| West | North | East | South |
| 1♥ | 1♠ | ||
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 3♠ |
| Pass | 4♠ | All Pass |
West leads the ♥3. You try the 9 but East takes this with the jack and shifts to a club, West following. How do you plan the play?
You have five tricks in clubs, so you need only another five from the trump suit. If you allow West to gain the lead he will surely shift to a diamond. Consequently, you should safety play the trump suit at trick three by leading the ♠10 and running it. As long as clubs are 3-2, it will not matter if East takes the ♠10 with the jack, for he cannot attack diamonds without surrendering a trick, and on any other return you would still make 10 tricks in the black suits.
On the layout shown, the suggested play gains more directly for, after the ♠10 wins the trick, you can draw trumps without loss and score an overtrick.
If you missed this safety play, the best chance is to give West his trump trick and hope that he doesn’t find a diamond shift. When he does, the ♦10 will see you finish two down while a low diamond lets you escape with nine tricks.
