Here's a hand where declarer saw a sure line of play that most of the
other declarers missed. Take a look.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs Game)
Hand #27
Dlr
E
Vul
None
AQ
K1095
J642
J42
J10943
A
Q98
Q985
8765
J74
K53
K106
K2
Q8632
A107
A73
West
North
East
South
Pass
1
Pass
3
All Pass
BIDDING: North's
jump raise was invitational showing 10-12 support points with at least
four hearts. South considered his hand a minimum and was
unwilling to bid game. As you will see, North's queen of spades
turned out to be a wasted value and passing was the right decision.
PLAY: West started with the jack
of spades and declarer did not like his chances. Besides needing to find the
jack of hearts, he had the heart ace to lose along with two possible tricks in
each minor suit. The jack of diamonds in dummy gave him some hope
so he won the spade in his hand to lead a low heart. Declarer was
delighted that West had to win the ace of hearts, solving the trump
problem. West continued with another spade which declarer won in
dummy and drew the last two trumps. With trumps and spades
eliminated, declarer now simply played ace and another club. The
defenders could win this trick and cash another club but then they had
to switch to diamonds or present declarer with a ruff/sluff. At
the table, East won the club ten, cashed the king, and then played a
small diamond which declarer ducked to West. Now the forced
diamond return allowed South to make his contract, losing one heart,
one diamond, and two clubs. Elimination plays such as this are
common but often overlooked.
