Dealer
: South
Vuln : East-West |
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The
winning defense is to return a diamond
at trick two, not
a club,
despite partner's
3-of-spades lead, which appears to be a
suit-preference lead. If you return a diamond,
declarer will
eventually lose two club tricks
and one more trump trick.
When
this hand was dealt in last year's
Cavendish Invitational
Pairs,
many South
players declared 4 doubled. West doubled
because
he knew
his partner held a void in
spades and was sure of at least
the first
three tricks. He led a suit-preference 3.
East ruffed with
the 5 of
hearts and returned
a club for another spade ruff. But the
club suit
was frozen. South was able to play the 3 of
clubs
on the club
return, and West won his
ace and gave partner another ruff
with the
king of hearts. That, however, was the end of
the affair. South
won
the club return at trick
four and finessed West's queen of
hearts to
score 590.
Why
should South know to play low if a club
is returned at trick
two?
Well, for one thing,
West doubled, and for another, he led
that 3
of
spades, indicating a club entry.
Have
a nice weekend. |