| Dlr: West | ♠ A Q 2 | |
| Vul: N-S | ♥ 9 8 6 4 | |
| ♦ 9 8 5 2 | ||
| ♣ K 2 | ||
| ♠ K 10 8 7 4 | ||
| ♥ A 7 5 | ||
| ♦ A 6 | ||
| ♣ A 9 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1♥ | Pass | Pass | 1♠ |
| 2♦ | 2♥ (1) | Pass | 4♠ |
| All Pass |
(1) Good raise in spades
West leads the ♥K. You win with the ♥A and lead a spade to dummy’s ace, both opponents following. How will you continue?
Solution
There was no way to make the game if West had three trumps (and thus only one club), declarer had to decide whether West had begun with one or two trumps. In the latter case, the winning play would be to cash the ♠Q and then organize a club ruff. However, as there were originally eight clubs outstanding to five trumps and, even allowing for the ♠J not being singleton, the odds were firmly in favor of placing West with his most likely original distribution, 1=5=5=2. So declarer cashed the ♣K and followed with a club to his ace and ruffed a club. Declarer then played the ♦A and another diamond. West won the trick with the 10 and led three top hearts. Declarer ruffed the third heart and played a spade to dummy’s queen. The forced diamond lead from dummy left East with no winning play from his ♠J 9: Declarer would make the last two tricks with his ♠K 10. Declarer’s play was clearly best as it was 7:5 that West would hold a singleton versus a doubleton trump. The full deal:
| Dlr: West | ♠ A Q 2 | |
| Vul: N-S | ♥ 9 8 6 4 | |
| ♦ 9 8 5 2 | ||
| ♣ K 2 | ||
| ♠ 6 | ♠ J 9 5 3 | |
| ♥ K Q J 10 2 | ♥ 3 | |
| ♦ K Q J 10 3 | ♦ 7 4 | |
| ♣ Q 7 | ♣ J 10 8 6 5 3 | |
| ♠ K 10 8 7 4 | ||
| ♥ A 7 5 | ||
| ♦ A 6 | ||
| ♣ A 9 4 |