Teams - The bid:

West	North	East	South
-	1	P	4

Opening lead: diamond Queen.

What is your planning?

Looks if it has performed:

Dummy's diamond ace won, and South leisurely led trumps. West won and continued with another diamond, leaving South's fate dependent on a heart finesse.

When the heart finesse lost, West cashed a third diamond, and the ace of clubs provided the setting trick.

North's analysis was on firm ground.

West's vulnerable entry into the auction at the three-level marked him with most of the enemy assets. However, since he didn't lead a high club, he probably did not have both top clubs. Without both, he was a huge favorite to hold the heart king.

With West holding the heart king, it was time for South to take quick action.

At trick two, he should lead a heart from dummy and finesse his nine! The deep finesse drives out West's king, and when West continues diamonds, South is safe. He cashes his A-Q of hearts to discard a diamond from dummy, holding his losses to only three tricks.

The deep finesse has much to gain and little to lose. If South's nine had lost to West's jack or 10, South could then have finessed to his queen, improving his chances of discarding a diamond loser from dummy.

True, South would have risked an extra undertrick, but an extra 100 points means little with a vulnerable game at stake.

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