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Hand Analyses 21st November, 2007
South’s 2♦ was an Inverted Minor raise, showing 4 or more Diamonds, game-invitational values (or better), and no 4-card major. West bid his Spades and would no doubt have bid 3♥ later if the auction had permitted. North’s 3♦ showed some extra Diamond length and South’s 3♠ asked if Partner had a Spade stop.
3NT is a hopeless contract, on any lead by East (except a bizarre Club), it will be 8 tricks, no more, no less. The good news is that a Diamond contract does not play well either, and that 3NT is actually a fine save against 3♥ or 3♠ by E-W!
As a passed hand, with invitational values and support for Partner’s major, East has a perfect hand for Drury. However, North’s 2♣ gets in the way of that idea, and East has to bid 3♣ to show his good support. This is not ideal, of course, West might have opened all sorts of third-hand horrors, and there is also the possibility of a 4-card suit to be reckoned with. After 3♣, West is close to going to game, we would say.
In 3♥ (or 4♥) it turns out that the defense is entitled to 4 tricks (a Club, a Spade, and two Diamonds), but it’s highly likely that one of those tricks will get away. Here are some of the ways: - North finds a Spade opening lead, a highly dangerous play which gets what it deserves. - North’s opening lead is the A♣, which is more reasonable but equally fatal. North’s best chance to recover is to underlead the A♦ to Partner’s King and then a Spade through. But Declarer jumps up with the Ace, draws trumps, finesses the J♣, and gets rid of a Diamond loser. Or, at Trick Two, North can cash A♦ then play a Diamond to South’s King. A Spade comes through but Declarer again jumps up with the Ace, cashes A♥, then a low Heart to Dummy, Diamond ruffed high, back to the board with a Heart, and the Spades go on the Diamonds. - North cashes the A♦, and now Declarer has the timing to set up the Diamonds for Spade pitches.
So, what does North need to lead in order to beat the contract? An underlead of the A♦ (yeah, right!) and a Spade shift, but even that is likely to fail when South misreads the lead and inserts the Ten (now Declarer can make five!).
We are always advised against the opening lead of a singleton trump but it’s the winner here, or at least it is the winner if South also makes a tip-top defensive play. A trump is led, and Declarer wins this on the board because he wants to lead the first round of Diamonds from dummy at Trick Two, thereby putting South to the test. How many Souths out there are capable of jumping up with the K♦ and shooting back a Spade? Not many, we suspect, but congratulations to anyone who found that play, it’s a thing of beauty. Newspaper-worthy stuff!
South has a normal enough 4♠ bid, but the mirror N-S distribution means that the opponents can do serious damage to 4♠ doubled, scoring 6 top tricks, plus a Club in the fullness of time. That’s -800, but West could see the vulnerability, too, and, in the featured auction, calculated that his side would be better off making game.
Playing in 5♦, West has 12 tricks provided that he does not misguess Diamonds. But it’s only a so-so slam, we don’t see many pairs bidding this one.
A difficult auction for E-W. East has to fudge a jump shift in Clubs, West improvises with 3♦, and eventually the contract lands in 4♥. It’s easy to concoct other auctions where West plays in 4♠, or either player declares 3NT, or where a major suit slam is bid, it’s a deal with many potential destinations.
How many tricks are available in Hearts? It takes a Club lead to hold this to five, and that seems unlikely on the featured auction, so score up +680 for E-W.
How many tricks are available in Spades? This will be played from the West side and the auction might well persuade North to lead a Diamond, which is just +650 for Declarer and a good board for the defense.
How many tricks are available in No Trump? Well, from the West side, 6NT is cold! North’s best lead is the T♦, won by South’s King. But the joy is short-lived for the defense, because Declarer now has 11 top tricks, and the 12th comes from a squeeze, if Declarer untangles his tricks carefully. Let’s say that the K♦ wins the first trick, and a Club comes back. Declarer plays low (must preserve that Club threat card) and wins the Ace, cashes the A♦, crosses to the K♥, cashes the Q♦ (North showing out), and runs the Hearts. Here is the end-position with one Heart left to play:
West East ♠ K9 ♠ A32 ♥ ♥ 5 ♦ 7 ♦ ♣ Q ♣
South is the only defender who can protect the Diamonds, so she cannot hold on to 3 Spades. North surely has the K♣ (otherwise South’s Club shift was suicidal), and so, if she is the one with the 3 Spades, she’ll be squeezed in the black suits. Even though it’s not possible for both defenders to guard the Spades, the hand plays just like a Double Squeeze. Either North will be squeezed in the black suits, or South will be squeezed in Spades and Diamonds. Hence its name, the Either-Or Squeeze.
