| Dlr: South | ♠ A 8 5 | |
| Vul: None | ♥ J 9 6 4 | |
| ♦ K 7 5 | ||
| ♣ A 10 5 | ||
| ♠ K 4 3 | ||
| ♥ A Q 10 8 | ||
| ♦ J 6 | ||
| ♣ Q 6 4 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1NT | |||
| Pass | 2♣ | Pass | 2♥ |
| Pass | 4♥ | All Pass |
This deal and the next Hand of the Week come from the 43rd World Bridge Team Championships in Lyon, France, in 2017.
After opening a weak 1NT, South landed in 4♥. West led a low trump, dummy’s ♥9 holding the trick. At the table in Lyon, declarer managed 10 tricks. Put yourself in South’s seat and plan the play.
Solution
When declarer played a low diamond from dummy at trick two, East rose with the queen and shifted to a spade. Declarer took this in hand with the king to play the ♦J. East won the trick with the ace and continued with the ♠Q. After winning the trick in dummy with the ace, declarer called for the ♦K to get rid of his remaining spade. Now his entry position forced him to turn his attention to the club suit by leading dummy’s ♣5 to his queen. West took this with the king and played the ♠J. Declarer ruffed this with the 10 then led a low club to West’s 2 and dummy’s 10, which held. All that remained was to lead a trump to East’s 5 and his queen. After cashing the ace of trumps to draw East’s last trump, declarer claimed the last two tricks as dummy was now high. Note that declarer managed to play both minor suits optimally for a total of three tricks. The full deal:
| Dlr: South | ♠ A 8 5 | |
| Vul: None | ♥ J 9 6 4 | |
| ♦ K 7 5 | ||
| ♣ A 10 5 | ||
| ♠ J 9 6 2 | ♠ Q 10 7 | |
| ♥ 7 3 | ♥ K 5 2 | |
| ♦ 10 8 3 | ♦ A Q 9 4 2 | |
| ♣ K J 8 2 | ♣ 9 7 | |
| ♠ K 4 3 | ||
| ♥ A Q 10 8 | ||
| ♦ J 6 | ||
| ♣ Q 6 4 3 |
The author of this report, in a bit of journalistic license, moved the ♦A from West to East