From                  28th March, 2007, Board 21

                                          Theme               Elimination Play

                                          Difficulty           * * *

                                          Dlr West           E-W Vul              Hands Rotated

                                                                                                for Convenience

West leads the Diamond Four.

The danger here is that you might lose two Spades and three Hearts.  Of course, if the opponents are obliged to break open the Hearts, there will be only two losers in that suit.  What’s the best way to bring that about?

SOLUTION

No doubt West has one or three Diamonds.  Let’s assume that it is 3 Diamonds because if it’s a singleton you may not be able to make the hand whatever you do.  Cash three Diamonds (pitching a Club), then cash the top Clubs, and, with the minor suits now eliminated, we would lead a Spade towards your hand, planning to finesse the Nine if South plays low.

As it happens, South has the singleton A♠, and, when she wins the Spade lead, she’ll have to concede a ruff and discard or else break open the Heart suit.

	♠ JT84 ♥ K873 ♦ Q8 ♣ AK5
♠ Q32 ♥ Q64 ♦ T54 ♣ Q862	North    West           East            South	♠ A ♥ AT9 ♦ J9762 ♣ JT94
	♠ K9765 ♥ J52 ♦ AK3 ♣ 73

Keys to Success

   - Eliminating the minor suits before playing on trumps, hoping that one or other of the opponents will

     be forced to break open the Hearts (or else concede a ruff and sluff)