| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 3♣ | Dbl | |
| 3♦ | 4♣ | Pass | 4♥ |
| All Pass |
This is your hand
♠10 7 ♥Q 4 ♦A Q 8 3 2 ♣A 10 8 5.
Partner opens 3♣ at IMPs, and your right-hand opponent doubles. What is your call?
In the 57th annual Lederer Memorial Trophy tournament in London in 2003, David Price and David Burn earned plaudits for their defensive effort, as reported by Simon Cocheme.
Here’s the full deal (Price was West, Burn East):
At unfavorable vulnerability, East-West were unlikely to sacrifice at the five level, so Price (West) bid the suit he wanted led instead of raising clubs. He expected North to be declarer, after all, putting his partner on lead. North’s 4♣ bid, however, indicated a willingness to play in either major, so South ended up as declarer, and Price was on lead.
If East couldn’t lead a diamond at trick one, reasoned Price, perhaps he could do so at trick two, so Price started the defense with the ♣5. Burn won the jack and returned the ♦10 to the queen. The ♦A followed, and a third round of the suit promoted a trump trick for the defenders. That was down one.
Cocheme noted that Burn later apologized for taking some time to play a diamond at trick two: “I knew you wanted a diamond switch, partner,” he said, “but it was a while before I realized that my jack had won the first trick!”