| Dlr: East |
♠ Q 96 3 |
|
| Vul: N-S |
♥ 6 5 2 |
|
|
♦ Q J 6 |
|
|
♣ Q 5 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
♠ K J 10 8 7 4 |
|
|
♥ A K Q |
|
|
♦ 4 |
|
|
♣ A 6 4 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
1NT |
Dbl |
| Redbl(1) |
Pass |
2♣ |
2♠ |
| Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
1. Forces East to bid 2♣
Your double of East’s 1NT opener was for business, not conventional. You did well to reach the vulnerable game from there. Against your spade game, West starts with the ♦10. Plan the play.
Solution
After inspecting dummy, declarer noted he had nine certain tricks. He observed that, based on East’s opening bid, the missing aces and kings were all on his right. Declarer saw a plan that
enabled him to put that knowledge to work to make a 10th trick.
After declarer called for the ♦J at trick one, East took this with the king and switched to the ♥J. Declarer won with the ace and led his ♠J to dummy’s queen. East won with the ace and exited with the ♥10 to declarer’s king. Declarer’s next move was to draw the outstanding trump by leading his ♠8 to dummy’s 9 so that he could ruff dummy’s ♦6 with the ♠K. After cashing the ♥Q, thereby eliminating the suit, declarer led his carefully preserved ♠4 to dummy’s 6 and called for dummy’s ♦Q. When East covered this with the ace, declarer discarded the ♣4 instead of ruffing.
East was endplayed, with no winning option. If he led a club, dummy’s ♣Q would make a trick and see declarer home. The alternative was to concede a ruff-and-discard with a red-suit return, in which case declarer would discard the ♣6 from hand and make his 10th trick by ruffing in dummy. Accordingly, East folded his cards, conceding the rest, and said, “Well played.” The full deal:
| Dlr: East |
♠ Q 96 3 |
|
| Vul: N-S |
♥ 6 5 2 |
|
|
♦ Q J 6 |
|
|
♣ Q 5 2 |
|
| ♠ 5 |
|
♠ A 2 |
| ♥ 8 4 3 |
|
♥ J 10 9 7 |
| ♦ 10 9 8 5 2 |
|
♦ A K 7 3 |
| ♣ 10 9 7 3 |
|
♣ K J 8 |
|
♠ K J 10 8 7 4 |
|
|
♥ A K Q |
|
|
♦ 4 |
|
|
♣ A 6 4 |
|
