BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

You are playing in 6NT and West leads ♥3. How would you play?

WITH only ten top tricks after the favourable lead, you obviously must set up the diamond suit. Most players would quite reasonably let the opening lead come round to your K10, and then play hopefully for a 3-2 diamond break, or a singleton honour.

As you can see, this line will lose on the actual break, but you could have done a bit better, if you were careful to play dummy’s ♥J on the opening lead; this gives you the critical extra entry in hand to make the safety play in diamonds of cashing the ace, coming to hand and leading ♦9, which you plan to run unless West covers or shows out; if East should win, you know the suit is breaking, and you will not even need to consider taking the club finesse.