Hand of the Week
| West | North | East | South |
| 3♥ | Pass | Pass | 4♠ |
| All Pass |
West leads the ♥K against this sound-looking contract. East follows with the 2. You win the trick with the ace and lay down the ace of trumps. Alas, West discards a heart. Given that hearts are certain to be 7-1 and East almost certainly has the ♣A, is there any hope for a 10th trick?
Solution
When East has the ♣A, you must rely on his having no more than four diamonds:
After drawing two more rounds trumps with the king and queen, you should play the ♦A and ♦K, discarding a heart from hand. Then, after ruffing the third round of diamonds, you put East on play with a trump.
When East wins and plays a top diamond, you will discard a club from hand. Then he must lead away from the ♣A. Dummy’s king will be your 10th trick.
