Puzzle 7F29 (Sep 95) by Richard Pavlicek
Puzzle 7F29 (Sep 95) by Richard Pavlicek
3 NT by South
 |  3 2 K 10 9 8 7 K 8 7 6 K J | |
| Q 9 8 7 6 5 A Q 6 5 A 10 10 | ![[W - E]](t.gif) | 10 J 2 J 9 2 A 8 7 6 5 4 3 |
| A K J 4 4 3 Q 5 4 3 Q 9 2 |
| West 1 Pass | North 2 3 NT | East Pass All Pass | South 1 2 NT |
Clearly, a spade lead is disastrous — declarer gets three spades, three diamonds (by first leading low through West), two clubs and a heart with routine play. And after a passive lead, West must be careful not to get endplayed.
Take it from there.
Solution K, South the Q; then a heart to the king and another heart put the defenders at bay. If East wins and clears the clubs, West will soon be squeezed out of one top heart and endplayed with the other.
The only way to relieve this pressure on West is for East to establish his club suit, and this requires some fancy footwork. East must win the first club and return another, on which West must ditch the ace of diamonds. Assume declarer wins in dummy and leads a low diamond; East must play the jack (else South will duck to West). South wins the Q, North wins the K, then a third diamond puts East on lead in this position:
| 3 2 K 10 9 8 7 8 — | |
| Q 9 8 7 A Q 6 5 — — | | 10 J 2 — 8 7 6 5 4 |
| A K J 4 4 3 5 Q |
East must return a club to set up his suit. West cannot part with a spade (else South will lead the J), and his two low hearts are crucial to avoid an endplay. (If West discards a low heart, South leads a heart and ducks if West inserts the queen.) Therefore, West ditches the queen of hearts. Finally, when South leads his last diamond, West completes the spectacle by ditching the ace of hearts to leave declarer helpless — and no doubt speechless.
Well, isn’t that how you would defend at the table?
Copyright © 1995 Richard Pavlicek. All rights reserved.