| Dlr: East | ♠ K 10 9 | |
| Vul: E-W | ♥ A 9 6 4 | |
| ♦ A K 7 5 | ||
| ♣ 5 4 | ||
| ♠ A Q J 7 5 3 | ||
| ♥ 7 5 3 | ||
| ♦ 2 | ||
| ♣ 7 6 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1♥ | 2♠ | ||
| Pass | 4♠ | All Pass |
Against your spade game, West leads the ♥2, an obvious singleton. How will you justify your partner’s confidence in your card play?
Solution
Declarer rose with the ♥A and cashed the ♦A and ♦K, discarding a heart from hand. Declarer then advanced a club. East won with the ♣Q, cashed the ♥K and continued with the queen of the suit. Declarer ruffed high and West threw the ♦J. East won the club exit with the ace and played the ♥J. Declarer ruffed high, ruffed a club and cashed the ♠K and ♠9.
Dummy was left with two diamonds. Declarer had the ♠A 7 remaining.
Declarer ruffed a diamond with the ♠7 but West overruffed with the 8 for the fourth defensive trick.
“That was unlucky,” declarer offered by way of excuse for making only nine tricks.
“Luck had nothing to do with the result,” said an unsympathetic North. “All you had to do was ruff a diamond at trick four rather than play a club. When you play a club next, the defenders are helpless. If they follow the same defensive plan, you are a trick ahead in the play. After ruffing a club in dummy and cashing the ♠K and ♠10, you will have only one diamond left in dummy and the ♠A in hand. You will make six trumps, the heart ace, two diamonds and a club ruff.” The full deal:
| Dlr: East | ♠ K 10 9 | |
| Vul: E-W | ♥ A 9 6 4 | |
| ♦ A K 7 5 | ||
| ♣ 5 4 | ||
| ♠ 8 6 2 | ♠ 4 | |
| ♥ 2 | ♥ K Q J 10 8 | |
| ♦ J 9 4 | ♦ Q 10 8 6 3 | |
| ♣ K J 10 9 8 2 | ♣ A Q | |
| ♠ A Q J 7 5 3 | ||
| ♥ 7 5 3 | ||
| ♦ 2 | ||
| ♣ 7 6 3 |