| West | North | East | South |
| 2♠ | |||
| Pass | 4♠ | All Pass |
You open with a weak two-bid and partner, noting the vulnerability, shows confidence in your card-play skills by raising you to game. West starts with a low trump. How will you get to 10 tricks on this deal?
Solution
After West’s trump lead, declarer allowed dummy’s queen of trumps to hold the trick. Then he cashed the ♥A, throwing a diamond from hand, and ruffed a heart. After ruffing a diamond in dummy, declarer returned to hand with a heart ruff, cashed the ♠A and led a club toward the table. West played the queen; declarer took this with the ace and continued with the ♣J. East won with the ♣K and played the ♥K. Declarer ruffed, but now had to lose a long trump as well as three tricks in the minors. “Fancy running into a 4-1 break,” moaned declarer. “I never have any luck.”
“Luck had nothing to do with the outcome,” said a somewhat disdainful North. “All you had to do was to win the first trick in hand with the ace of trumps. Then, after ruffing a diamond in dummy and throwing a diamond on the ♥A, you ruff a heart back to hand. You would then have had four trumps to West’s three. After drawing West’s trumps, you would tackle the clubs. As the cards lie, all you would lose is two diamonds and a club – making six trumps, a heart, a diamond ruff and two clubs, for a total of 10 tricks.”
Note that playing a club at trick two will not succeed on this layout: West will play the queen and thereby scuttle the contract. The full deal: