LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP......................................... ( By Johnny Supremo ) Not so long ago I reviewed three situations why taking on a finesse to make the contract is rank poor bridge, especially when better options are available. This hand is a classic example of what I mean. You are playing teams and end up in a vulnerable 3NT contract. The opponents lead out a heart and dummy comes down with: xx...A...AKxxxx...xxxx...while you hold a very tasty and healthy 18 points: AQxxx....Kxx...Qx...AK6. Initially, your eyes light up with the prospect of bringing in 12 tricks, as you envisage 6D,2H, 2C and 2S on a finesse. But look before you leap ! If you rush in like a fool by playing out diamonds straightaway, the possibility of a 4-1 break will certainly take the wind out of your sails. Now with only 3 diamond tricks possible, you'll need the spade finesse to work to see the contract home. But there may be no joy there either. So with egg on your face and a minus 100 to boot, you'll have to return to your team-mates and have a lot of explaining to do. Clearly, in teams it is all about making the game.......forgetting about over-tricks...... focussing more on creating extra chances to secure the contract. The correct line therefore to harvest 9 tricks.......is to test clubs first, hoping for a 3-3 break (using diamonds as an entry to dummy to cash the established 13th club ). On the actual layout of the hand, the clubs did in fact break 3-3, and so this extra chance was well rewarded, since diamonds were 4-1 and the king of spades was off-side. Now you can return to your team-mates having secured 9 tricks ( 3C,3D,2H,1S) and +600 score, hoping it was your opponents who missed this obvious line of play.