From                  5th July, 2006, Board 4

                                          Themes             Remembering the Auction

                                                                    Throw In Play

                                          Difficulty           * * *

                                          Dlr West           Both Vul
 

SOLUTION

No guess required on this hand!  Of the missing 17 HCPs, East has shown up with 6 already.  If East also has the K♣, then surely West has the AQ♥ for his vulnerable overcall, and in that case we cannot make the contact.  So, if Declarer is to make this, he must assume that West has the K♣.  And, if that is the case then there is a guaranteed end-play against West.

Don't duck the Q♠, win that Spade trick immediately.  Now play Diamonds from Dummy until West shows out.  As soon as that happens, throw West in with a Spade.  West can cash his Spade tricks, but then must surrender Declarer's 8th trick by leading a Heart or a Club.

Yes, that end-play is a more elegant line of play than the mundane Heart finesse ... and a line that would be successful if West also had the Q♥.

Keys to Success

   - Realizing that, if East has the K♣, then West must have the ♥AQ and the contract cannot be made,

     and therefore, by necessity, placing the K♣ with West

   - Winning the second round of Spades, keeping a low Spade in Dummy for a subsequent throw-in

   - Exhausting West of Diamonds prior to the Spade throw-in, but not cashing all the Diamonds

Postscript

Note the importance of not cashing those Diamonds right away.  If Declarer does, he will eventually be squeezed on the run of the Spades ... he'll have to come down to 3 cards, and it won't be obvious whether to keep two Hearts and one Club, or vice versa.  Strangely, on the earlier run of the Diamonds, if West is to keep his Spade winners, he must also come down to two Hearts and a Club, or vice versa.  Declarer won't know which way West went ... why guess when the end-play is a virtual cinch?