NEIL HAYWARD BRIDGE

Contract: 3NT by South

Opening Lead: ♥Q. What is your line?

Recommended Line: You hold just six tricks off the top. Extra tricks will have to come from diamonds. However, you have to concede a trick in diamonds before they can be run. Many players would play ♦K,

♦A, and a third diamond to set up five tricks in the suit, assuming a 3-2 break. You hope they now lead a second heart. However, hope is not a strategy. What if they switch to spades? Your ♥A will then not make a trick, and you would score just two spades, one heart, and five diamonds. Your discard of the ♥A at trick thirteen will not impress Partner. To avoid this ignominy, lead the ♦2 to the ♦3 at trick two. If they lead another heart, you win, unblock the ♦K, lead a spade across, and cash diamonds. If they switch to a spade at trick three, win on table, unblock the ♦K, cash the ♥A, return to a top spade, and run diamonds. That’s more like it.