Opening bids these days are getting lighter and lighter but North’s seems clear-cut, even if it doesn’t pass the Rule of Twenty. The suit is too good to leave on the shelf, don’t you think?
2♣ was New Minor Forcing, and North showed 3-card Heart support. South’s 3♦ was game-forcing, suggesting Diamonds as a place to play. Without a Club stop, North could hardly bid 3NT, so she tried 3♠, hoping that Partner could bid No Trump. When that was not the case, 5♦ was the final contract. A good auction.
On lead against 5♦, East will surely start with the A♣, the auction seems to beg for that. When Declarer gets in, she’ll cash the A♦, she’ll note the appearance of a quack on her left, and, applying the Principle of Restricted Choice, she’ll cross to dummy with a Club ruff and finesse against the missing Diamond honor. The aforementioned Principle comes in about two times out of three, but this is the one where it loses. That’s Declarer’s second loser, and she still needs to avoid losing a Heart in order to make her contract. Best play is to ruff the third round of Spades, and if the Q♠ does not fall, then to rely upon the Heart finesse. 11 tricks.
A straightforward auction. West invited with 2NT, and East said to himself “I’m a little bit better than minimum, perhaps I should accept. But, hang on a minute, my shape is square, that’s not good, perhaps I should pass” Then he noticed those two lovely Tens and said, “What the heck, I’ll bid the game”
No doubt North will lead a Club, after which the successful Diamond finesse brings in 9 tricks. But wait, there’s more! The ♠QJ is conveniently doubleton, so 10 can be made (actually, 11 are possible double dummy, but we won’t go there, except to say that interesting play in the Heart suit by North and East is involved).
We wouldn’t say that there is a right or wrong way of handle that South hand in first seat, but we do know that our personal preference would be to open 1♥. A tad light, perhaps, but we like to get 6-card majors into the auction whenever possible. A Weak Two? Not our style, altogether too much in the way of side-suit strength and defense.
On the actual deal, opening 1♥ works out quite well. North gets to show some strength with a Redouble, and it’s likely that N-S will buy it in 2♥, making 8 tricks.
Suppose that South decides to start with a Pass, somewhat pusillanimous in our view, but not necessarily wrong. The auction might well unfold thusly: South West North East Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 1NT Pass 2♥ Pass Pass Pass A reasonable auction to the right spot.
Finally, we are delighted to report that the option we like least of all works out badly for N-S: South West North East 2♥ Dbl 3♥ Pass Pass Pass Who would fault North for giving the auction a nudge to the 3-level? True, she doesn’t have the perfect hand for it, those minor suit holdings are more defense-oriented. But AJx in Partner’s 6-card suit is hard to be denied, and that gets N-S one too high. Blame it on that defense-laden Weak Two.
Opposite Partner’s Takeout Double, South might well bid 1NT or 3♣, both bids are eminently reasonable, and both bids look likely to end the auction.
Playing in 3♣, West does best to lead a Heart, won by Dummy’s Ace. Now what? There are five potential losers, namely 3 Spades, a Diamond and the A♣. Of course, the A♠ might be onside but that seems unlikely considering the bidding. Far more likely that the Ace is doubleton offside, so our line of play would be: Win the Heart lead on the board Lose a Club to the Ace Win the Heart continuation Draw just one more round of trumps (keeping a trump on the board helps maintain control) Duck a Spade, won by West’s Nine Ruff the Heart return Duck another Spade The A♠ does not come down doubleton but the Spades do break 3-3, so eventually the 13th Spade will provide a parking spot for the Diamond loser. It was good technique by Declarer to draw only two rounds of trumps before starting on the Spades, though not necessary on the actual hand. 9 tricks and +110 for Declarer.
