| West | North | East | South |
| 1♣ | |||
| 2♣(1) | 2♥(2) | Pass | 3NT |
| All Pass |
(1) 5-5 majors
(2) Limit raise or better
West leads the ♥Q. Do you see a way to nine tricks?
Solution
After West led the ♥Q, declarer counted seven top tricks and, as there was little chance on the bidding that East had the ♠A, the diamond suit would have to provide the two extra tricks needed for the contract to succeed. The complication was that, when spades were 5-2, this had to be done without letting East gain the lead to attack spades with the nine or a high honor.
Declarer therefore crossed to dummy by leading a low club to the jack to play the ♦J. East covered with the ♦K and declarer won the trick with the ace. The contract was then safe. Declarer crossed to dummy with a second low club to the king, noting that, on the bidding, West’s original distribution had to have been 5=5=1=2. Declarer continued with the ♦9 and, when East followed with the 2, South played the 4 from hand. Declarer claimed nine tricks: two hearts, three diamonds and four clubs.
Declarer chose the best play in diamonds. If the diamonds had been 3-2, he would have made at least 10 tricks. The only case where declarer’s play would have lost would have been when West had begun with a singleton ♦K. The full deal: