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I appreciate declarer-play hands where declarer gives himself a little extra chance. Here's one of my favorites. Tommy Sanders, of Nashville, was South. As you can see, with West holding four diamonds to the queen, there's no legitimate play for the 4 contract. If West had held three diamonds to start with, Sanders could win the first trick, ruff a diamond, draw trumps, and give up one diamond trick to the bare queen. The jack would then be high, and as long as he guesses the club position, he takes 10 tricks.

Another way to score the jack of diamonds is to play low at trick one. Win the trump return, ruff a diamond in dummy, and if the queen was third originally, it will drop under the ace. This is the way Sanders did it, which gave him an extra little chance. You see, when he played low at trick one, West thought that his partner held the ace-king of diamonds. When Sanders won the trump return at trick two, ruffed a diamond and led a spade, West won the trick and, anxious to cash some diamond tricks, returned a diamond ... smack into the mashed potatoes.

Have a nice weekend!

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