| West | North | East | South |
| 1NT | |||
| Pass | 3NT | All Pass |
Playing matchpoints, you are declarer in 3NT. West leads the ♠4. What’s your plan?
At IMPs, the proper approach is to play safely to maximize your chances of making the contract. The best line of play at that form of scoring, therefore, would be to duck two rounds of spades, win the third round, cross to your hand and take the club finesse. This allows you to make the contract when spades are 5–3 and East has the ♣K. (You will always make when spades are 4–4).
At matchpoints, however, you have to be focused on how your result will compare with all the other pairs sitting your direction. If you’re playing a normal contract — and it certainly seems that you are — overtricks become very important, and this fact influences your line of play.
Say that West holds the ♣K: If that’s true, then you will take at least 12 tricks, or 13 if hearts are 3–3 or the ♦J comes down in three rounds. Ducking even one round of spades will get you a terrible result if all 13 tricks are available via a simple finesse.
Another possibility to consider is that other declarers may not get a spade lead. Those lucky declarers will have time to take the club finesse in complete safety. If it’s onside, they will take 12 or 13 tricks. If you duck, you are almost guaranteed to get an inferior matchpoint score compared to them.
It’s often been joked that matchpoints isn’t “real” bridge, but you accept the form of scoring when you buy your entry: The correct line is to win the ♠A at trick one, cross to your hand, and take the club hook. If it wins, great. If it doesn’t, you’re still not dead: Spades might be 4–4. West, for example, might have led a fourth-best ♠4 from K–9–6–4.
On this deal, matchpoint scoring requires you to go all out to make overtricks.