Handle With Care

West led the ♠K. Declarer could see 10 easy tricks on a 3-2 trump division, so he turned his attention to what could be done if trumps were 4-1. There were two ways to succeed in that event: a 3-3 club break or to make all of his low trumps by ruffing spades in hand. As entries to dummy were at a premium, after winning the first trick with dummy’s ♠A, declarer ruffed a spade in hand at trick two. He continued by cashing the ♥A and ♥K in that order.

Once the 4-1 break in trumps was revealed, declarer ruffed a second spade low in hand. After cashing the ♥Q, declarer took the precaution of playing off his ♦A, followed by the ♣K. After crossing to dummy with a club to the ace, declarer led dummy’s remaining spade. East was stymied. If he had discarded, declarer would have made the ♥ for his 10th trick. So East ruffed in with the ♥J. Declarer discarded his club loser and claimed the ♥7 as his 10th trick. If the trumps had been 3-2, declarer would have ruffed a spade at trick five, drawn the last trump with his queen and claimed 10 tricks. The full deal: