Puzzle 7F31 (Jan 96) by Richard Pavlicek

Ace Grabber

3 NT by South

	4 3 2 A 2 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
J 7 6 5 Q 9 8 — Q J 10 9 8 7		K 9 8 7 6 5 4 K 10 4 3 2 K
	A Q 10 K J 10 3 A Q J A 6 5

West Pass

North 3 NT

East All Pass

South 2 NT

You have the potential for nine tricks — two spades, three hearts, three diamonds and a club — but the lack of entries to dummy puts a damper on your finessing ability. Can you overcome this obstacle?

Make 3 NT against any defense.

Solution

1. If East plays low, he will be isolated from his partner forever. Declarer can succeed with several lines of play. Simplest is probably to lead a middle heart, queen, ace; then lead a spade toward the queen. Assume East wins the  K and returns a heart to leave the position in the diagram:

	4 — 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
J 7 9 — J 10 9 8 7		9 7 6 K 10 4 3 2 —
	Q K 3 A Q J 6 5

Cash the  Q and  K, then put East in with the last heart (throwing clubs from dummy). Win the free diamond finesse, then cash the  A and lead your last diamond to East who must give dummy your ninth trick.

2. If East unblocks the  K under the ace, the spotlight turns to West. Declarer can easily assemble eight tricks with a heart and a diamond finesse. The two diamond winners will force West to part with a good club (to retain J-x in spades), then he can be endplayed with a club to force a spade lead.

If you tried to make this contract with other approaches, you would find yourself frustrated by East’s ability to unblock in spades. The key is to get him to commit himself early.