Goren Bridge
Bob Jones
| Dlr: South | ♠ A K 9 8 5 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vul: None | ♥ Q 8 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ J 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ J2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ J | ♠ Q 10 7 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♥ 10 9 2 | ♥ 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ Q 8 6 5 | ♦ K 10 7 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K Q 8 4 3 | ♣ A 10 7 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♠ 6 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ A K J 7 6 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A 4 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ 9 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Opening lead: ♦9
This contract would have been an easy one had the outstanding spades split 3-2, but the opening spade lead looked ominously like a singleton. Declarer was able to overcome the adversity with elegant timing.
South won the opening lead in dummy, crossed to his hand with a heart to the ace, and led his remaining spade. It would not profit West to ruff. Indeed, it would have made the hand simple for declarer, so he discarded a club instead. South won the trick in dummy and led another spade, simply ruffing it with a low heart. West had no effective way to proceed. He chose to overruff and lead the ♣K and another club to East’s ace. East shifted to a diamond, but South rose with his ace and led a heart to dummy’s queen, drawing the last missing trump. A spade was ruffed high and dummy was re-entered with the ♥8. Declarer’s two remaining diamonds were discarded on the established spades. Making four!
Had West refused to over-ruff the third spade, South would have ducked a diamond, eventually ruffing a diamond in dummy for his 10th trick. Note the importance of the timing. Had South ducked a diamond before ruffing a spade, the defense could have cashed two club tricks, ending in the East hand. A spade from East would have to be ruffed high, and a diamond ruff in dummy would have left South with no way back to his hand without promoting a trump trick for West.