Playing in 1NT, the play is as simple as can be. Dummy wins the Heart lead, the A♣ is knocked out, and it’s easy enough to see how Declarer will come to 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, and 4 Clubs, for 8 tricks and +120. Well, maybe not quite so simple, West will need his wits about him if he is to avoid getting end-played and surrendering a 9th trick to Declarer. After the Heart lead won on the board, and the A♣ won by West, Declarer might duck the next Heart, and win the 3rd round. Which Heart does West have left in his hand? It should be a low one, as in lower than East’s remaining Heart, and the best way to achieve that is for West to lead the Q♥ on the second round of the suit (not an obvious play, by any means). If West leads a low Heart on the second round and Dummy ducks, then East wins the Jack, then East can save the day by shifting to the T♠ or Q♠ pronto.
East had the distribution for a Michaels Cue-Bid, but obviously belonged to the school which prefers to use Michaels only with weak or strong hands, but not with those hands in the middle. This is certainly a middling hand, and there is an added incentive for overcalling 1♠, namely the splendor of the suit, and hence its lead-directional value. South’s 3♥ was a preemptive effort, and it works rather well when West supports Spades, and East most reasonably bids the game. Alas for E-W, West’s values are all in the wrong place, and there are 4 top losers.
Playing this hand from the South side in one vulnerable No Trump is certainly living in the fast lane. West leads the Q♥, Dummy ducks and East overtake and returns the suit. Dummy wins the continuation, and things now depend on the Spade situation. If the Q♠ is with West and if the suit breaks 3-3 then Declarer makes 7 tricks. But, if the Spades are less obliging, and if the A♣ is offside, then we are talking down -300 or -400. As it is, a lucky +90 for South.
For those who would like to improve their high-level bidding, this is by far the most instructive auction of the day, so much so that is has spawned no fewer than 4 separate problems for the Bidding Quiz, one for each player, and an all-time record for The Wednesday Game. For the time being we’ll just say that 2♦ was Michaels (for the majors), and that there were hidden depths to the rest of the auction. But please do go to the Bidding Quiz and look at all of the 4 hands from each of their unique perspectives.
Yes, all that fine bidding arrives at the par spot. E-W are cold for 5♥ or 5♠, and N-S have a profitable sacrifice in 6♦ for -300.
West no doubt thought about doubling 2♠, it’s very tempting considering the vulnerability.
If West chooses to go for the throat in 2♠ doubled, he’ll be disappointed. For lack of entries to Dummy, Declarer will be forced to drop his singleton K♦ and that will be +670 the other way.
If West chooses to bid 3♥, he’ll score +140, losing 2 Spades, a Heart and a Diamond.
Some players don’t bother using Stayman when they have square distribution, arguing that, with nothing to ruff, there is no reason to play in a suit contract. That’s not good logic in our view, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Anyway, 3NT will be the universal contract on this board, and South might well lead a Diamond, considering the auction and those dangerous-looking major suit holdings. The Diamond lead takes away a guess for Declarer, and now 12 tricks are possible, here is one such line of play: Diamond lead won by Dummy’s Ten Club to Declarer’s Jack Spade to Dummy’s Ace Club to Declarer’s King Diamond to Dummy’s Ace Heart finesse The Diamond is cashed, then a Heart (unblocking Dummy’s Nine) Dummy’s Spades are cashed Now Declarer throws South in with a Spade, and South is end-played in Hearts (note the importance of unblocking that 9♥). North never does score her A♣, of course, but it’s no better if she jumps up with the Ace on the second round of Clubs, that allows Declarer to score a third Club trick.
Some N-S pairs will get to game on these cards, presumably in No Trump, and will be down a couple of tricks. Our featured N-S showed great restraint to avoid that fate, coming to rest in the highly conservative 2♠. Here’s how they did it: - South’s Pass of 2♦ denied 3 Spades (due to the failure to make a Support Double). - North’s Double of 2♥ could hardly be for penalties (see the Bidding Quiz), it merely showed some extra values and asked Partner to do something intelligent. - South chose wisely when she bid 2♠. North knows this is a doubleton (based on the earlier bidding), probably honor doubleton, and would be less encouraged by this than by 2NT. - North did not see much to like in her 12-count so she gave up any thoughts of game. A tad conservative, for sure, but an eminently reasonable gambit at matchpoints.
Even 2♠ might be too high. East can beat the contract by leading a Diamond, but if he leads his Partner’s Heart suit, Declarer can scamper home with 8 tricks.
East has no real choice but to overcall 1NT, though he was probably not overly enthusiastic about the bid. What should East do when 2♠ came back to him? His Partner’s sequence shows invitational values with 4 Spades, and the first question is whether E-W belong in game. Probably not, looking at the East hand. True, East has 16 HCP’s, but it’s a miserable 16 indeed, with that square shape, and only one Ace. Having decided against game, East made the good choice of playing in 2♠ rather than 2NT.
