During COVID lockdown last year, many people took the opportunity to play bridge on-line. I was declarer (sitting South) when this hand came up. Needless to say, I failed to make the 4H contract going one down. The auction was not complicated but the play of the hand was .......

The 6♦ was led by West, dummy plays 2♦ and East wins Q♦ and cashes the A♦. East then cashes the A♥ and exits with the J♣. You have seen East play 11 points, East is likely to also hold the K♠ given the opening bid. If the clubs break 3/3 then you can pitch your losing spade and you have ten tricks. So this was my line - draw another round of trumps, play on clubs and if they break 3/3 pitch a spade. If not, fall back on the spade finesse. East had four clubs and West two. Last resort, try the spade finesse which also failed. Down one! Can you find a better line before looking at the solution?

Solution: Declarer wins trick four with the Q♣ and continues with the K♥, the A♣ and the A♠, then three more hearts leaving the following position:

When South plays the 9♥, the J♠ is discarded from dummy. Now what is East going to play? If they play the K♠ you can cash Q♠. If East lets go a club, you can take two club tricks. The key play was cashing the A♠ early. This ensures that your side is not squeezed before the defending East. If the A♠ is not cashed early and the 9♥ is played, dummy will be squeezed before East. I think cashing the A♠ early is a bit like ‘rectifying the count’. You are establishing an opponent’s card to master rank on a temporary basis.