From 2nd August, 2006, Board 9 Theme Blocking & Unblocking Difficulty * * * * Dlr South E-W Vul Hands Rotated for
Convenience
The opening lead is the J♦, and you win the Ace, pitching a Club from your hand.
You must budget on losing a Heart, and must hope that the Clubs can be brought in with the aid of a ruff. All you need to make this slam is 3-2 in both of these key suits, in which case the straightforward play of cashing the AK♥, then ruffing out the Clubs, will be good enough for 12 tricks. The singleton Q♣ or T♣ with East will further improve your odds, but there is no special precaution you need to take for those holdings. No, this problem is all about the Heart suit … are there any 4-1 trump breaks that you can overcome, and, if so, how?
SOLUTION
Clearly, if there are any 4-1 trump breaks to be overcome, the long trumps must be with East. Furthermore, although it is possible to pick up (for one loser) QJ9x in the East hand, you can only do so at the expense of losing out to certain 3-2 holdings. However, there is one 4-1 break that we can handle, and that is the singleton Queen or Jack with West. So, you win the opening lead with the A♦, play a trump to the Ace, noting the fall of the Queen. Next, play the AK♣, and lead a 3rd round of Clubs (West following), ruffing with the Ten. West overruffs with the Jack, and plays the K♦, which you ruff. Now there is a finesse position in the Hearts and an entry to the board to take it. This is the full deal.
Notice the fly in the ointment? Yes, the Heart suit is blocked! You can take the Heart finesse (after ruffing the K♦ and crossing to the A♠), but now you are stuck in Dummy. Needless to say, at Trick Two, after winning the A♦, you lead the Eight of trumps from the board … a far-sighted play which unblocks the suit and caters for West holding a singleton Queen or Jack. A difficult play to find in the heat of battle.
Keys to Success - Cashing the A♥ and then taking the second-round safety play by finessing - Realizing that for the safety play to work the 8♥ must be unblocked on the first round.
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