Against a No trump contract the defense can come to 6 easy tricks. How does 2♠ do? Rather well, please see the Play Problem.
With 9 top tricks some Easts will prefer to open that hand 2♣, but either way we would expect 4♥ to be bid at virtually every table. 10 tricks are easy enough when the A♠ is onside, and if, as seems likely, South starts with a Club lead, 11 tricks are possible, Declarer being able to score a second Club trick.
4♥ will make 12 tricks at most tables, we predict. In order to hold the contract to 11 tricks, South must lead the A♣, and that’s asking a lot, we think.
Consider this one to be a triumph for the practice of opening 1NT with a 5-card major. This gets E-W to 3NT, a contract which is likely to make the same number of tricks as Hearts, and perhaps even one more. After the uninformative 1NT-3NT auction, South may well lead Hearts, her better major. This may look disastrous at first sight but in fact it ensures that the defense can come to its three tricks (two Hearts and a Club). If, instead, South leads Clubs, her best suit, Declarer has 10 sure tricks and can make 11 by leading a Heart from the board and guessing to play the King.
Some partnerships who are in the habit of opening 1NT with a 5-card major, use a gadget to unearth their 5-3 major fits, namely Puppet Stayman. If E-W are such a pair, West will surely use Puppet and end up in the lower-scoring 4♥. Not a triumph for gadgetry this time.
South may only have 9 HCP’s, but that’s a 5-loser hand and one which passes the Rule of Twenty, a clear-cut 1♠ opening bid, at least for us. Moving along, how about West’s 3♦ bid? It looks pretty strange to us, it was actually Professor Oddbid’s idea to raise on a small doubleton. But he does have a point, it seems wrong to pass with a nice 10-count opposite a Partner who has made a vulnerable two-level overcall. It would be nice if West could have made a value-showing Double, but that was not an option, the Double would be for penalties in this situation. However, after 3♦, North did have a value-showing Double available. That raises the question “Why would West’s Double of 2♥ be for penalties, but North’s Double of 3♦ be value-showing?” Please see the Bidding Quiz.
4♥ makes an easy 11 tricks when trumps are 3-2 and by taking the normal play in Spades of cashing the Ace and leading towards the Queen. There may well be some doubled contracts here, we’d expect a sprinkling of 690’s on the scoresheet.
Both sides were teetering on the edge of disaster in the featured auction, and the final result is a top and a bottom, which could have gone either way. South’s 1♠ was light but reasonable, North’s Double showed 3-card Spade support, 3♣ was a sensible competitive effort, and North doubled to show extra values (see Bidding Quiz). Poor South, at this point she no doubt wished she could retract that 1♠ bid! She chose to pass, based on her nice trumps, and the fact that both sides appeared to have 8 trumps, and perhaps the Law of Total Tricks would come to the rescue.
Against 3♣, the K♠ seems the most likely start. Now the play develops along these lines: K♠ won by Dummy’s Ace A Club ducked by Declarer, South’s Ten winning the trick Diamond to North’s Ace Diamond ruff Heart shift (good play!) won by Dummy’s King Club to North’s Ace North gets out with the Q♥ (another good play!) The defense have handed the Q♥ on a plate to Declarer, but he’s still a trick short. Down one! Those defensive Heart plays were necessary to avoid North getting end-played. Look what might happen, starting again at Trick One: K♠ won by Dummy’s Ace A Club ducked by Declarer, South’s Ten winning the trick Diamond to North’s Ace Diamond ruff Club to North’s Ace Q♦ is ruffed on the board (North was end-played) Spade ruff T♦ is cashed At this point Declarer has 8 tricks and still needs to score the J♥ to make his contract. Declarer has a complete count on the hand. North started with 3 Spades (because of the Support Double), two Clubs and 6 Diamonds, and therefore with two Hearts. All that Declarer has to do is to guess to drop that offside Q♥. Will he get it right? It’ll be a close decision, but at least Declarer has a chance against that sub-par defense.
South might well have responded 1♦, but chose 1NT largely because of its preemptive value. However, West jumped in with 2♠, North competed to 3♣ even though she had only a 5-card suit (the 1NT bidder usually has some Clubs on this auction, having denied both of the majors), and East had an easy 3♠ bid.
