| West | North | East | South |
| 1♣ | Pass | 1♥ | |
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 4♥ |
| All Pass |
Your straightforward auction lands you in 4♥. West starts with the ♦Q. Do you see a way to 10 tricks on this deal?
Solution
Against 4♥, West led the ♦Q. Declarer played low from dummy, won in hand and, after drawing trumps ending in hand, he led a club to the jack. East took this with the king and shifted to the ♠Q. Declarer played low from hand and East continued with the ♠J. Declarer covered with the king, but then West took this with the ace and cashed the ♠10 to defeat the contract by one trick. “That was unlucky – both finesses lost. I was a 3:1 favorite to make,” declarer said to no one in particular.
“Luck had nothing to do with the outcome,” said a somewhat-miffed dummy. “All you had to do was to let the queen of diamonds win the first trick. If West shifts to a club, rise with the ace, draw two rounds of trumps with the ace and king before cashing the diamond ace. Then, after crossing to dummy with a trump, you can throw your losing club on the diamond king before leading the queen of clubs. When East covers with the king, you ruff and then return to dummy with a trump to cash the jack of clubs. Either way, you make 10 tricks: six trumps, two diamonds and two clubs.” The full deal: