Give yourself another chance

Michael Crichton, who had five wives while writing his novels and screenplays, claimed, “I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.”

After partner has tabled the dummy, if it seems that your contract is a certainty, take a few moments to look for a possible snag. Then consider how you might be able to overcome, say, a bad split in a key suit.

Today’s deal fits nicely into this mold, but the extra edge is deceptively difficult to detect.

West leads the heart queen against three no-trump. How is South in danger of defeat? How can he survive?

When declarer saw the dummy, he wondered if they might have missed a slam. This lulled him into a fatal false sense of security. After winning with dummy’s heart king, South immediately played on diamonds. West’s spade discard on the second round was a jolt. Declarer cashed dummy’s last diamond winner and played a club to his queen. However, West won with the king and drove out the heart ace. South could take only the eight top tricks with which he started.

Declarer overlooked that if the diamonds were running, or if the club finesse was working, each could be kept on the back burner. However, if the diamonds were breaking badly and the club finesse was losing, there was another chance to generate a ninth trick. South should have immediately played three rounds of spades. If they split 3-3 or East had two honors doubleton, dummy’s spade nine would become established as South’s ninth trick. If, though, the spades didn’t cooperate, the diamond split and club finesse would still be simmering.