#5 North South Vulnerable
South West North East
3♥ Pass 4♥ DBL
AP
West leads the ♠10.
East cashes the ♠AKQ and exits the ♥4.
What’s South’s plan?
North Dummy
♠ 7 6 3
♥ Q 10 8
♦ A Q 3 2
♣ A Q J
West East
♠ 10 ♠
♥ ♥
♦ ♦
♣ ♣
South Declarer
♠ J 5 4
♥ A K J 9 7 6 5
♦ 4
♣ 3 2
As South, after East exits with a trump, it appears you have to guess which minor suit finesse to take. However you have an extra chance in the diamond suit. Play the ♦A and ruff a diamond. Return to dummy with a trump and ruff another diamond. If the ♦K appears (it does!) there is no need to take a club finesse. When missing two kings and having to decide which finesse to take, check to see if one of the suits includes a singleton. If it does, try to ruff out the king of that suit. If that doesn’t work, take the finesse in the other suit.
Visit Webinars.PlayBetterBridge.com for free webinar videos called Play These Hands with Me. World Champion and Master Teacher Donna Compton walks you through her thought process of analyzing the dummy and determining the issue of the hand. She will then talk about how she makes the decision as to which technique to apply. The combination of being a world-class player, along with the ability to share her thoughts with all levels of players makes these webinar videos unique. Married to a multi-time Barry Crane Top 500 Champion and captaining the World’s Top Bridge Team gives Donna access to state-of-the-art bidding, play and defensive agreements. Join Donna today and take your game to the next level!
