Other than the ♠QJ,
the only high card that West can have is the ♦Q,
as Declarer needs everything else to make up his 1NT bid. So Declarer has the
♣A and therefore three Club tricks … and
he has four more tricks in the major suits. He needs two tricks from Diamonds
and, sure enough, at Trick 3 he leads a Diamond to his Ten and West’s Queen. A
Spade knocks out Declarer’s Ace, and then a Diamond knocks out your Ace. But,
alas, you are out of Spades and Declarer is one with 9 tricks. Well, that was
how the play went when the deal was actually played, but we know you did better,
didn’t you?
►
Yes, of course, at Trick 3 you alertly hopped
up with the ♦A,
protecting West’s hoped-for Diamond entry until after the Spades have been set
up. Here is the full deal:
►
|
♠ K4
♥
KT32
♦
J876
♣ KQ5 |
|
♠ QJT83
♥
64
♦
Q32
♣ 876 |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ 975
♥
QJ97
♦
A4
♣ JT94 |
|
♠ A62
♥
A85
♦
KT95
♣ A32 |
|
Declarer played her part well by
holding up on the first Spade, in order to disrupt the E-W communications, but
East’s heads-up play wins the day for the defense.