| West | North | East | South |
| 2♥ | Pass | ||
| Pass | Dbl | Pass | 3♠ |
| Pass | 6♠ | All Pass |
Weak two-bids are popular for their preemptive value. Sometimes, however, the information provided to the opposition can come back to haunt the weak two-bidder.
West led the ♥2, a clear signal that East started with six hearts. Winning the ♥A at trick one, declarer could count only 11 tricks. Prospects for a 12th were bleak, to say the least.
In situations such as this, where one opponent has no way to get to the winners in his partner’s hand, the best plan is a strip and endplay. Therefore, after cashing the ♠A and ♠K, declarer cashed the ♦A and ♦K, returned to hand with the trump queen to play the ♦Q, discarding a low heart from dummy.
Now came the top two clubs and the ♣8. West was on lead with nothing but clubs and diamonds. Either one would allow declarer to discard the ♥9 from dummy as declarer ruffed in hand. Slam bid and made.
The full deal:
