#11 North South Vulnerable
West North East South
4♠ Pass Pass 5♥
Pass 6♥ AP
North
♠ A K
♥ 9 8 5
♦ J 9 4 2
♣ A Q 10 7
West East
♠ Q ♠
♥ ♥ 2
♦ ♦
♣ ♣
South (you)
♠ 8 6
♥ A K Q J 10 6
♦ A 6
♣ K 8 6
West leads the ♠Q. East trumps and returns the ♦K. What is South’s plan?
As South, when East ruffs the opening spade lead, West is known to have 9 spades. At trick two, West discards on the ♦A, West must be void in both hearts (did not trump the diamond) and diamonds and therefore holds four clubs.
As South haas a diamond loser, South must dispose of it on dummy’s 4th club. It helps to know that West has four clubs and East two. After drawing trumps, cash the ♣A, return to the ♣K and lead a club to the ♣10. When counting, no need to count both hands. Count the hand of the player with the known long suit. Once you have the count on one hand, you have it on the other hand.
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