Letting the Defence do the work...

[OliverC]

Sometimes you just have to sit back and let the defence do the work. Give them enough rope to hang themselves! I couldn't really have played this hand any differently, to be honest, but some Declarer's clearly felt they had to try to actively make the hand rather than allowing the Defence to make it for them.

Love All, Dealer West

You are South, holding:

South
-
KJ94
K7653
A765

Bidding (Opps silent)
North     South
1         1NT
2         2NT
3NT        All Pass

North (Dummy)
AK8542
Q106
8
KJ10

4 led

South
-
KJ94
K7653
A765

East wins the opening lead with the Ace and returns the Jack. Do you win? NO! You want Opps to establish Diamond tricks for you if possible. Moreover Opps might switch to Clubs (which takes the Club finesse for you) or Hearts (which gains you a tempo and saves you the trouble of forcing the Ace out yourself.

I therefore ducked this trick, West overtook the Jack with the Queen and continued with the 10, on which East followed with the 2.

I won this trick (shedding Spades from Dummy). What now? Since I have to force out the Ace at some point, I chose to do it now. I played a Heart to the Queen (EW ducked) and continued with the 10, which West won with the Ace. West cashed the 10 and now switched to a small Club - 9 tricks for us.

It might seem tempting to attack the Clubs as soon as possible, but you have a 50% chance of simply giving the defence another trick. Clubs was absolutely the last item on my Agenda here: 3 Hearts, 2 Spades, 1 Diamond and 2 Clubs is 8 tricks. I need to know exactly what the position is before I do anything. That is why the duck at trick 2 is so important: If the Diamonds are 5-2 I have to hope East has the Ace and I will need 3 Club tricks, but I can always deny an entry in Clubs to West.