Problem

The Auction:

South opened the auction with 1♥. North responded with 2♦. South proceeded to 3♣ showing strength. North supported clubs bidding 4♣. South asked for aces and after learning North has one, declared 6♣ as the final contract.

West won the first trick with the ♦A (trick 1) and led a small trump. We ask you to take the South seat and plan the play to win 12 tricks.

Contract: 6♣S

Vulnerable: None

Solution

You have a nice 9-card suit of clubs and hold five hearts, while dummy is void in hearts. There are five diamonds on the table, but West`s diamond lead indicates West might hold as much, so there probably is not a chance to promote your diamonds into winners.

You take this trick with the dummy`s ♣A (trick 2) and lead the ♦Q. East ruffs with the ♣ 6, you overruff and win the trick with the ♣7 (tricks 2, 3).

Now you know West has three more diamonds and the opponents have only one small trump left.

With ♣KQ and ♠AK you have enough entry points to your hand so you decide to try to establish your hearts.

First you lead the ♠A, then the ♥A – and discard a small diamond from dummy (tricks 4, 5). Then you lead the ♥Q and ruff, after that you lead the ♦J from dummy, East discards the ♥ 8, you ruff (tricks 6, 7). Now seven hearts are out of play and it if the last hearts are distributed 2-1, then one of the small hearts you hold will become a winner.

You lead a small heart, West plays the ♥J, you ruff, East plays the ♥10 (trick 8). From dummy`s hand you lead the ♦10, East discards the ♠9, you ruff (trick 9).

Now you can lead hearts again, West ruffs and you overruff (trick 10). Then you lead the ♣J from dummy and discard the small spade you have (trick 11), lead the ♠J from dummy to your king (trick 12) and take the last trick with the ♥5 (trick 13).

There are two ways to take 12 tricks. One is the way South made the contract by crossruffing diamonds and hearts, squeezing East – who didn`t have any diamonds left – and forcing him to discard one heart to keep his spades. This way South was able to promote his last heart into a winner.

The other way would have been to squeeze the opponents to promote South`s ♠5 into a winner.

After West has taken the first trick with the ♦A (trick 1) and led a small trump to dummy`s ♣A (trick 2), the declarer would have had to lead diamonds from dummy and ruff, then lead the ♥A and discard a diamond from dummy (tricks 3, 4).

Then the declarer would have had to:

Lead hearts and ruff in dummy (trick 5).

Lead diamonds from dummy and ruff, East would have discarded a spade (trick 6).

Lead hearts and ruff in dummy (trick 7).

Lead diamonds and ruff, East would have discarded a spade (trick 8).

Lead hearts and ruff in dummy, West would have discarded a spade (trick 9)

As East had no diamonds left, this way East would have discarded two spades to keep his ♥K, while West would have also discarded a spade to keep his ♦K.

With three spades gone, the opponents would still have had five. If the missing spades were split 3-2, the declarer would have needed to squeeze the opponents a bit more at that point, so South would have had to lead the ♣J. East would have discarded one more spade – he cannot give up his ♥K, because the moment he discards it, the declarer`s ♥Q becomes a winner.

As East discarded a spade, South would have had to discard the ♥Q, while West would have played his last trump (trick 10). Then the declarer could have led a small spade from dummy and taken the last three tricks with his three spades, as his ♠5 had become a winner (tricks 11, 12, 13).

Par Contract Analysis

The par contract on this deal is 4NT by North/South.