Almost Identical Situation

Pages: Page 5 of 5

Dealer: West
Vuln: Love All
Scoring: IMPs
  1. spadeJ 10 9 7
  2. heartJ 8 5 2
  3. diamond2
  4. club7 4 3 2
  1. spade4 2
  2. heartK Q 7 4
  3. diamondK 10 8 5
  4. clubA Q J
club diamond heart spade NT
N - - - - -
S - - - - -
E 4 6 5 4 6
W 3 6 5 4 6
Green square in centre
  1. spadeK Q 8 6 3
  2. heartA 9
  3. diamondA Q 4 3
  4. club8 5

Contract: 6diamond
Declarer: West
Lead: club4
  1. spadeA 5
  2. heart10 6 3
  3. diamondJ 9 7 6
  4. clubK 10 9 6
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
1diamond Pass 1spade Pass
1NT Pass 2club* Dble
2diamond Pass 3diamond Pass
3NT Pass 4diamond Pass
4heart Pass 4NT~ Pass
5heart Pass 6diamond Pass
Pass Pass

* enquiy
~ RKCB

1) South should always play the nine from diamond9x in such situations - it gives declarer a losing "brilliancy" option if North has started with diamondJxx.
2) Declarer could have given himself a better chance! How? By crossing to heartA at trick two and then cashing diamondA. Why should that make such a difference? Well South could of course contribute the nine as before, but following in 2nd position how is he to know that his partner doesn't hold the singleton ten? In this case he might have sacrificed a sure trump trick. Fanciful? Maybe, but don't take my word for it - H.W.Kelsey described an almost identical situation in one of his classic books!
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