 K 6 3 2
 8 4 2
 8 3 2
 K 6 3 |
| A Q J 10 5
A 3
A Q J 5
7 5 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 |
|||
| Pass | 2 |
Pass | 4 |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
Q. Declarer called for a low club from dummy and, after the queen held, West continued with the jack of clubs. When that also held the trick and West played a third club, declarer ruffed East’s ace of clubs with the ten of trumps!
Declarer next cashed the ace of trumps and then led the queen of trumps to dummy’s king, pleased to see that the outstanding trumps were two-two. A low diamond was led to the queen and, when that held, declarer played his carefully preserved five of trumps to dummy’s six.
After repeating the diamond finesse with a diamond to the jack, declarer cashed his ace of diamonds then ruffed a diamond to bring his total of tricks to eight. The ace of hearts would be his ninth trick and the jack of spades his tenth.
The main lesson for intermediate players is to unblock trumps (by ruffing the third club with the ten) if there is no danger of creating a trump loser, especially if it may clear up some entry problems in the process. In this case, doing so paved the way to take advantage of the two-two break in trumps when East began with at least three cards in diamonds headed by the king.
The complete deal:
| K 6 3 2
8 4 2
8 3 2
K 6 3 |
||
| 9 4
K J 7 6
9 7
Q J 10 9 4 |
8 7
Q 10 9 5
K 10 6 4
A 8 2 |
|
| A Q J 10 5
A 3
A Q J 5
7 5 |
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