From                 7th June. 2006, Board 31

                                          Theme               Morton's Fork

                                          Difficulty           * * *

                                          Dlr South          N-S Vul                Hands Rotated

                                                                                                 for Convenience

West leads the 6♥, and East follows with the 3.

11 tricks are in plain view, and you always have the option of the Club finesse for trick 12.  Can you set up the Diamonds for the 12th trick?  Not really ... unless a sleepy defender lets you get to the board with the Q♠, you will be an entry short of being able to ruff out the (hopefully 4-3) Diamonds, and then getting to the board to enjoy the long Diamond.

Did we really present this Problem so that you could demonstrate your ability to take a Club finesse?  No, of course not, there is another, much better, line of play to make this contract.

SOLUTION

The winning line is a variant of the Morton's Fork, putting the defender who holds the A♠ in an impossible dilemma ... after winning the opening Heart lead, cash the A♦, ruff a Diamond, and play the K♠.  Whichever defender has the A♠ will be faced with two losing choices:

   - If she takes the King with the Ace, then the Queen becomes the extra entry needed to set up the Diamonds

   - If she ducks the King, she deprives Dummy of that entry, but now the Spade loser disappears on the K♦

	♠ Q7 ♥ 87 ♦ AK642 ♣ K743
♠ A865 ♥ 654 ♦ Q98 ♣ QT5	North    West          East            South	♠ JT432 ♥ J3 ♦ JT73 ♣ 86
	♠ K9 ♥ AKQT92 ♦ 5 ♣ AJ92

Two defensive points of note ... yes, the A♠ opening lead (and continuation) beats the contract ... and, on the actual opening Heart lead, North did well not to squander the J♥, as that would also have given Declarer a much-needed entry to the board.

Keys to Success

   - Immediately cashing one Diamond and ruffing a Diamond (optimal use of Dummy entries)

   - Leading the K♠ to present the defense with an impossible dilemma