The play in 3♠ is not without interest, please see the Play Problem.
After transferring, North’s 3♣ was natural and game-forcing, and South’s 3♦ showed Club support and something in Diamonds. North’s 4♥ was a Splinter, and although this diminished the South hand somewhat she took a shot at 6♣ anyway. 6♠ was also an alternative, especially considering that it was matchpoints, but the 4-4 fit seemed more likely to make than the 5-3 fit.
Against 6♣ East will probably lead a Diamond, which will temporarily make Declarer nervous. She’ll play low from Dummy and heave a sigh of relief when the Queen wins. Now, the Club finesse is taken successfully and in no time Declarer has 13 tricks.
South was quite right, 6♠ is an inferior contract, requiring the Club finesse to work (6♣ often makes when the K♣ is offside), but here it’s winner, scoring a somewhat undeserved +980 against the Club slam’s +940.
Here’s a strange deal! N-S have a combined 22 HCP’s, no long suits, and yet they can make 3NT. But they cannot make any suit contract whatsoever, not even at the one-level!
In the featured auction, South competes to 2♥ on the known 4-3 fit, and finds herself in Undertrick Minimization Mode. West leads a Diamond won by the Ace, and Declarer can see the danger of defensive ruffs. So, her best play is to lead the J♥ (tempting a cover from East), but regardless of what East plays on this Declarer will play the Ace, and then another Heart. Let’s say that West wins. Now it’s A♠, Spade ruff, KQ♦ (West pitching Clubs), A♣, Club ruff. That’s -200. But well played by Declarer, on other lines it’s -300!
Let’s start by looking at the North hand. Would you pass waiting for a reopening Double, expecting to collect a big number? Many (perhaps most) would, and on the actual deal they would collect 1100 with good defense. But it doesn’t always work out so well, sometimes the opponents can escape to another suit, or the penalty is insufficient to compensate for the missed 3NT game. Having said that, 4 trump tricks are not to be sneezed at, so even we would pass as North and wait for Partner’s Double.
But the featured auction is so much more interesting! South transfers to Spades and now has a problem. We think that the hand is too good merely to make a quantitative leap to 4NT. However, the Spades are not good enough to insist on a Spade slam. So, in the circumstances, we rather like the way that South bid her hand. 4♦ was ambiguous, could have been a cue-bid. But, when it is followed by 6♣, what else can South have but 5-0-4-4 distribution?
Neither East nor West had a convenient way into the auction after South bid 1NT. West had the right shape but not the values, and East had some values but the wrong shape. As a result, South plays in 1NT, probably making (though it can be beaten with an unlikely defense), when E-W can make 9 or 10 tricks in Spades.
The best way for E-W to get into the auction is for East to overcall 1♠ immediately, notwithstanding the 4-card suit. We think that this bid has a lot of merit, please see the Bidding Quiz.
It’s not customary to play Support Doubles at the 3-level so East was forced to support directly with just 3-card support.
North leads the A♥ and surveys all those potential tricks in Dummy. She should deduce that her best shot is to shift to a Club, hoping that Partner has the A♠ and can give her a ruff. That turns out not to be the case, but North will get her ruff anyway. Because of the Heart losers, Declarer cannot afford to draw all the trumps before knocking out the A♦, so he’ll play just two rounds of Spades and then play on Diamonds. South grabs her A♦, gives Partner a Club ruff, and it’s 10 tricks. If North neglects to shift to a Club at Trick Two, Declarer has an easy 11 tricks.
North’s nudge to 3♥ makes life more difficult for E-W, and West did well to pass 3♠, he was no doubt tempted to take a shot at game.
Against 3♠ (or 4♠) South will probably start with the K♥. This is won by Declarer who can count 8 tricks off the top. The way that the cards lie, Declarer cannot make more than 9 tricks, it’s not possible to get two Heart ruffs on the board and then draw trumps, Declarer just doesn’t have the entries. So, he has to make to with one Heart ruff, and that’s only 9 tricks when the Clubs fail to break.
Back to the bidding. North was quite right to bump the bidding over West’s Double, but wouldn’t it have been nice if she could also have asked for a Diamond lead along the way? There’s a gadget for doing this, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Even though South has bid the suit, as West we’d lead a Spade against 3NT. That’s not a success, it gives Declarer her 10h trick. In fact, any lead other than a Spade gives the defense a chance to hold Declarer to just 9 tricks.
