Hand of the Week #216 (Solution) ♥

Given North’s lead against our 2NT contract, we are in some trouble here. Once our ♦A is dislodged, we are wide open in diamonds, so it is likely we will need to get our 8 tricks (or more!) fairly quickly. From a top tricks perspective we have 2 spades, no hearts, 1 diamond and 2 clubs, so 5 tricks that we can win without losing the lead. We will need at least 3 more tricks if we are to make our contract, so it looks as if we are going to have to give up the lead and hope that the opponents cannot win enough tricks to defeat us at that stage. Our best bet is to duck the diamonds twice, as per ‘the rule of 7‘, and then once our ♦A is forced at trick 3 we should turn our attention to hearts. In the worst case scenario, driving out the ♥A will set up 2 extra tricks to get our total tricks to 7, but there is a chance that we could establish a length trick in hearts too, if they break 3-3. If we try another suit instead of hearts, not only will we not be necessarily setting up any tricks (as we already have top tricks there) but we also could be setting up a defensive trick for the opponents which could lead to our demise.

So, duck the opening diamond lead, and when South returns a diamond, duck that as well. Win the third round of diamonds in hand, throwing a club or spade from the dummy in the process. Next, play a low heart towards the ♥K waiting to see if the opponents take their Ace. If they duck we should just keep playing hearts until eventually they take their ♥A. As it happens, South is likely to squash our ♥K with their ♥A straight away, but they have no more diamonds, and so South has to return a club, heart or spade. Whatever they return we can win and then cash our top heart tricks to test the break there. As you can see, the opponents are kind enough to hold 3 hearts each, so our 4th heart in hand becomes a length winner. This length winner in hearts is our all-important 8th trick as we now have: 2 spades, 3 hearts, 1 diamond and 2 clubs. So we should now cash out for 8 tricks and surrender the rest to the opponents, 2NT just made!

The key to this hand is giving ourselves the best chance to get to 8 tricks without giving the opponents the opportunity to get to 6 or more. That sounds quite obvious, but in practice it means avoiding the black suits on this hand. If we were to try to tackle spades or clubs, hoping for a 3-3 break there instead, we would have to give up the lead at some point. At that stage the opponents could easily have 4 diamonds, 1 heart and 1 club/spade to defeat our contract. Therefore, tackling the hearts is the best bet as it gives the opponents the trick they were sure to make anyway (♥A) whilst still establishing extra tricks for our side.