Puzzle This

To enjoy all of those lovely clubs in dummy, you’re going to need an entry back to the table to run the suit after you let the defense get their natural club trick (unless you are lucky enough to find a defender with the doubleton ♣Q J). So at trick one, don’t automatically call for a heart honor from dummy. If you do, a smart East player will duck holding the ♥K, killing the dummy. Better is to simply duck the heart lead around to your ace. Later, you can play a heart to the queen, driving out the king, making your ♥J a sure entry.

But what if clubs don’t behave? Say one of the defenders has Q–J–x–x: what then? Well, if that defender is West, you can handle it. After winning the ♥A at trick one, cash the ♣A and play a second club, playing low from dummy unless West covers. This safety play will allow you to hold your club losers to one. And what if East has ♣Q J x x? You can’t make it, but you will have given yourself the best chance.