| West | North | East | South |
| 1♣ | 2♥ | 2♠ | |
| Pass | 3♠ | Pass | 4♣ |
| Pass | 4♦ | Pass | 4NT(1) |
| Pass | 5♠(2) | Pass | 6♠ |
| All Pass |
1. Roman Key Card Blackwood
2. Two key cards and the ♠Q
Unfazed by East’s weak jump overcall, you pressed just a little to bid the slam after partner supported your spades.
West starts with the ♥2, confirming that hearts are 6-3. What is your plan for earning plus 980 on this board?
Solution
After winning the first trick with the ♥A, declarer drew four rounds of trumps, throwing a low heart from the dummy, while East also parted with hearts. Next, declarer cashed the ♣K and ♣Q, then led a club towards the dummy. West had to throw a heart. Otherwise, declarer would have played the ♦A, ♦K and another diamond to set up a long diamond for his 12th trick. At this point, declarer counted West for an original 4=3=4=2 shape and deduced that West had one heart and four diamonds remaining. With that in mind, South ruffed a heart and played a diamond to the king and a low diamond toward his hand, intending to cover East’s card cheaply. When East produced the ♦9, declarer covered it with the jack. West won with the queen, but then had to lead from the ♦10 into declarer’s A-8. Note that if West had followed to the clubs with three low cards and East with two low ones, declarer intended to rise with the ♣A. In that case, if East had held the ♣J, declarer would have cashed the ♣10 and taken the diamond finesse for an overtrick. If, instead, it turned out that West still held the ♣J, his original distribution would have been 4=3=2=4. In that case, declarer would have made certain of three diamond tricks by cashing the ♦A and ♦K before leading a low diamond towards his J-8 .
The full deal: