From                  26th April, 2006, Board 13

                                          Difficulty           * * *

                                          Dlr North          Both Vul
 

♠ J3 ♥ 43 ♦ 952 ♣ KQJT64	North    Dummy      East             South	♠ AKT9865 ♥ AJ6 ♦ ♣ 952
West   North   East     South                      1♥        1♠         2♦           Pass   2♥        2♠         3♦           Pass   3♥        3♠         4♦           4♠      Pass     Pass      5♦           Pass   Pass     5♠         Pass           Pass   Dbl      Pass      Pass           Pass

South leads the A♦, which you ruff.

If the Q♠ comes down in 2 rounds, perhaps we can get our Heart losers away on Dummy’s Clubs.  Any snag in this plan?

SOLUTION

Yes, there is a major snag, of course.  If one opponent has Axx or Axxx of Clubs, she will not be so obliging as to release it before the 3^rd round of the suit.  Does this mean that we should go after a Heart ruff in Dummy?  No, that’s not a good idea either, there is the danger that South will be able to ruff the 3^rd round of Hearts with the Q♠ … and there is also the possibility of a Club ruff by the defense.

No, the best plan is to use those Club entries to lead Hearts twice from the board.  This is the full deal:

	♠ Q ♥ KQT9875 ♦ 87 ♣ A83
♠ J2 ♥ 43 ♦ 952 ♣ KQJT64	North    Dummy      East            South	♠ AKT9865 ♥ AJ6 ♦ ♣ 952
	♠ 742 ♥ 2 ♦ AKQJT643 ♣ 7

We draw trumps in 3 rounds, and lead a Club to the King … North must duck, of course.  Now we lead a Heart … North will no doubt split her honors, so we win the Ace, cross to the Q♣, and lead another Heart.

However, suppose that, when we lead Hearts for the first time, North smoothly plays low!  Do you go up with the Ace, playing South for a singleton King or Queen?  Or do you give North credit for a brilliant play?  Tough choice, it pays to know your opponent in these situations.

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