#11 Neither Vulnerable
South West North East
1♥ Pass 2♥ AP
North
♠ J 2
♥ A 6 5 3
♦ J 6 3 2
♣ J 10 4
West East
♠ ♠
♥ ♥
♦ ♦
♣ A ♣
South (you)
♠ A 6 4 3
♥ K J 7 4 2
♦ A
♣ 9 7 2
West leads the ♠6. East plays the ♠A. What is South’s plan?
As South, the idea is to trump two spades in dummy after playing the ♥AK. Timing is important however. If you play the ♥AK and then concede a spade, if one of the defender’s started with three hearts, that player may win the spade and lead the third round of hearts. Plan to duck a spade, before cashing the ♥AK. Now you can trump both spades in dummy because there are two trumps in dummy, not one.
Win the D10 return. Lead the ♠3 from South’s hand. Win the return (likely diamond) and play ♥AK. Now play ♠A, trump a spade, trump a diamond and trump south’s last spade…Losing three clues, one spade and one heart. Making 2!
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