| West | North | East | South |
| 1♥ | Pass | 1♠ | |
| Pass | 1NT | Pass | 2♦ |
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 2♠ |
| Pass | 3♠ | Pass | 4NT(2) |
| Pass | 5♥ | Pass | 6♠ |
| All Pass |
1. Artificial game force
2. Roman Key Card Blackwood
3. Two key cards, no ♠Q
Your bid of 2♦ was a game-forcing inquiry. Your partner’s bid of 2♥ promised a good five-card suit. That news prompted you to push on to the spade slam. West leads the ♣K. How will you arrive at 12 tricks with the North-South cards?
Solution
After studying dummy after the opening lead was made, declarer saw that playing for trumps to be 3-2 and for East to hold the queen was little better than a one-in-three chance. Instead, he decided to play on hearts, hoping that the suit was 4-3. Accordingly, declarer cashed the three top hearts and discarded his two low clubs. Next, instead of playing a trump, he led a fourth heart. When East followed, South ruffed with the ♠J. If East had held the ♠Q and the suit had been 3-2, this would have insured the contract. After West overruffed with the ♠Q, he tried to cash the ♣Q, but declarer ruffed it low in hand then took the ace and king of trumps. As West had started with 3-3 in the majors, declarer claimed 12 tricks: five trumps, four hearts and the three minor-suit tops. Once the hearts had proved to be 4-3, with the jack still outstanding, using this approach rated to succeed about 60% of the time.
You should note that if the ♥J had fallen doubleton, declarer would have continued with a third heart winner, hoping that the player who ruffed this had started with exactly three trumps.
The full deal: