By Eddie Kantar
Courtesy of KantarBridge.com
Neither vulnerable, IMPs
N
North
♠
A1054
♥
43
♦
KJ9
♣
7654
S
South
♠
K632
♥
A10
♦
AQ10
♣
A932
W
West
N
North
E
East
S
South
—
—
—
1NT
Pass
2♣
Pass
2♠
Pass
3♠
Pass
4♠
All Pass
Opening lead: ♥K
Say you win the ♥A and duck a club to East’s jack. East cashes the HJx and exits with the ♣K you win the ace, West playing the ten. Wondering about spades? Okay, the time has come: you play the ♠K and East plays the jack. When you continue with a second spade, West plays low, of course. Which spade do you play from dummy, and worse, why?
Solution
This one’s a gimme. You can’t make the hand if the ♠J is a singleton as you will have a natural spade loser to go along with a heart and two club losers. The only hope to make your contract is that East has QJ doubleton so rise with the ace. Play to make!
N-S
N
North
♠
A1054
♥
43
♦
KJ9
♣
7654
W
West
♠
987
♥
KQ82
♦
876
♣
Q108
E
East
♠
QJ
♥
J10762
♦
5432
♣
KJ
S
South
♠
K632
♥
A10
♦
AQ10
♣
A932