The course
Safety play
Step 3 of 4
The ace before the finesse
Ace, queen and three small opposite four small. The king is missing and you need four of the nine tricks — one loser.
Nearly everybody leads low to the queen here. It is not wrong by much and it is wrong for a reason worth learning: there is a layout where it loses two tricks and the alternative loses one, and it costs nothing to cover.
Take 4 tricks.
Dummy
Lead from either hand.
Play a card from either hand. Play the line you would play — nothing here is scored, and you can start the suit again whenever you like.