From                   1st December 2010     Board 19

                                          E-W Vul

West leads the ♠K.  You duck one round and win the second.  You can count 9 top tricks and if the Club finesse works then there will be 10 tricks.  Is this simply a matter of taking that Club finesse or is there a better way to try for the overtrick?

SOLUTION

There is almost a foolproof route to 10 tricks, regardless of who has the ♣K, if only East does not have a 5-card red suit.  Declarer cashes the Hearts and the Diamonds first, and as it happens, East shows up with three Diamonds and both defenders follow to three rounds of Hearts.  Now it looks as if East started with 2=4=3=4 distribution and West with 6=3=4=0.  So, Declarer leads a Club, West predictably shows out, Dummy ducks, and East wins the trick.  East can cash a Heart but now he is end-played in Clubs.  10 tricks!

Anyone for 6♣?  Making the Club slam requires not a whole lot more than picking up the Clubs for one loser.  If you disregard the bidding, then the chances of this are pretty good.  Declarer (North) can cash the ♣A, and later lead a Club from the board.  This holds the trump losers to one whenever East has the singleton ♣K, or when West has K or Kxx or KJx, or when the suit is 2-2.  That’s about 66%, but it dips dramatically when you realize that West has long Spades and that therefore (a) he’s likely to be short in Clubs, and (b) if he’s not then he’s likely to be short in Diamonds (a problem after a Spade opening lead).  So, 6♣ is a pretty good contract in some circumstances, but not after West’s Weak Two!

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