32
                                        KQ3
                                        J9653
                                        Q84

        1074                                                             K986
        1076                                                             -
        K104                                                            A87
        J92                                                               AK107653

                                        AQ54
                                        AJ98542
                                        Q2
                                        -

Contract Four Hearts, opening lead the Jack of Clubs:

 Well, what did you do?  Ruff the opening lead, enter dummy with a trump, finesse the spade Queen, cash the Ace, ruff a spade, ruff a club, ruff a spade, ruff a club and draw trumps for 11 tricks?  easy wasn't  it!  This play obviously succeeds in 5H too.

But what if the spade King had been wrong?  Then  a trump back will remove a spade ruff, leave you a trick short and you will have to attempt to negotiate the diamonds for an extra trick, with just one entry left.  You will probably need the diamonds 3-3 or the 10 of diamonds on the right side.  Everything is right isn't it!

This hand actually turned up during a Hubert Phillips third round match in October this year against a good Bristol team, with yours truly at the helm as South..  I decided that the spade queen was a 'red herring' and that the contract was virtually secure if the clubs were 6-4 by spurning the finesse and I played Ace and another spade.  This would ensure I got enough spade ruffs in for my contract.  However, West won the second spade and led a trump. ducked round to my 5.  I continued with my plan and ruffed the third spade, ruffed a club and ruffed my last (the Queen) of spades in Dummy.  On this last spade, West discarded a (his last!) club.  Undeterred I led my last Club from Dummy and I had to ruff low, expecting West to follow with the 10 (he did lead the Club Jack remember!).  However, he overuffed with the heart 10 and then the opposition cashed AK of diamonds for one off!  Was I unlucky?  You decide!!  I had to explain this tro my team-mates with the opposition having made 5H at their table!

The Good News?  we still won the match..........
  

Clive Keep   November 2004