Hand of the Week
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 3♦ | Dbl | |
| Pass | 4♠ | Pass | 6♥ |
| All Pass |
After partner’s leap to 4♠, the least you could do was bid ♥. How do you plan to make 12 tricks after West leads the ♦2, an obvious singleton?
Solution
You have can make 12 tricks whenever West holds the ♠A, which is about as certain as one can get at the given vulnerability. After winning the diamond lead with the ace, you just draw the trumps, discarding diamonds from the table. The only way to make 12 tricks is to utilize dummy’s spade suit, despite the fact that there appears to be only one (club) entry to the dummy. One possibility is to seek a second club entry to dummy by leading the two of clubs, intending to finesse dummy’s 10. This would rely on luck, since you would need West to hold the ♣J. In any case, in this column an alert West would always spoil your plan by inserting the ♣J if he held it. Suppose the full deal is:
The above plan would be disastrous in this case. East would win the ♣J and cash a couple of diamonds. In fact there is no need to rely on such a dubious approach. You should lead the queen of clubs and overtake it with dummy’s king. You then play the ♠K, discarding a diamond. West wins with the ♠A and has no good return. A spade will give the lead to dummy, allowing you to throw a diamond and club. Similarly, a club exit will promote the 10-9 of clubs into an entry, no matter who holds the ♣J.