Answer to

Hand of the week commencing Sunday 19th August 2007  

West leads 2 top Diamonds and switches to a club plan your play.

 

 

Dealer North

ª

K Q 10 9 5 3

 

 

 

Both Vul

©

K 3

 

 

 

 

¨

9 7 2

 

 

 

 

§

A 5

 

 

 

 

 

N

 

 

ª

 J 6 4

 

 

ª

8 7 2

©

10

 

W                          E

©

J 9 6 3

¨

A K Q 4 3

 

 

¨

8 6 2

§

8 6 4 2

 

 

§

K 10 3

 

 

 

S

 

 

 

 

ª

 A

 

 

 

 

©

A Q 8 7 5 4

 

 

 

 

¨

J 10

 

 

 

 

§

Q J 9 7

 

 

W

N

E

S

 

 

 1ª

NO

2©

 

NO

2ª

NO

3§

 

NO

3©

NO

4©

 

NO

NO

NO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The club switch suggests that the Club King is offside and you really do not wish to put all your eggs in the Club finessing basket when there are all those lovely Spades in the dummy. It is a pity about the club switch as that has taken out a vital entry to dummy. Take the third trick with dummy’s Ace and immediately unblock the Spade Ace. Now play two rounds of trumps ending in dummy with the King. Now play winning Spades from the top. When the spades break favorably 33 (or maybe the Jack Spades would have fallen doubleton) you play a fourth winning spade from dummy. East trumps with the 9H. It is absolutely vital not to overtrump but to make a “loser on loser play” and chuck the last club from hand. Now you can trump whatever East plays and draw his last trump. You have made 6 hearts, 3 Spades, and 1 Club. (NB If you had overtrumped East’s ©9 then you would still have another Heart loser and a club, going one down !!)