BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YOu are West, declarer in 3NT, against which North leads the ♠J. Plan the play.

CoUNtiNg tricks you see that if you are to make your contract the ♣k must be with South, in other words, the club finesse must be right. you try the ♠Q, in what turns out to be the vain hope that North has led from a suit headed by the ♠kJ10 but, alas, South produces the king. Ducking will avail you nothing, as you’re going to have to rely on the club finesse, so take the ♠a.

Now tackle clubs. you have only one entry to dummy, the ♦a, and in case South holds the ♣kx-x-x, it is vitally important to choose the right club to lead. Cross to ♦a, and play the ♣9, not the ♣J. if this holds, you are still in dummy to play next the ♣J on which you can drop the ♣10, and you will still be in dummy for the final finesse.

if you make the error of playing the ♣J first, you will be unable to avoid winning the second club in your own hand, unless, of course, you carefully unblock the 10 from your hand.

however, this won’t work when South holds k8xx and covers on the second round.