From                 9th August, 2006, Board 31

                                          Difficulty          * * *

                                          Dlr South          N-S Vul
 

♠ A3 ♥ J65 ♦ K732 ♣ KJ85	North    West       Dummy             South	♠ KQ9 ♥ Q983 ♦ A54 ♣ A97
South   West     North   East                Pass     1♣        Pass     1♥                Pass     1NT     Pass     3NT                Pass     Pass     Pass

North leads the Spade Six.

You have 7 top tricks, and have the potential for more in Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.  Where do you look for some extra tricks?

SOLUTION

The Diamond suit is not promising, requiring a 3-3 break (and the loss of the lead) for one extra trick.  No, we should attack Clubs and Hearts, both of which have the potential for two extra tricks.  We cannot be sure, but North's lead is probably from length, and if the Spade suit is 5-3 or 6-2, we would do well to knock out the North entries early as we go about developing our tricks.

So, win the opening lead on the board, and take an immediate Club finesse of the Jack.  When that wins, we revert to Hearts, and finesse Dummy's Nine, losing to the King.  Back comes a Spade, won by Declarer's Ace, and another Heart, won by North's Ace.  This is the full hand:

	♠ J87632 ♥ AT7 ♦ 98 ♣ 64
♠ A3 ♥ J65 ♦ K732 ♣ KJ85	North    West        Dummy            South	♠ KQ9 ♥ Q983 ♦ A54 ♣ A97
	♠ T4 ♥ K42 ♦ QJT6 ♣ QT32

Upon winning the A♥, it matters not what North returns.  Say that he continues with Spades ... Dummy wins ... then a Diamond to the King, another Heart, and when the Hearts have been cashed, South will be squeezed in the minors.  A monstrous 11 tricks and a top board for E-W.  Declarer will end up scoring 3 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, 3 Clubs, plus one for the squeeze at the end.  Not bad for a hand which started out with just 7 tricks in sight.
 

Home    Hand Analyses    Bidding Quizzes     Play Problems    System Library