Most hands have hidden pitfalls. Sometimes you need to visualise how you want the hand to end near the beginning of the play and plan the play accordingly. This simple enough hand was a case in point. You are North.
Love All, Dealer WestBidding (Opposition silent)
North South1
1
2NT(22-23) 3
3
3NT
4
All Pass
South (Dummy) 
1096
Q9875
Q54
93
North AQ3
AJ104
AK63
KJ
This hand looks innocent enough. You get a helpful lead of a small Club from East. West takes the Ace and returns a Club to your King. How do you plan the play?
If Diamonds are 3-3 you're always okay, because a losing Spade will go away on the long Diamond. It's more likely that the Diamonds will
not be 3-3, however, and if the
King and
KJ are all with East, you have 4 potential losers on this hand.
That is what you need to plan for.
The idea should be to draw trumps in however many rounds, eliminate the Diamonds by taking 3 top Diamonds and ruffing the 4th in Dummy if necessary, and then run the 10
. If East wins, they will be endplayed to give you a ruff and discard or lead a Spade back into your AQ.
You do
not, therefore, have the luxury of playing Ace and another Heart to draw trumps quickly, because if West has the King it gives them an early opportunity to lead a Spade through your hand before you've eliminated the Diamonds. Keeping West away from the lead is a crucial ingredient of our plan.
A Diamond to the Queen and then running one of Dummy's higher Hearts (remaining in Dummy if West doesn't cover, of course) should be the plan. If East wins, all they can do is to play another Heart or a Diamond, and we can revert to our original plan. If West has the Heart King, we draw trumps in however many rounds, eliminate the Diamonds and then endplay East in Spades for the overtrick.
On this hand West did indeed have the
King, and East did have
KJx. Eszter played Ace and another Heart and West duly switched to a Spade. Eszter came out okay, because the Diamonds
were 3-3 and a losing Spade went away on the 4th Diamond.
