| Dlr: South | ♠J 10 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vul: Both | ♥ A J 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ J 10 5 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ 8 5 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ A K Q 9 4 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ Q 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A K | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K 7 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Against your 4♠ contract, West leads the ♥9. How do you plan to get to 10 tricks?
Solution
Declarer counted nine top tricks, with many possibilities for a 10th. Rather than playing low from dummy and risking East winning the trick with ♥K and shifting to a club, declarer embarked on a plan that would yield 10 tricks as long as trumps were no worse than 3-1 and diamonds 4-3.<?p>
At trick one, declarer rose with the ♥A and cashed the ♦A and ♦K. Next he crossed to dummy with a low trump and led the ♦J. After East followed with a low card, declarer threw ♥Q the queen from hand.
West won the trick with the ♦Q and exited with the ♦9 to prevent the ♦10 from scoring a trick. East ruffed and declarer overruffed with the ♠A. After crossing to dummy with another low trump, declarer led the ♥J. East covered with the king and declarer ruffed with the ♠K. Declarer returned to dummy yet again in trumps. The ♥10 was cashed for a club discard and a club was led to the king in an attempt at an overtrick, but this hope was dashed when West produced the ace.
No matter: Declarer had taken 10 tricks: six trumps, two hearts and two diamonds.
Had East followed with a low heart when the ♥J hearts was led from dummy, declarer would have discarded a low club from hand. Even if West had had the ♥K, declarer would have had 10 tricks: All he would have lost would have been a heart, a diamond and a club. The full deal:
| Dlr: South | ♠J 10 8 | |
| Vul: Both | ♥ A J 10 | |
| ♦ J 10 5 4 | ||
| ♣ 8 5 2 | ||
| ♠ 5 | ♠ 7 6 2 | |
| ♥ 9 8 7 3 2 | ♥ K 5 4 | |
| ♦ Q 9 8 2 | ♦ 7 6 3 | |
| ♣ A Q 4 | ♣ J 10 9 6 | |
| ♠ A K Q 9 4 3 | ||
| ♥ Q 6 | ||
| ♦ A K | ||
| ♣ K 7 3 |