This is quite a simple hand. It shouldn’t create you any real problem unless you start to get complacent and take things for granted. The spade lead has done you no great harm as you can take the ace and be sure of a second trick in the suit with the jack-ten. With two spade tricks and two clubs and a heart or two given time, a little arithmetic tells you that do not need six diamond tricks for the contract. Five tricks in the suit will certainly do.What would happen if you won the opening lead and played the diamonds from the top? On a good day, you would make six tricks in the suit. Today is an unlucky day and you would find that the suit breaks 4-1. With no further entry to dummy, you would make just the top three cards in the suit. Remember, a 4-1 break occurs quite often – about 28% of the time. The solution is to duck the first round of diamonds. You have all suits stopped and, when you regain the lead, you will still have a diamond left in hand to reach dummy.