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You are on your own: you know that! Partner is there just to follow suit. The signs look ominous. What can you do to beat the contract?

 

1NT showed 15-17 hcp (OK, on some days, it might even be 14!). East, with 10 hcp, showed 5 hearts and then, rather ignoring your take-out double, showed their second suit. West closed proceedings with 3NT.

You lead Q hoping for some good news and kind of got it with dummy’s singleton and a kind of encouraging card from your partner. Declarer ducked this and you continued a diamond to your partner’s 10 and declarer’s K.  However, declarer, West,  plays K and a second heart. How are you feeling about beating this contract? It looks like 5 rounds of hearts are about to be played? Some discarding ahead!

Let’s dispel the vague possibility that your partner will hold a jack. Have you noticed you hold three of them and the other one is in dummy? The only cards that could save partner from being a Yarborough are a couple of 10’s and they have produced 10 already! The 10 seems to be an irrelevant card.

So, you will soon have to find three discards. Assuming that West does not have a double stop in diamonds, you will aim to win the lead with A and cash four diamond tricks. Dream on! What will your three discards be? 6, J and a bit of head-scratching!

Tom Jacob was one defender in this position and he foresaw the problem early. His first discard was 9. Well, you just have to hang on to those 4 remaining diamonds, don’t you!

After that, Tom threw his two spades (not the ace!) and awaited what came next.

 

South, Tom’s partner and wife, Steph, did still have an important discard to make on the 5th heart and threw a diamond, removing any danger of the suit being blocked should North win the lead in time. Throwing a club would have been fatal. West had 6 tricks and could not afford to lose the lead. They needed three club tricks.

They cashed K and down came J from Tom. The moment of truth had come and they played South for Q73 by finessing and duly went down two tricks.

 
                              Tom and Steph Jacob

Could West have guessed correctly? There was a slight clue in North’s take-out double, suggesting a balanced hand in the other three suits though North could easily have been 4252 shape.

3NT from West can always make by squeezing North as above. Had North thrown a diamond, West can guess now to play for diamonds now 4-4 and give up a trick to the A.  

The other making game is 4 by West, always the declarer after a transfer though even if East declares, only 10 lead from South beats the contract. On a lower diamond lead, East can insert 9 and retain control of the deal when they give up a club trick to North.

Beating 3NT was vital for Tom and Steph as their teammates stopped rather conservatively in 3. Were you aware to the danger as North early enough?

Richard Solomon

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