Hand of the day #314
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This conundrum was written by Julian Pottage and was originally published in the book Defend or Declare - you can find out all about it further down the page.
Opening Lead: ♦8
The original declarer won the diamond perforce, finessed the ♠J and cashed the ace. When East showed out, the play continued with the ♣10 run round to the jack. West won and played another diamond. Soon afterwards, East came in with the ♣A; an avalanche of diamonds defeated the contract.
It was a little unlucky to find spades 4-1 and even more unlucky that East had a second-round club entry. Can you see a way to overcome these breaks or is the distribution too hostile for declarer to succeed?
You can make 3NT. You need to concentrate on making four spade tricks even if the suit splits 4-1.
The bidding makes it very likely that if anyone has four spades it will be West. Although a singleton king is possible, a singleton eight, nine or ten is three times as likely.
Having taken the diamond, you should lead the ♠Q. West has to cover or the queen will hold and you will continue with a low spade to the jack. You take the king with the ace, noting the fall of East’s eight. You return to hand with the ♥Q and lead a low spade. If West plays low, you finesse the six, knowing that if East can win that then the suit is breaking. In practice, West plays the nine or ten. You win this and return the six. If West holds up, you still have a heart entry for knocking out the spade stopper and a diamond entry for getting back to the fifth spade.
An unusual problem format, it gave the reader all four hands and challenged them to analyze the deal and decide whether they wanted to play or defend. This sequel comprises 72 problems, presented in the same unique fashion, and will appeal to the same readership.
