Q10
                                        82
                                        1085
                                        AKJ1087

        J432                                                             75
        K6                                                                109753
        KQJ74                                                          A63
        53                                                                 942

                                    AK986
                                    AQJ4
                                    92
                                    Q6

Contract Four Spades, opening lead the King of diamonds, followed by a further two rounds, South ruffing:

With a decent break in trumps, South scores an easy overtrick, but what if they don't?

If you ruff the third diamond and play three top trumps (the combined chances of finding the trumps 3-3 or dropping the Jack are fairly good, about 54%),  West will be left in control with the high trump.  In desperation you then have to cross to dummy in Clubs and try the Heart finesse, so West will win with the King, draw your last trump and take two more diamond winners for three down.

Did you spot the safety play that guards against any 4-2 trump break? After ruffing the third diamond, South should lead a trump towards dummy and finesse the 10 of Spades.  In the layout above, the finesse wins and South can draw trumps and run the Cubs for an overtrick.  If East had the Spade Jack, South would still be safe.  Dummy's Spade Queen would remain on the table to guard against a possible diamond lead and no finesse would be needed if East shifts to Hearts.  In the latter case, South would win with his Ace of hearts, draw trumps and run the clubs for his contract.  Easy isn't it!!
 
   
 

Clive Keep   September 2004