#4 Both Vulnerable
South West North East
1NT Pass 3NT AP
West leads the ♥7.
East wins the ♥A and returns the ♥10.
South wins the ♥K. West follows with the ♥6.
What’s South’s plan?
North Dummy
♠ K J 8 5
♥ 4 3 2
♦ 9 3 2
♣ A K 5
West East
♠ ♠
♥ 7 ♥
♦ ♦
♣ ♣
South Declarer
♠ A 10 9 6
♥ K Q 5
♦ A 8 7
♣ Q J 3
As South, win the ♥K at trick two (higher of equal honors). South has 2 spades, 2 hearts, 1 diamond and 3 clubs. The 9th trick will come by finding the ♠Q. The Law of Vacant spots should be used for placing the ♠Q – West led the ♥7 and followed with the ♥6. The other lower spots are showing in dummy and Declarer’s hand so West started with 5 hearts and East started with 2 hearts. If West started with 5 hearts, then West has 8 “vacant spots” – East has 2 hearts and 11”vacant spots”. Play the defender who has more vacant spots for the missing queen which is East here. If South wanted to fill more vacant spots, South could cash three round of clubs but South doesn’t get any more information than before…
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