BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

You are West, declarer in 6 ♣ , against which North leads the ♥ A, and follows with another heart. What is your best line of play?

DISCARD a spade from dummy on North’s second heart, and win in hand with ♥ K, the lucky lead having established this card for you.

But you still have problems, and your best chance, though far from infallible, is a ‘dummy reversal’.

Lead a diamond to the ace and ruff the ♦ 6 low in your own hand. cash ♣ Q and lead your ♣ 7 to dummy’s ♣ K, provided both defenders have followed to the second club trick. ruff the ♦ 9 with your ♣ J, cross to dummy via the ♠ a and play the ♣ a. if the trumps have broken 3-2 you are now home and dry.

Even if trumps break 4-1, you still have a chance. in that case, you should lead a third club to his ♣ J, instead of ruffing a second diamond, and return to dummy via the ♠ a to draw the fourth club with dummy’s ♣ a. You now have to rely on a diamond break or, failing that, you still have the spade finesse to fall back on.