From                   31st October, 2007, Board 10

                                          Theme                Morton's Fork

                                          Difficulty            * * *

                                          Dlr West             Both Vul            Hands Rotated

                                                                                                for Convenience

West leads a trump and East follows.

At first glance it appears that you have two Heart losers, a Diamond loser, and a Club loser.  But, before you castigate Partner for her overbidding, why not try to make the contract?

SOLUTION

The only chance (other than the highly unlikely singleton K♣) is that West has both the A♦ and the K♣.  Yes, here we have an example of the Morton’s Fork, that satisfying play which gives a defender an impossible dilemma.  We overtake Dummy’s trump in our hand, lead a Diamond at Trick Two, and let West choose from two miserable fates:

-         If he jumps up with the Ace, Declarer has 10 tops tricks.

-         If he ducks, Dummy’s King wins, then the Q♦ is run around to West’s Ace, Declarer pitching a Heart.  West did well to duck the first Diamond, holding Dummy to two Diamond winners.  But, now Declarer has the timing to get her 10^th trick by leading towards Dummy’s Q♣.

Keys for Success

   - Giving West the dilemma by overtaking the Spade and leading a Diamond at Trick Two

   - If West ducks the A♦, then playing a second high Diamond and pitching a Heart (loser-on-loser play)