K93
                                          KJ832
                                          J106
                                          J3
        65                                                           1087
        AQ94                                                      75
        K732                                                       Q9
        972                                                          AK10854

                                         AQJ42
                                         106
                                         A854
                                         Q6

The 6 of spades was led, ducked in dummy and won in hand with the Spade Queen.  The 10 of hearts was played from hand and East rose with the Ace and returned a spade, won in hand with the Ace.  Then came the 6 of hearts to the Jack. Now what?  Play for a 3-3 or 4-2 heart break?  Who has the outstanding trump?  The odds favour the hearts being 4-2 and if the King is played and ruffed by East there is no way back to any hearts that might be set up later.  I therefore ruffed a low heart in hand, East discarding a club.  A spade back to the King drew the last spade and the King and last heart were played, two clubs being discarded from hand. West discarded the diamond 2 on the 5th Heart.  Now what?  You now have 7 tricks in the bag and only diamonds remain to make some more.  The diamond Jack was led from dummy, with the 9 appearing from East.  What is the most likely distribution?  Is there really King or Queen doubleton on my right?  Anyway I run the Jack of diamonds to the King and ruff the club return in hand.  I then play the diamond ace from hand, dropping the Queen on my right - carefully unblocking the 10 in dummy.  The 8 and 5 of diamonds were now winners for a total of eleven tricks and all the available match points. 

Did we qualify for the final?  Have a look at the EBU web site...... - or Recent News!
 
  

Clive Keep April 2006