Even the Best

Pages: Page 4 of 4

Dealer: North
Vuln: N-S
Scoring: IMPs
  1. spade10 6 3
  2. heartA 10 8 2
  3. diamondA Q 3
  4. club6 5 3
  1. spadeK
  2. heartJ 9 7 5
  3. diamond10 9 2
  4. clubQ J 9 8 7
club diamond heart spade NT
N 3 5 2 5 5
S 3 5 2 5 5
E - - - - -
W - - - - -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeJ 9 5 2
  2. heartQ 6 4 3
  3. diamondJ 8 5
  4. clubK 4

Contract: 3NT
Declarer: South
Lead: clubQ
  1. spadeA Q 8 7 4
  2. heartK
  3. diamondK 7 6 4
  4. clubA 10 2
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
Pass Pass 1club*
Pass 2diamond~ Pass 2spade
Pass 3heart# Pass 3NT
Pass Pass Pass

* Precision
~ balanced, 8-10 points
# natural

I'm sure that you are saying "Well, isn't the contract virtually cold now?". Yes indeed. Cash diamondK, cross to dummy's diamondA and lead spade6, running it if East plays low. Even if West wins with spade9 you will still have three spades, a heart, three diamonds and a club for eight tricks. Only if West has started with spadeK9x(x) and the diamonds fail to break are you likely to go down. As it happens your spade finesse wins, so you now you cash heartA and make eleven tricks with the aid of another spade finesse and a diamond break.

At the table, multiple world champion Eric Rodwell led the three of spades from the dummy instead of the six at trick five. Although the finesse won, he was cut off from dummy and decide to exit with a low diamond in the hope that East started with only a singleton club and hence would be end-played. No such luck.
So the comforting message is - even the very best make silly mistakes sometimes.
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