Beware playing safe in one suit when opponents may exploit alternative

This week’s hand showcases excellent thinking by one defender, but it exposes how declarer could have denied his opponents the chance to shine.

South’s protective 1NT overcall showed 11-14pts; North raised keenly to 3NT. West led K♦. When East played 9♦ and South ducked, West formed a picture of the deal: East’s failure to play A♦ or J♦ marks South with ♦AJ3. Declarer’s duck freezes the suit. East has little, but West estimated that he might hold Q♠, so he switched to 3♠. Dummy played low, East won with Q♠ and returned 6♦, breaking open the diamonds. Now, when South lost the club finesse to West’s K♣, West could cash diamond winners to defeat the contract by three tricks Declarer should not duck trick 1. The doomed club finesse is into West, so South’s ♦J3 is protected.

East-West hold 14pts; West holds As; Q♠ could be in either hand. So, South cannot risk a spade switch or he risks losing three spades, K♦ and K♣ — or, as happened, ♠AQ, four diamonds and K♣.

Instead, he wins trick 1 with A♦, cashes four rounds of hearts ending in dummy and takes the club finesse. When this loses, if West leads a spade, dummy can rise with K♠ and cash his clubs, while if West cashes Q♦, J♦ is as an extra trick for declarer too.