As always, remembering the auction can help you place the opponents'
high cards. This declarer discovered everything she needed before
making her final decision.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs Game)
Hand #28
Dlr
E
Vul
None
J5
AK86
J9
AJ1052
K42
J105
K10754
83
AQ1097
72
A63
Q97
863
Q943
Q82
K64
West
North
East
South
1
Pass
2
DBL
Pass
3
All Pass
BIDDING: The
auction was standard until North made a takeout double. It worked
fine here but perhaps not if South's suit had been diamonds. It
might have been better to pass expecting South to re-open with a
takeout double.
PLAY: West led a low spade and declarer quickly saw she
must lose two spades and two diamonds. This meant she must find
the queen of clubs to make her contract. East won the spade ace
and returned a low one to West's king. Making declarer's work
easier, West next shifted to a low diamond. Again East won the
ace and returned a small diamond to West's king. Now the defense
switched to a trump and declarer stopped to consider what she had
learned. Since East held the ace and queen of spades along with
the diamond ace, he needed the club queen for his opening bid.
Therefore, after drawing trumps, declarer finessed East for the club
queen and made her contract. It may have seemed obvious to expect
opener to hold the queen but if declarer could have placed East with
the AQ of spades along with the AK of diamonds, playing West for the
club queen would have been better.
The reason declarer could place the queen of spades in the East hand is
that West would not have underled the king and queen of spades at trick
one. The defenders earned demerits here for freely furnishing so
much information but a long side suit in dummy will often cause
opponents to quickly cash their winners. If the defense had been
passive, say leading trumps at every opportunity, declarer should
attack spades and diamonds before deciding clubs.
