Crucial Decision

Pages: Page 5 of 5

Dealer: North
Vuln: E-W
Scoring: Pairs
  1. spade—
  2. heartA Q J 10 9 5 3
  3. diamondQ
  4. club10 9 8 3 2
  1. spadeQ
  2. heart7 6 4
  3. diamondA 8 7 4 3 2
  4. clubA J 4
club diamond heart spade NT
N 2 - 3 - 2
S 2 - 3 1 2
E - 1 - - -
W - 1 - - -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeA J 8 7 3 2
  2. heart8 2
  3. diamond9 6
  4. clubQ 6 5

Contract: 4heart
Declarer: North
Lead: diamond9
  1. spadeK 10 9 6 5 4
  2. heartK
  3. diamondK J 10 5
  4. clubK 7
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
4heart Pass Pass
Pass
On an opening diamond lead West wins and might misguidedly continue with another hoping that East can ruff, but declarer is still fixed. Although one club loser disappears, East can ruff any diamond continuation and North will still lose three club tricks. With the defence having diamondA safely in the keep-net, North has no winning line even if West switches to a trump or spadeQ at trick two.

On a initial club lead West beats dummy's card and switches, perhaps to a trump. With the potential club end-play position resolved for the defence, North still loses four minor suit tricks.
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