West led ♦6, dummy played ♦5 and you as East win ♦Q. And now?

Playing too quickly, you might table ♦A. If so, you have established declarer’s ♦J10 and dummy’s ♣ loser can be discarded. You must switch to ♣K at trick two. That way you are sure to take four tricks - ♥A, ♦AQ and ♣Q.

Declarer’s best counter on ♣K switch from East is to duck smoothly. If East sleepily continues with a ♣, declarer can finesse ♣J and discard dummy’s ♦K on ♣A. After ♣K is allowed to win, East should cash ♦A and wait for ♥A.

All the participants in my duplicate said they realised their error - cashing ♦A at trick two rather than switching to ♣K - a split second too late. There is no prize for defending a hand in under a minute. By taking a little longer you will become more adept at analytical thinking and thus to be a better (and quicker) player in the future.

ANDREW’S TIP: Take a split second before playing any card that is not completely routine.