20th April 2016



Dealer East
S
A83    
Love All
H
4    
    D AQ642    
    C AK54
   
S
Q10752
    S
6
H
Q8
    H
AJ109652
D
K9
    D
J1083
C
10862
    C
9
    S
KJ97
   
    H
K73
   
    D
75
   
    C
QJ73
   




Dealer West

South
West
North
East



3H
Pass Pass
Double Pass
4S Pass Pass Pass


Today's deal is from the Goldstone Cup semi-final between Michael Byrne's and Raymond Semp's teams.
After Raymond had opened three hearts. Alan Mould ended up in four spades, with plenty of high cards, but a rather tenuous trump holding.
Toby Nonnenmacher led a heart to the ace and Raymond returned a club.
Alan won the club in hand and took the diamond finesse.  He then played a spade to the king and finessed the spade eight which held.
Alan now analysed that the contract was cold providing that East had seven hearts and that West's distribution wasn't an unlikely 5251.
Alan played diamond ace and a diamond ruff.  If diamonds were 3-3, then he would have crossed to dummy in clubs and played diamonds with West just coming to two trump tricks.  If West had four diamonds, then cross to dummy in clubs, ruff a diamond and then play clubs.  When West had two diamonds he could overruff and return a trump, leaving West with the only trump, but then South could cash all his club winners and the king of hearts and West's last trump ruffed South's heart loser at trick thirteen.


Thanks to Alan Mould for the analysis of this deal and for playing it so well