Bridge Column for December 25, 1994 
Neither side vulnerable.  North deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: K 9 2          
                              H: K 10 6      
                              D: A Q 10 7 5 3
                              C: 2       
            WEST                             EAST
            S: 5                             S: J 10 8 7 4   
            H: J 8 7 5                       H: 9 2        
            D: 9                             D: K J 8 6           
            C: A Q J 9 8 6 3                 C: 7 4        
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: A Q 6 3
                              H: A Q 4 3    
                              D: 4 2      
                              C: K 10 5   
                  NORTH    EAST    SOUTH    WEST                  
                   1D      Pass     1H      Pass
                   2D      Pass     3NT     Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     This hand came up in a local matchpoint duplicate game. 
After what appears to be a fairly normal auction, West leads the
queen of clubs.  Before South plays to trick one, he needs to
evaluate his position.  He has one trick in clubs, and that could
go away if he doesn't take it now.  If either major suit divides
evenly, he can come to nine tricks by way of seven in the majors,
a club and the ace of diamonds.  What if neither major suit
behaves?  In that case, declarer can try the diamond finesse for
the ninth trick.  
     Is there any harm in ducking the first club?  If West
decides to continue clubs this should not be a problem.  If, on
the other hand, he decides to switch, East could gain the lead at
some point and continue clubs through the king.  Since it is
unlikely that West started with eight clubs and remained silent
during the auction, we can assume that East has at least two
clubs.  East played the seven of clubs to the first trick.  This
could appear encouraging to West so it is probably safe to duck
this trick.
     The queen holds and West does continue with the jack.  (I
would recommend cashing the ace at this point since you might
otherwise not score it).  At this point declarer wins the king
and tests hearts.  On the play of the third heart East shows out. 
Declarer now tests spades.  West shows out on the second round of
that suit.  Declarer cashes his third spade winner and having
seven tricks home, leads a diamond and finesses the queen.  This
loses to the king but all is well as East is out of clubs and can
do no better than to cash two good spades and then lead away from
the jack of diamonds into the ace-ten combination on the board
for declarer's last two tricks.     
     Note that the result on this hand was determined at tricks
one and two.  If declarer wins the first trick he will always be
defeated (as the cards lie).  Likewise, if defender cashes the
ace of clubs at trick two, or shifts, his side will always
prevail.  It is impossible to over emphasize the importance of
good planning early in the hand.  Once you have made your play,
you cannot take it back.