The ability to choose a line of play that will yield the maximum chance for the contract is one of the key prerequisites for good declarer play.

Consider this deal where West leads a heart against five clubs. East takes the king and continues with the ace, ruffed by South. Declarer may still lose a spade and a diamond, and if he loses both, he goes down one.

There is a strong temptation to rely on the spade finesse and, if it fails, to fall back on playing the A-K of diamonds in the hope of felling the queen. Although there’s a very good chance that one of these possibilities will succeed, declarer shouldn’t settle for this approach before checking to see if he can elevate his chances even further.

Accordingly, he should start by cashing the A-Q of trump, hoping for a 2-2 division. When this occurs, he ruffs dummy’s last heart, setting the stage for a possible endplay. He then plays the A-K-5 of diamonds.

These preliminary maneuvers are well-rewarded when East wins with the queen and finds himself up against the proverbial stone wall.

If he returns a spade, declarer wins with dummy’s jack and gets rid of his other spade loser on the jack of diamonds. If East returns a heart instead, South discards a spade from his hand as he ruffs in dummy and then discards a second spade on the jack of diamonds. Either way, South makes the contract without risking the spade finesse.

Tomorrow: Timing is everything.