West has a pretty good 12-count, but perhaps not quite enough to force to game opposite a modern-style Partner who opens somewhat light, so he contents himself with a simple 2NT.
2NT turns out to be quite high enough, at least against tough defenders. Here are the most likely possibilities: - North leads a Spade. True, leading from Jxxx is unattractive, but the auction suggests a major suit lead. After the Spade lead, it’s up to South to save the day for the defense by jumping up with the Ace and shifting to a Club, holding Declarer to just 8 tricks. If South falls from grace at Trick One and inserts the T♠, Declarer wins the Queen, and now has the timing to set up the Hearts for a total of 10 tricks. - North leads a Club. Now it’s the defense who have the timing, and they are able to get their 3 Club tricks in time, again holding Declarer to a total of 8 tricks.
West’s sequence shows 25-26, give or take a point or two. There’s a better way to show these big, balanced hands, but it involves some special methods and some memory work (see article on Kokish).
Anyway, 3NT is certainly the right spot, although the T♥ lead will make Declarer distinctly nervous. However, if Declarer guesses everything right, he might even make 10 tricks: Q♥ wins the opening lead Club finesse loses to North’s King Heart continuation won by Declarer’s Ace Declarer’s two high Clubs are cashed (the Ten dropping) Four rounds of Diamonds ending on the board The Club Nine is cashed Now a Spade is led from the board and Declarer comes to one more trick (South must duck, of course).
In the above line, North missed the chance for a good (but somewhat risky) play. If she ducks the Club when Declarer finesses the Queen, Declarer will no doubt waste the last remaining dummy entry to repeat the finesse. When this loses, there’ll be no way to get to the good 9♣. And what exactly was the risk by North of ducking that first round of Clubs? Well, it would not be a success if Declarer did not also have the J♣!
East’s 2NT asked for a feature, West showed something in Hearts and that emboldened East to bid the aggressive game. South has an interesting lead problem! The winner, of course, is a Heart lead and a Club back, for down two. Did you find that? Dr Goodlead did, telling us “Not a Diamond, nor a Spade. Surely the K♣ is on my right, so I’ll lead a Heart hoping that Partner has the Ace and will shift to a Club. Of course, I’ll lead the 9♥ to show my disinterest in Hearts”
The Heart Nine was a fine and thoughtful lead by the Doctor, and North will win with the Ace and shift. But to which black suit? We’ve seen all 4 hands and we know the answer, and we have been racking our brains for some logic which would persuade us to shift to a Club. Dr Goodlead was right there for us. He surmised that, with Axxx of Spades, surely South would have led one, and then he opined that if Partner had AQJx(x) of Clubs that would be a holding that South would not lead from, and finally he postulated that if Partner held Axx in Spades then Declarer could block the suit anyway. Fortified by these thoughts and by who knows what else, he shifted to the T♣ (“in case Partner has AQJx of Clubs”, he said). Nice shift, but, of course, he had already seen Partner’s hand by this time, and he was perhaps influenced. Shifting to a Club under game conditions would be quite something, did anybody find it?
For the second time in this set one of our protagonists tries a 1NT opening with a 5-card major, but this time the venture is not successful. Against 1NT, East leads a Heart. Declarer wins and plays on Spades, and the defense take a Spade and four Hearts. Declarer needs the Diamond finesse for his 8th trick, and should take that finesse whenever she wins the A♠ on the board.
That’s only 8 tricks and +120 for N-S, but they will do better if North opens 1♠ and ends up playing in 2♠. Now, a Heart lead looks most dangerous, so East may well try leading the other unbid suit, namely Diamonds. Here is how a lack-luster defense might allow 10 tricks against a wily Declarer: Diamond lead to Declarer’s Queen (West must duck) The wily 9♠ is led, East ducks (hoping Partner has the Ten), Dummy’s Jack wins. A Club is led, West plays the Queen, and Declarer ducks! A Spade is returned to Dummy’s Ace Club to the Jack A♣ is cashed Now Declarer leads her last Club, and the defense can get no more than a Club, a trump and a Heart. Nicely done by Declarer, but West could have done better by splitting his Spade honors at Trick Two, now the defense is assured of a 4th trick, one way or another. But credit to North for leading the 9♠, trying to look like someone about to finesse against the Ten.
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