Herb Caen, a journalist, columnist and author who died in 1997, said, "A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew."
In some ways, that applies to this deal if South misplays and West defends well.
South is in four hearts. West leads the club king. Assuming declarer ducks the first trick, takes the club continuation, plays a spade to dummy's ace, and runs the heart seven, how should West defend?
Yes, this is the same layout as yesterday's. Then, we discovered that South should immediately attack diamonds, discard a spade from dummy on the third diamond, and ruff his spade jack on the board.
But if South errs, playing a spade to the ace at trick three, East should drop his 10, telling his partner that he does not have the jack. (Play the top honor of a sequence when someone has already played a higher card than your best.) And when declarer takes the trump finesse, West should duck smoothly. If South takes the bait, he will repeat the heart finesse. Then West can pounce with his king and return his remaining trump to kill the spade ruff on the board. Now the contract must fail.
Interestingly, if South takes the first trick with his club ace, plays a spade to dummy's ace, and runs the heart eight, West should win with his king and return a trump. Then, when East gets in with his diamond ace, he plays a club to West's 10, and West leads his last heart to stop the spade ruff.
In some ways, that applies to this deal if South misplays and West defends well.
South is in four hearts. West leads the club king. Assuming declarer ducks the first trick, takes the club continuation, plays a spade to dummy's ace, and runs the heart seven, how should West defend?
Yes, this is the same layout as yesterday's. Then, we discovered that South should immediately attack diamonds, discard a spade from dummy on the third diamond, and ruff his spade jack on the board.
But if South errs, playing a spade to the ace at trick three, East should drop his 10, telling his partner that he does not have the jack. (Play the top honor of a sequence when someone has already played a higher card than your best.) And when declarer takes the trump finesse, West should duck smoothly. If South takes the bait, he will repeat the heart finesse. Then West can pounce with his king and return his remaining trump to kill the spade ruff on the board. Now the contract must fail.
Interestingly, if South takes the first trick with his club ace, plays a spade to dummy's ace, and runs the heart eight, West should win with his king and return a trump. Then, when East gets in with his diamond ace, he plays a club to West's 10, and West leads his last heart to stop the spade ruff.