IMPs Dealer West All Vul.
6 4 A Q 10 8 7 Q J 9 3 A K
A K J 8 3 K 9 6 4 3 A 5 9 Q 9 7 5 2 J 5 6 8 6 5 3 2
10 2 K 10 8 7 4 2 Q J 10 7 4
The Auction:
West North East South
1 Double 3 4
4 5 All Pass
Contract: 5 Lead: 9 West led his singleton club, which dummy’s K won. South read the lead as a singleton. Should a trump be led, West would win and underlead his spade honors and East would gain entry with his Q and give his partner a ruff, thus setting the contract. South therefore played dummy’s A followed by the Q on which, when East not cover, he threw his singleton spade. After this the contract cannot be defeated for as West has the A, East cannot obtain the lead in order to give the ruff. This entry-killing play of throwing a loser on a loser can be very profitable at times. Its aims is, of course, to keep out of the lead one opponent whose lead-value ranks higher than that of his partner.