switch, which could be fatal.

Counting the top tricks — you have the ♠A, three top diamonds and three top clubs. Go for diamonds — if they break 3-2, you will make five diamonds, and if they break 4-1, you are going down, as the defence will take three spades, a diamond and the ♥A, unless you have the luck to find East with the long diamond and the ♥A.

In the event, the diamonds broke 3-2, so all was well, but a heart switch at trick two would have found West with ♥J10x and East with ♥AQ98x.