By David EzekielBridgeThe summer slowdown is upon us but there are still some special events on at the Club there is a Championship Rated game on July 12th and the International Fund Game on the 26th, and both of these should be fun.This week’s hand has a familiar theme, but that is probably because it contains a play that wins/loses players just bushels of points, especially at matchpoints:N/S Vulnerable. Dealer East.S A2H AQ72D KQ103C AJ3S K843H 8643D J65C K4WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass PassPass 1D Pass 1HPass 4H Pass PassPassNorth opened a diamond intending to jump to 2NT showing 19-21 HCP if partner bid a spade, but once partner bid a heart showing at least five points, North made the good jump to game. South had no reason to bid further.West led a spade, and Declarer won this in hand, and immediately led a heart to the queen that lost to the King. East led back a spade to dummy’s Ace, and declarer cashed the heart Ace, only to be shocked when East showed out.The full hand:S A2H AQ72D KQ103C AJ3S J9765 S Q10H J1095 H KD 42 D A987C 109 C Q87652S K843H 8643D J65C K4The contract, which first looked like possibly making an overtrick, now sidled to defeat, and it was all declarer’s fault.The heart play was dreadful, but I would bet a lot of money that 98 percent of Intermediates, and 75 percent of advanced players would make that play.The key in playing that heart suit is to first accept that, no matter what the lie of the opposing cards, there is always at least one heart loser.Even if the King is under the Ace Queen there is always a trick to lose. So, the correct play is to first cash the Ace, either at Teams or Matchpoints.Now, come to hand, and lead towards the queen. If LHO plays the King all will be clear, but if he plays low you can either put up the queen playing him for the King, or decide to play low in dummy playing RHO to have started with Kx.So, your challenge is this. With xxxx opposite AQxx or xxx opposite AQxxx come up with one suit combination where playing the Ace first will cost a trick.Correct, there are none.On the hand above the play would turn the three heart losers into two, and the contract would make.Now AQxxx opposite xxxx or AQxxxx opposite xxx (both total nine cards )are different.Here, if Kx is under the AQ, the suit can be brought in for no losers, and low to the queen would always be the correct play at matchpoints.At imps, if one can afford one loser in the suit, I would cash the Ace first in case there was a singleton king offside. That safety play would turn two losers into one.Knowing how to play various suit combinations is key to good declarer play, so get a book on it, or look up the various suggested plays in the ACBL Encyclopedia of Bridge.