| Dlr: West |
♠ 5 4 |
|
| Vul: E-W |
♥ Q 5 3 2 |
|
|
♦ 9 6 3 2 |
|
|
♣ 8 6 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
♠ A K Q J 9 6 |
|
|
♥ — |
|
|
♦ A Q 4 |
|
|
♣ A K 10 5 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| 1NT (1) |
Pass |
2♦ (2) |
4♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
(1) 15-17
(2) Transfer to hearts
You blast into game despite the strong 1NT opening on your left. West leads the ♥K. As expected, dummy is anemic. How will you get to 10 tricks?
Solution
Declarer ruffed and drew trumps with the top three spades, noting along the way that West discarded the ♥8 on the third spade winner. The bidding suggested that the 15 missing high-card points would be on his left, so declarer played the ♣A and ♣K in the hope that an honor would fall. The failure of either the ♣Q or ♣J to appear helped declarer place West with four clubs.
Declarer then led a club to put West on play. After taking his two club winners, West had to lead a red suit, something declarer knew would not be to the defense’s advantage. West did not want to lead a diamond, so he played the ♥A next. Declarer discarded the ♦4 from hand. This left West still on lead with only red-suit cards remaining. West had the choice of leading a diamond from his king into declarer’s ♦A Q or a heart to dummy’s now-established queen. Either way, declarer had 10 tricks: six spades, two clubs and two tricks in the red suits. The full deal:
| Dlr: West |
♠ 5 4 |
|
| Vul: E-W |
♥ Q 5 3 2 |
|
|
♦ 9 6 3 2 |
|
|
♣ 8 6 4 |
|
| ♠ 10 8 |
|
♠ 7 3 2 |
| ♥ A K J 8 |
|
♥ 10 9 7 6 4 |
| ♦ K J 7 |
|
♦ 10 8 5 |
| ♣ Q J 7 2 |
|
♣ 9 3 |
|
♠ A K Q J 9 6 |
|
|
♥ — |
|
|
♦ A Q 4 |
|
|
♣ A K 10 5 |
|
