From                 18th July, 2007, Board 20

                                          Theme               Timing

                                          Difficulty           * * * *

                                          Dlr South           Both Vul             Hands Rotated

                                                                                                for Convenience
 

West leads the K♦, won by Dummy’s Ace.

What can be done if the A♥ is offside?  And can you find a way to make the contract is Spades are 4-0?

SOLUTION

Surely West has at least one of the missing Aces for his vulnerable two-level overcall.  You could hope that West has the A♣ and that East has the A♥, or you could hope that West has the singleton or doubleton A♥.  If you knew where the A♣ was you’d have a better idea of how to play the Hearts.

How about trumps?  If they are 4-0, it seems likely that the 4 would be with East, which is just as well because we cannot pick up 4 Spades with West anyway.

Clearly, it is necessary to play on Clubs early, and we’d do it at Trick Two, taking advantage of one of the few precious entries to the board.  So lead a Club to the King which holds.  It’s unlikely that West would have ducked the A♣ (we may not have the Queen), so it seems safe to place the A♣ with East and the A♥ with West.  Let's hope that the A♥ is singleton or doubleton.

Now you cross to the K♠, but West shows out, pitching a Diamond.  Time to be careful!  You cannot play another Spade now, you’ll wind up with an extra Club loser.  So, lead another Club.  East hops up with the Ace and shoots a Heart through.  You know where the A♥ is so you play low, and West wins the Jack.  Back comes a Club, but you ruff your winner on the board, finesse the Spade, draw trumps, and lead a low Heart, praying that the A♥ tumbles on air.

	♠ K74 ♥ 9874 ♦ AJT7 ♣ T8
♠ ♥ AJ ♦ KQ9653 ♣ J9654	North    West         East            South	♠ J982 ♥ QT52 ♦ 42 ♣ A32
	♠ AQT653 ♥ K63 ♦ 8 ♣ KQ7

Keys to Success

   - Realizing that West needed to have at least one of the missing Aces for his bidding

   - Deducing that the best way to play Hearts will depend upon who shows up with the A♣

   - Playing on Clubs early to locate that A♣

   - Ruffing your Club winner on the board in order to take the trump finesse