13th November 2019


 S  K985

 H  AJ985

 D  94

 C  107



S   AJ1043

sq
H   Q1063


D   K


C    AQ8



  EW Vul. IMPs Dealer West

South
West
North
East

Pass
Pass
1S
5D Pass Pass Pass

This deal is a defensive problem from the English Premier League in October.

Partner leads the two of spades to the five, ten and seven.  How do you defend?

Solution
 

Declarer may need to ruff clubs in dummy, so play back the diamond king.  Declarer wins with the ace, three from partner.  Now the seven of hearts is played to the two and ace and a club from dummy.  What do you play? 


Scroll down.
























 
From the carding you can read declarer for a 1183 or 1174 distribution.  You need to get partner in to play another trump.  You have to play the queen now to force an entry to partner's hand.  Declarer wins with the king, but on the next club partner can play the jack and then play a trump to leave declarer with a further club loser.


The full deal.


 Dealer  W
S K985
   
 EW Vul  H AJ985
   
    D 94
   
    C 107
   
S Q62
    S AJ1043
H K42
    H Q1063
D 63
    D K
C J5432
    C AQ8
    S 7
   
    H 7
   
    D AQJ108752
   
    C K96
   







Thanks to John Roberts for reporting this deal