Test Your Play

The declarers who made an overtrick played like this: They won the ♦A (nice play), crossed to a club, ruffed a diamond, crossed to a club, ruffed a diamond, played the ♥A K Q discarding a spade, and led a club toward the jack.

East – who happened to have ♣Q 9 x x – won the club, cashed a diamond (diamonds were 4–4), and then led a spade. Declarer won with the ace and pitched dummy’s last spade on the ♣J. They wound up losing one club and one diamond. Tie for top! Bridge is such an easy game.

The danger is that West has led a doubleton club holding ♥Q x x x. Your answer is to play the ♥A K: If hearts are 3–2, the most you can lose is a heart, a spade and a club.

If East has four hearts, you should be safe. Drive out the ♥Q, and if East wins and returns a diamond, win in dummy and lead the ♠K. Only if West has the ♠A and East a singleton diamond or a doubleton club can you go wrong.

The more likely scenario finds West with four hearts to the queen. Now if you exit with a high heart, West wins, puts East in with a spade and gets a club ruff, the setting trick.

There is a possible way out. After winning the ♥A K, play the ♦A K and another diamond. If East shows out on the third diamond or plays the lowest outstanding diamond (meaning that West will win the trick), discard a spade, their lifeline to getting a club ruff.