#1 Neither Vulnerable
South West North East
1NT Pass 4♥ Pass
4♠ Pass
North
♠ A J 9 8 6 5
♥ K 2
♦ 5 3 2
♣ K 5
West East
♠ ♠
♥ ♥
♦ ♦
♣ 10 ♣
South (you)
♠ K 2
♥ A 7 5 3
♦ K 7 4
♣ A Q J 4
West leads the ♣10. What is South’s plan?
As South, you are vulnerable in diamonds from an attack by East ~ The Danger Hand. The idea is to keep East from getting in before you can use your clubs to discard diamonds from dummy. Win the ♣K, play the K of spades (don’t take spade finesse) and play the A of clubs discarding a diamond.
If West holds the ♠Q, then South’s ♦K is safe. If East holds the ♠Q, the odds are that clubs will go around twice before East trumps in…meaning, South will discard a diamond from North’s hand while East is trumping in. Declarer ends up with one spade (♠Q) and two (only) diamonds. Making 4!
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What’s Your Play? 4-1

