I had posted this hand on bridgebase forums a few years back, as a play problem for the intermediate players.
This was the hand:
You are South, in a contract of 4NT in a team game (don't ask how you got there, this is a play problem). West leads the heart 2, you play the 9, and East plays the K which you win with the A.
[Please stop reading if you want to try and solve this first]
You have 3 hearts, 3 diamonds and 1 club. You can get 2 spades for sure and have a good chance of a third spade trick (remember, you are in 4NT).
Now if you play spade KQJ, then West with ATxx, can duck twice (or win second round). Now you are one entry short to cash the third spade and will need to rely on the club finesse.
Consider what happens when you play a spade to the 9 after winning the heart Ace. Even if it loses to the T, East cannot attack your dummy entry. This will allow you to lose two spade tricks while keeping the only entry in dummy to cash the third spade. If you play spades from the top, you might have to use up the dummy entry to setup the spades.
This only loses to the playing from the top only when East has a singleton T.
Playing to the K first and then to the 9 loses to Tx with East.
[Apologies to Charles Goren for swiping the title from his BOLS tip]
This was the hand:
| IMPS None | North ♠ KQJ97 ♥ 93 ♦ 853 ♣ AQ4 | |
| South ♠ 42 ♥ AQJ4 ♦ AKQ ♣ 6532 |
You are South, in a contract of 4NT in a team game (don't ask how you got there, this is a play problem). West leads the heart 2, you play the 9, and East plays the K which you win with the A.
[Please stop reading if you want to try and solve this first]
You have 3 hearts, 3 diamonds and 1 club. You can get 2 spades for sure and have a good chance of a third spade trick (remember, you are in 4NT).
Now if you play spade KQJ, then West with ATxx, can duck twice (or win second round). Now you are one entry short to cash the third spade and will need to rely on the club finesse.
Consider what happens when you play a spade to the 9 after winning the heart Ace. Even if it loses to the T, East cannot attack your dummy entry. This will allow you to lose two spade tricks while keeping the only entry in dummy to cash the third spade. If you play spades from the top, you might have to use up the dummy entry to setup the spades.
This only loses to the playing from the top only when East has a singleton T.
Playing to the K first and then to the 9 loses to Tx with East.
[Apologies to Charles Goren for swiping the title from his BOLS tip]
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