Bob Jones
| Dlr: East | ♠ 8 7 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vul: None | ♥ A K J | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A Q 4 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ A Q 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ Q J 10 | ♠ 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♥ 10 8 6 3 | ♥ 9 7 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ 9 7 | ♦ K J 10 6 5 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K 9 4 3 | ♣ 10 7 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♠ A K 9 6 5 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ Q 5 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ J 6 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Opening lead: ♦9
Today’s deal was played at rubber bridge, where overtricks are not very important. South won the opening diamond lead with dummy’s ace and played the ♠AK. He cashed three rounds of hearts, ending in dummy, and ruffed a diamond. South led a spade to West, hoping that West would have to lead a club. West, however, exited safely with his remaining heart and declarer eventually gave the defense a club trick, making five.
There was a long discussion after the hand about whether it was possible to take 12 tricks. It can be done!
South should ruff a diamond at trick two, cash the ♠AK, and then three rounds of hearts ending in dummy. At this point, declarer can ruff another diamond. West cannot over-ruff because dummy still has a trump remaining, and he would have had to yield a ruff-sluff or lead a club away from the king of clubs. West is forced, therefore, to discard a club in order to keep his heart as a safe exit card.
South can now lead a club to dummy’s queen for a successful finesse, and then ruff dummy’s last diamond. West has no answer to this. Should he over-ruff, he would have to choose between leading a club or yielding a ruff-sluff. A club discard instead would leave his king unprotected, and a heart discard would subject him to an endplay with the ♠Q. A lovely hand!