Score ten points 2

You play in a teams match, IMP scoring therefore. After west, on your left, has opened, you (south) become declarer in 4♠.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

West leads ♥A and continues with ♥K and ♥Q, east following suit. You ruff and cash ♠A and ♠K, east following suit once and discarding ♦2 on ♠K. West had ♠QJ9 therefore.

A I play ♦A and a diamond to the jack.

B I play a third round of spades.

C I cash ♣AKQ.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

East wins with ♦Q. You have another trump to lose and are therefore one down. You have put all your money on this finesse but you can do a lot better. 0 points.

Take a look at all hands here.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

West wins with ♠Q and plays a club.

A I cash the remaining clubs.

B I win in hand and play ♦A and a diamond to the jack.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

All follow suit on ♣AKQ.

A I play a spade to west's ♠Q.

B I cash ♦A en ♦K play a spade to west's ♠Q.

C I play ♦A and a diamond to the jack.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

West wins with ♠Q and plays a diamond.

A I duck in dummy.

B I insert dummy's ♦J.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

You played flawlessly. You counted west's hand: five hearts, three spades and at least three clubs. So he had two diamonds at most. By cashing ♦A and ♦K you removed west's safe exit cards; subsequently you threw him in the lead with his high trump. West now can only play a heart (or maybe the thirteenth club) into the double void; you discard the diamond loser from one hand and ruff in the other. 10 points.

Take a look at all hands here.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

A I play ♦K and ♦A.

B I play ♦A and a diamond to the jack.

C I play ♦J from dummy.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

♦Q does not appear, so you will lose a trick to that card eventually: one down. You know west had five hearts, three spades and at least three clubs. He therefore holds two diamonds at most. You hoped he held the singleton or doubleton ♦Q. Alas. Did you notice you went off lead with a spade to west's ♠Q too early? 3 points.

Take a look at all hands here.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

East covers ♦J with ♦Q. You win and continue with a diamond. Alas, ♦10 does not show up in west. You are down. You have not played very badly. You first tried to throw west in the lead and you have counted the distribution of the suits. You knew west held two diamonds at most. Sadly, ♦10 was not one of them. 5 points.

Take a look at all hands here.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

East inserts ♦10. You win with ♦A and continue with a diamond. West plays a small one.

A I insert ♦J.

B I play ♦K, knowing it does not matter.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

You take a finesse which cannot succeed. You have found out west held five hearts, three spades and at least three clubs. He holds therefore two diamonds at most. You have just seen his second diamond; it was a small one... You know therefore east holds ♦Q. 3 points.

Take a look at all hands here.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

You have counted west's hand. You know he holds two diamonds at most. A diamond finesse is pointless therefore. You show you know, but that does not help: you still have to lose a trick to ♦Q. One down, 5 points (two more than if you had inserted ♦J; at least you realised finessing with ♦Q could not win).

Take a look at all hands here.

In a team match, IMP scoring therefore, west opens 1♥, south becomes declarer in 4♠.

		♠	A 6 5 4
		♥	9 8 6
		♦	K J 4
		♣	A 10 9
♠	Q J 9			♠	8
♥	A K Q 10 3			♥	7 5 2
♦	8 7			♦	Q 10 6 5 2
♣	J 6 2			♣	8 7 5 4
		♠	K 10 7 3 2
		♥	J 4
		♦	A 9 3
		♣	K Q 3

West starts off with ♥AKQ, declarer ruffing the third.
South counts two more possible losers: a diamond and a trump. He spots these possibilities to reduce the number of losers by one:
• The trump suit is 2-2.
• West holds ♦Q.
• West holds the bare ♠J or ♠Q: after cashing ♠A south can then finesse over east.
• A throw-in in the end game: east or west then has to solve south¹s diamond problem.

South must try out all chances. Playing the diamond suit can therefore wait until the very last. First south tries to find out the distribution of the hands.

The correct line of play

South cashes ♠A. No honour card shows up with west, so south is spared the headache of having to decide whether or not to finesse over east (if ♠Q or ♠J had appeared in west, finessing over east is more often winning than playing for the drop with ♠K).
By playing a spade to his king south notices he has to lose a spade to west. He cashes the three top clubs, seeing EW both following suit. It is tempting now to throw west in the lead with a spade to his ♠Q: west then has no option but to play diamonds (a heart or the last club, if he has it, is worse). South can then try a small one in dummy. This way south can profit from the extra chance of west holding ♦10 and east ♦Q. South would have gone down then if he had finessed ♦Q over west.
In the actual lay-out this throw in fails because east holds both ♦Q and ♦10. There is a better way. West has shown up with five hearts, three spades and at least three clubs. Therefore he holds two diamonds at most. There is another throw-in possible then which is certain to succeed. South first cashes ♦A and ♦K. Only then he plays the spade to west's queen.
After making ♠Q west has only hearts left (or possibly the thirteenth club). He plays back in a double void therefore, enabling south to discard the diamond loser from one hand while ruffing in the other.
Note that the first throw-in (the one where south does not cash ♦AK first) would succeed if south had held ♦AJx.

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