Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Frequently, when your opponents have bid, you have a blueprint for a potential solution to a seemingly impossible problem . . .
Bidding
Dealer: North
E/W Game
East-West might well get out for just one down in 5D, but the vulnerability is unfavourable.
West lead A♦. It seems inevitable that South will lose three clubs and a heart. Relying on the heart finesse being right is a reasonable basic line but is there a line to prevail even with Q♥ poorly placed? You must prevent East from leading a club and, force West to lead a club to your K♣. To achieve this, you must eliminate the other suits as a safe way off lead for West, and then put him on lead at just the right moment.
Ruffing the diamond lead will lead to later elimination problems, so reject it, and instead discard 5♥. If West finds the least-harmful trump switch, declarer should win in dummy and ruff 8♦ in hand. Next K♥ is cashed, then 5♥ led to dummy’s ace, and dummy’s final heart is ruffed in hand. This completes the elimination. Returning to dummy with a trump, Q♦ is led, and declarer pitches 3♣. West must win. Now, with no hearts or diamonds in either hand, West cannot lead a red suit without allowing you to ruff in dummy and throw away another club from hand. When West leads a club, your king is your tenth trick.
Read the full article here