Puzzle This

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North
♠ K Q 10 9
♥ 6
♦ A K Q 7 5
♣10 4 3
East
♠ 8 2
♥ A 7 5 3
♦ 10 4 2
♣ A J 9 5
North South
1♠
2♦ 2NT
3♠ 4♠

You (East) are defending 4♠ in a Swiss Teams event where overtricks are not as important as trying to set the contract.

West leads the ♥J and you win the ace. What now?

View Solution
North
♠ K Q 10 9
♥ 6
♦ A K Q 7 5
♣10 4 3
West
♠ 5 4
♥ J 10 9 4 2
♦ 9 8 6
♣ K 8 2
East
♠ 8 2
♥ A 7 5 3
♦ 10 4 2
♣ A J 9 5
South
♠ A J 7 6 3
♥ K Q 8
♦ J 3
♣ Q 7 6

Declarer has the diamond suit in dummy for club discards. He also likely has the ♥K Q to discard clubs from the dummy. You can see, therefore, that you must shift to a club to have any chance to set the contract.

If you lead the ♣5, declarer can play low. Partner wins the ♣K and returns one to your ace. That’s only three defensive tricks — not good enough.

The winning play is to lead the ♣J. If South plays low, you win three clubs. If declarer covers the jack, partner wins the ♣K and returns the suit. You have the ♣A 9 surrounding dummy’s 10–4. Either way, you can take three club tricks to defeat 4♠.