The
final deal of a Goldstone quarter final match
North's
two notrump was a game forcing raise in
hearts and four hearts showed a minimum.
You
choose to lead a diamond, partner plays the
five, declarer wins with the king and runs
the jack of hearts to partner's king.
Partner
now plays the club king which declarer wins
with the ace while you play the four
(standard count).
Declarer
draws another trump, partner following, then
cashes two more diamonds with everybody
following and plays a club to partner's
queen.
Partner
now plays the four of spades, declarer the
three. How do you defend?
Scroll
down when you have decided.
Declarer's
distribution is, unfortunately for him, the
same as dummy's.
You
must play low on this spade.
If
declarer has Qxx in spades he will lose two
tricks anyway, if he has K9x of spades then
nothing will beat the contract, but if he
has Kxx then you have to duck.
The
full deal was
If declarer had played the seven of spades
instead of the three West's duck would not
work as declarer can now cross to table in
trumps and lead the spade jack.
East
should have exited with the spade nine to
ensure the defeat of the contract.
Note
that an initial club lead will beat the
contract easily on a normal line of play.
|