The race for the establishment of tricks is a key feature of notrump contracts. Given enough time, each side would be able to develop and win more tricks than it might in the ordinary course of events.

In this deal, for example, South starts with eight tricks and would have no trouble making 10 if he could get the opponents to cash the A-K of diamonds right away. He would in the process acquire two diamond tricks, which he does not have ready-made, and the play would essentially be over.

But if the defenders function efficiently, they can win the race against time and defeat the contract. Assume West leads the four of diamonds and East wins dummy’s queen with the ace. (The purpose of the queen play by declarer is to get East to return a diamond, which East might not do if the queen remained in dummy.)

But if East is alert, he does not return a diamond. He views the queen play with a jaundiced eye. With the deuce and three of diamonds in view in his own hand and dummy, he concludes from the lead of the four that West has at most four diamonds and South therefore also has four. So East shifts to the spade three instead.

The spade shift does declarer in. South plays the six, whereupon West takes the king and returns a spade. East ducks, of course, and South wins with the ace. Declarer can cash eight tricks but is then finished.

Finding declarer with only two spades might be viewed as a lucky shot by East, but actually it is not that unlikely on the bidding. Since South has four diamonds and opened with one club, there is a good chance he might have five clubs. Declarer’s other four cards are then almost certain to be divided two-two, giving him exactly two spades.

Tomorrow: Test your play.