Score ten points 6

You are South and declare 6♣.

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

West leads the ♠2.

Make your choice by clicking A or B (or sometimes C) and find out whether your line of play is the correct one.

A I win with the ♠A

B I insert the ♠J

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

A I play the ♣K and the ♣7. If the ♣Q has not appeared, I finesse.

B I play the ♥Q-♥A-♥K and pitch a spade.

C I play the ♣K and the ♣A.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

EW follow suit on the ♥QAK but the ♥J has not come down.

A I play the ♣K and the ♣7; if the ♣Q has not appeared, I finesse.

B I play the ♣K and the ♣A.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

You are certain East will take the ♠J with either the ♠K or the ♠Q (West will not underlead the ♠KQ against a slam. By following this line of play you would therefore accept a spade loser. This is not a good idea, since you have a reasonable chance of getting rid of both spade losers in your hand.
1 point. Try again, go back to the start.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

West wins with the ♣Q and EW cash two spade tricks: two down. You have put all your eggs in one basket: the ♣Q being with East. This gave you a not unreasonable 50% chance (a bit less actually). Yet you can do better. 2 points.

Click here for the full lay-out.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

Click here for the full lay-out.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

All follow suit on the ♣AK, but the ♣Q has not appeared.

A I play the ♥Q-♥A-♥K.

B I play the ♥Q, next the ♥3 to the ♥10.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

You played rather well by combining two chances: the ♣Q being bare or in the doubleton or the ♥J coming down in the third round (plus a very slim extra chance: if the ♥J had been bare or in the doubleton, the player holding the short heart suit might have had a doubleton in trumps as well). Alas: like the ♣Q earlier, the ♥J does not come down; you lose the ♣Q and a spade. Since you did not choose the best combination of chances you score 4 points.

Click here for the full lay-out.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

You played perfectly. You did not put all your eggs in one basket but combined two chances. Furthermore you found the best combination of chances. First you tried for the drop of the ♣Q. When it did not, you finessed the ♥J. You are rewarded for West has four hearts including the ♥J. The ♥10 wins therefore and you can discard both your spade losers on the ♥AK. The chance of the ♥J being with West is better than that card being in the doubleton or three card suit with East. Your line of play in hearts is therefore superior to playing the three top honours.
10 punten.

Click here for the full lay-out.

(red cards have been played)

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

By playing the ♥QAK first, you have examined whether you could discard both losing spades from the South hand on the heart suit: this would be the case if the ♥J had come down in the third round (had that card shown up earlier, you would of course have stopped playing hearts at once). If so, you would have played the ♣AK next and pitched your second spade loser on the good ♥10. East or West would have been allowed to ruff the ♥10 with the ♣Q (had the clubs been 4-1 you would not have stood a chance this way, unless the ♣Q was bare...).
However, the ♥J did not come down. Since you now were certain to lose a spade, you had to do your utmost not to lose the ♣Q. Your best chance was indeed playing the ♣K and finessing the ♣Q, rather than playing the ♣K and the ♣A.
Alas, West turns out to have the ♣Q and two more clubs (so playing the ♣K and the ♣A would not have worked either, scant comfort perhaps), so you are down.
The two chances you combined were: the drop of the ♥J or the ♣Q being with East (or bare). A good combination but there is a better one, all the more since you ran the unnecessary risk of a heart ruff. 8 punten.

Click here for the full lay-out.

This is the full lay-out:

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

¹ 'officially' one point short, yet strong enough in view of the three aces, two kings and two tens
² hoping for the best (NS have no way of investigating a minor suit slam after 2NT)

South declares 6♣. West leads the ♠2.

South sees three possible losers: the ♣Q and two spades.
He can take many finesses: the double finesse in spades and the finesses of the ♣Q and the ♥J. On the other hand there are chances of dropping the ♣Q and the ♥J. Many possibilities therefore and South must find the best combination of chances.

The spade suit
By taking the double finesse in spades declarer probably can limit the number of spade losers to one. But such a finesse would be pointless for he can always discard one of his spade losers on a heart, maybe even both his spade losers.
Accepting a spade loser is needlessly pessimistic therefore: in the first trick declarer goes up with the ♠A.

Other finesses
Declarer might hope for the ♣Q finesse to succeed. If so and the clubs are not 4-1, 6♣ is usually made. However, if the finesse fails, defeat is instantaneous since EW will collect two good spades.
Declarer can also try to pitch his spade losers on dummy's hearts. He will have to decide then whether to play the ♥Q, ♥A and ♥K, hoping to bring down the ♥J, or to finesse the ♥J in the second heart trick.
The finesse offers the best chance (all the more since declarer is often not helped by the ♥J coming down in the second round if the defenders still have a trump trick to make).

Four possible ways of combining chances
1 A rather illogical combination play is 'topping' the ♥Q, the ♥A and the ♥K first, next, whatever has happened, topping the ♣A and the ♣K as well. The illogical aspect of it is: why risk a heart ruff? If South is going to top both suits he'd better top the trumps first.
Furthermore South does not take his best chance: if playing for the drop in one suit had failed, the best chance is to finesse in the other suit.
2 The reversed sequence of 1 (the ♣K, the ♣A, the ♥Q, the ♥A and the ♥K), is therefore more logical (since it avoids a possible heart ruff) but still not the best combination.
3 Better is: the ♥Q, the ♥A and the ♥K. - If the ♥J has not come down: next the ♣K followed by the finesse of the ♣Q.
- If the ♥J has come down: next the ♣K, the ♣A and the ♥10.
Here it makes sense to run the small risk of a heart ruff.
4 Better still is the reversed sequence of 3: first the ♣A and the ♣K.
- If the ♣Q has come down the slam is safe: draw the remaining trump(s) and cash the ♥Q, the ♥A and the ♥K. If the ♥J comes down, there is even an overtrick. If not South has twelve tricks.
- If the ♣Q has not come down: next the ♥Q and the finesse of the ♥J.

Why is 4 better than 3?
- The chance of bringing down the ♣Q is slightly better than the chance of bringing down the ♥J.
- In 3 (like in 1) declarer would have to play three rounds of hearts before playing trumps (after all, he has to keep the 'finesse of the ♣Q option' open), thus risking a heart ruff (the ♥J coming down in the doubleton often does not help).

So it should be line of play 4:
Declarer wins with the ♠A and plays off the ♣A and the ♣K. Had the ♣Q come down (first chance), the slam would have been made: declarer draws the remaining trump(s) and cashes the ♥Q, the ♥A and the ♥K, pitching a spade: twelve tricks (thirteen if the ♥J has come down).
In practice the ♣Q does not come down. Now declarer has a certain trump loser, so he has to take his best chance of making four heart tricks. After all he has to get rid of both spade losers now. He cashes the ♥Q and next finesses by playing a heart to the ♥10. After opening his eyes, he sees ♥10 has won the trick (which was his second chance). He pitches both spade losers on the ♥AK. EW make the ♣Q, nothing more.