| Dlr: West | ♠ J 8 7 3 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vul: E-W | ♥ J 7 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ A 7 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ A K 10 5 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ A 5 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ J 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K 3 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Against your 4♠ contract, West starts with the ♦K. Can you see a way to 10 tricks?
Solution
After West led the ♦K, declarer won with dummy’s ace. It seemed that it would not be a simple matter to make 10 tricks. It looked as though declarer was slated to lose two hearts, a club and a diamond even if the opponents’ trumps split favorably.
The situation grew more dire when declarer played a low trump from dummy, East discarding a heart.
Declarer saw that his only hope for 10 tricks was an endplay against West. If that were possible, West would have to have started with 3=1=7=2 distribution. So after taking the top two trumps in hand, declarer cashed the ♣A and ♣K, followed by the ♥A. Next came the ♦J. West took the trick with the ♦Q as it would serve no purpose to play low: He would just be thrown on lead with a trump.
After cashing the ♠Q, West had to lead a diamond. Declarer did not ruff, however. Instead, he discarded a club from the dummy and a heart from hand. Declarer ruffed the next diamond in dummy and discarded his remaining heart from hand. Declarer then crossruffed the last three tricks to make his contract, losing only a trump and two diamonds. The full deal:
| Dlr: West | ♠ J 8 7 3 2 | |
| Vul: E-W | ♥ J 7 6 | |
| ♦ A 4 | ||
| ♣ A 7 4 | ||
| ♠ Q 9 6 | ♠ — | |
| ♥ 3 | ♥ K Q 10 9 8 4 | |
| ♦ K Q 10 9 5 3 2 | ♦ 8 6 | |
| ♣ 9 6 | ♣ Q J 10 8 5 | |
| ♠ A K 10 5 4 | ||
| ♥ A 5 2 | ||
| ♦ J 7 | ||
| ♣ K 3 2 |