Why Did I Not See This 22 Years Ago

Pages: Page 5 of 5

Dealer: East
Vuln: Love All
Scoring: Rubber
  1. spade—
  2. heartA Q 8 7
  3. diamondA Q 10 8 3
  4. clubA 7 5 2
  1. spadeQ 9 7 5 3 2
  2. heart6 4 2
  3. diamondJ 7 4
  4. club8
club diamond heart spade NT
N 6 5 6 - 3
S 5 5 6 - 3
E - - - 2 -
W - - - 2 -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeK J 10 8 6 4
  2. heart5
  3. diamondK 5 2
  4. clubQ J 6

Contract: 6heart
Declarer: South
Lead: club8
  1. spadeA
  2. heartK J 10 9 3
  3. diamond9 6
  4. clubK 10 9 4 3
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
1spade 2heart
3spade 4NT* Pass 5club
Pass 6heart End

* what does this mean?

Note that both 6heart and 6club play a lot more easily by North - although it is almost impossible to reach them via a plausible auction. The diamond suit is protected from attack so presumably East would lead spadeK and dummy wins spadeA while North throws a loser. The play from then on is similar - in 6heart three rounds of trumps are drawn, while just clubAK are cashed followed by three hearts. East is then put on play with clubQ to concede a ruff and discard.

After I had written this article I received a bit of a shock when another friend spotted that as the original West had failed to lead a diamond this line could also have been applied at the table!

Note: 04/10/2023 As I proofread this article it occurs to me that there is a much simpler line. Declarer wins clubK, draws trumps ending in hand, cashes the spadeA pitching a minor suit card from dummy and simply exits with a club. East in endplayed and either leads into the diamond tence or concedes a ruff and discard. Why did I not see this virtually 100% line 22 years ago!!?
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