DECLARER PLAY PROBLEM #44

Rubber bridge
South dealer
Both sides vulnerable

	NORTH ♠ 7 5 3 ♥ 10 7 ♦ K 6 3 ♣ Q J 6 5 2
	SOUTH ♠ A 10 8 4 ♥ A Q ♦ A 10 8 ♣ A 9 4 3

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1 ♣	Pass	2 ♣	Pass
3 NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

West leads the heart four; East plays the king.

Plan the play.

Solution

	NORTH ♠ 7 5 3 ♥ 10 7 ♦ K 6 3 ♣ Q J 6 5 2
WEST ♠ Q 9 6 2 ♥ J 8 6 4 3 ♦ J 7 5 4 ♣ —		EAST ♠ K J ♥ K 9 5 2 ♦ Q 9 2 ♣ K 10 8 7
	SOUTH ♠ A 10 8 4 ♥ A Q ♦ A 10 8 ♣ A 9 4 3

NO HALFWAY MEASURES. Declarer needs four club tricks. By leading a low club from the closed hand at trick two, South can cope with any club split. When West has four clubs, a later second club lead towards dummy will establish the suit while the king of diamonds remains as an entry. When East has four clubs, declarer can lead towards his ace-nine of clubs when in dummy with either the queen or jack of clubs. Using the king of diamonds prematurely will make it impossible to execute these plans.

(Based on a deal and analysis from the 1964 National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament by William S. Root and Lawrence Rosler.)

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