From                   26th July, 2006, Board 9

                                          Theme                Establishing Side-Suits

                                          Difficulty            * * *

                                          Dlr Noth             E-W Vul

West leads the A♥, shifts to the Q♦ and continues Diamonds, ruffed by Declarer.  Then a Spade is led to Dummy's Ace, West pitching a Heart.

The play so far marks East with the AK♦, and it seems unlikely that he can also hold the A♣.  East was clearly dealt 4 Spades, presumably 6 Diamonds, so there is the definite possibility that West has Club length.  The good news is that they can apparently make their slam.  Can you escape for down 4 and achieve a profitable save?

SOLUTION

Trump control may well become an issue, and on such hands it is usually right to set up the side-suit early in the play.  It's certainly right on this deal.  Declarer should lead a Club to the King and the Ace, then if West finds the best continuation of a high Heart, Declarer ruffs in his hand, crosses to the T♠, and leads a Club towards his hand.

	♠ AT5 ♥ QT762 ♦ 96 ♣ 752
♠ ♥ AKJ94 ♦ QJ84 ♣ AJT6	North    West            East            South	♠ 9743 ♥ 85 ♦ AKT732 ♣ 3
	♠ KQJ862 ♥ 3 ♦ 5 ♣ KQ984

On the lead of the second round of Clubs from the board, it matters not whether East ruffs, either way, Declarer can escape for down 4.  However, if Declarer draws trumps before playing on Clubs, then down 5 it's down five, which is one too many.

Keys to Success

   - Leaving a trump on the board to handle the Diamond force

   - Leading Clubs twice from the board, so that East could not usefully ruff.