Editing Contract bridge (section)

==Example==
The cards are dealt as shown in the [[contract bridge diagram|bridge hand diagram]]; North is the dealer and starts the auction which proceeds as shown in the bidding table.
{{BridgeHandNWES
|Label = Example 1<br />Matchpoints<br />South in 4{{hearts}}<br />Not Vulnerable
|J&thinsp;3|J&thinsp;8&thinsp;7&thinsp;4|A&thinsp;10&thinsp;7&thinsp;6&thinsp;5|Q&thinsp;3
|K&thinsp;Q&thinsp;8&thinsp;7&thinsp;2|A&thinsp;2|J&thinsp;4&thinsp;2|10&thinsp;7&thinsp;2
|10&thinsp;9&thinsp;5&thinsp;4|9&thinsp;6|K&thinsp;Q&thinsp;9|K&thinsp;9&thinsp;6&thinsp;4
|A&thinsp;6|K&thinsp;Q&thinsp;10&thinsp;5&thinsp;3|8&thinsp;3|A&thinsp;J&thinsp;8&thinsp;5
|Lead = Lead: {{spades}}&thinsp;K
}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:10px;"
|-
!West||North||East||South
|- style="text-align:center;"
| ||Pass||Pass||1{{Hearts}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
|1{{Spades}}||2{{Hearts}}||2{{Spades}}||3{{Clubs}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Pass||4{{Hearts}}||Pass||Pass
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Pass|| || ||
|}
As neither North nor East have sufficient strength to ''open'' the bidding, they each pass, denying such strength. South, next in turn, opens with the bid of 1{{Hearts}}, which denotes a reasonable heart suit (at least 4 or 5 cards long, depending on the [[bidding system]]) and at least 12 [[hand evaluation|high card points]]. On this hand, South has 14 high card points. West ''[[overcall]]s'' with 1{{Spades}}, since he has a long spade suit of reasonable quality and 10 high card points (an overcall can be made on a hand that is not quite strong enough for an opening bid). North ''supports'' partner's suit with 2{{Hearts}}, showing heart support and about {{nowrap|6–8}} points. East supports spades with 2{{Spades}}. South inserts a ''[[game try]]'' of 3{{Clubs}}, ''inviting'' the partner to bid the ''game'' of 4{{Hearts}} with good club support and overall values. North complies, as North is at the higher end of the range for his 2{{Hearts}} bid, and has a fourth trump (the 2{{Hearts}} bid promised only three), and the ''doubleton'' queen of clubs to fit with partner's strength there. (North could instead have bid 3{{Hearts}}, indicating not enough strength for game, asking South to pass and so play 3{{Hearts}}.)

In the auction, north–south are trying to investigate whether their cards are sufficient to make a '''game''' (nine tricks at notrump, ten tricks in hearts or spades, 11 tricks in clubs or diamonds), which yields bonus points if bid and made. East-West are ''competing'' in spades, hoping to play a contract in spades at a low level. 4{{Hearts}} is the final contract, 10 tricks being required for {{nowrap|N-S}} to make with hearts as trump.

South is the ''declarer'', having been first to bid hearts, and the player to South's left, West, has to choose the first card in the play, known as the ''opening lead''. West chooses the spade king because spades is the suit the partnership has shown strength in, and because they have agreed that when they hold two ''touching honors'' (or ''adjacent honors'') they will play the higher one first. West plays the card face down, to give their partner and the declarer (but not dummy) a chance to ask any last questions about the bidding or to object if they believe West is not the correct hand to lead. After that, North's cards are laid on the table and North becomes ''dummy'', as both the North and South hands will be controlled by the declarer. West turns the lead card face up, and the declarer studies the two hands to make a plan for the play. On this hand, the trump ace, a spade, and a diamond trick must be lost, so declarer must not lose a trick in clubs.

If the {{Clubs}}K is held by West, South will find it very hard to prevent it from making a trick (unless West leads a club). There is an almost equal chance that it is held by East, in which case it can be trapped against the ace, and will be beaten, using a tactic known as a ''[[finesse]]''.

After considering the cards, the declarer directs dummy (North) to play a small spade. East plays ''low'' (small card) and South takes the {{Spades}}A, gaining the ''lead''. (South may also elect to ''[[duck (bridge)|duck]]'', but for the purpose of this example, let us assume South wins the {{Spades}}A at trick 1). South proceeds by ''drawing trump'', leading the {{Hearts}}K. West decides there is no benefit to holding back, and so wins the trick with the ace, and then cashes the {{Spades}}Q. For fear of conceding a ''[[Ruff (cards)#ruff and discard|ruff and discard]]'', West plays the {{Diams}}2 instead of another spade. Declarer plays low from the table, and East scores the {{Diams}}Q. Not having anything better to do, East returns the remaining trump, taken in South's hand. The trumps now accounted for, South can now execute the finesse, perhaps trapping the king as planned. South ''enters'' the dummy (i.e. wins a trick in the dummy's hand) by leading a low diamond, using dummy's {{Diams}}A to win the trick, and leads the {{Clubs}}Q from dummy to the next trick. East ''covers'' the queen with the king, and South takes the trick with the ace, and proceeds by ''cashing'' the remaining ''master'' {{Clubs}}J. (If East does not play the king, then South will play a low club from South's hand and the queen will win anyway, this being the essence of the finesse). The game is now safe: South ''[[ruff (cards)|ruffs]]'' a small club with a dummy's trump, then ruffs a diamond in hand for an ''entry'' back, and ruffs the last club in dummy (sometimes described as a ''[[crossruff]]''). Finally, South ''claims'' the remaining tricks by showing his or her hand, as it now contains only high trumps and there's no need to play the hand out to prove they are all winners.

(The trick-by-trick notation used above can be also expressed in tabular form, but a textual explanation is usually preferred in practice, for reader's convenience. Plays of small cards or ''discards'' are often omitted from such a description, unless they were important for the outcome).

North-South score the required 10 tricks, and their opponents take the remaining three. The contract is fulfilled, and North enters the pair numbers, the contract, and the score of +420 for the winning side (North is in charge of bookkeeping in duplicate tournaments) on the [[traveling sheet]]. North asks East to check the score entered on the traveller. All players return their own cards to the board, and the next deal is played.

On the prior hand, it is quite possible that the {{Clubs}}K is held by West. For example, by swapping the {{Clubs}}K and {{Hearts}}A between the defending hands. Then the 4{{Hearts}} contract would fail by one trick (unless West had led a club early in the play). The failure of the contract would not mean that 4{{Hearts}} was a bad contract on this hand. The contract depends on the club finesse working, or a defense error. The bonus points awarded for making a game contract far outweigh the penalty for going one off, so it is best strategy in the long run to bid game contracts such as this one.

Similarly, there is a minuscule chance that the {{Clubs}}K is in the west hand, but the west hand has no other clubs. In that case, declarer can succeed by simply cashing the {{Clubs}}A, felling the {{Clubs}}K and setting up the {{Clubs}}Q as a winner. The chance of this is far lower than the chance that East started with the {{Clubs}}K. Therefore, the superior percentage play is to take the club finesse, as described above.