From 2nd August, 2006, Board 28 Theme Elimination Play Difficulty * * * Dlr East E-W Vul Hands Rotated
for Convenience
West leads the 6♣. If trumps are 3-2 you can manage 10 tricks without much trouble. Can you make 11 tricks?
SOLUTION
Surely, the A♥ is in the West hand, in which case the only chance of an 11th trick is an end play. With that basic assumption, it must be right to play the hand along elimination lines, whereby West gets stripped of his safe minor suit exit cards, and eventually gets thrown in on the third round of trumps. For this to work, West will have to have three Spades and no more than three Clubs. So, win the A♣, cash AK♠, and cross to the K♣. There are now two cases to consider: - If West plays lower than the Six on the second Club, assume that he started with a doubleton Club, and cash the Diamonds before throwing him in with a trump and (hopefully) forcing him to return a Heart. - If West plays higher than the Six on the second Club, assume that he started with three Clubs, and cross back to the Q♦, ruff a Club, and cash the Diamonds before throwing him in. The goal in both cases is to reduce West to a good trump and nothing else but Hearts. He can ruff one of the Diamonds if he likes, and yield the 11th trick with a Heart lead. Or, more likely, he’ll hold his fire, but will then get thrown in with a trump anyway.
Keys for Success - Realizing that the A♥ is almost certain to be with West - Taking care to eliminate the minor suits in the right order (must eliminate the right number of Clubs before letting West ruff a Diamond) - After the elimination of the minors, throwing in West with a trump, forcing him to play on Hearts.
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