End Play By Frank Stewart

Source: The Day – 17 Jul 2000 Dealer West. All Vul

	K 9 5 3 2 7 6 3 A K 9 9 2
A 7 Q J 10 9 4 7 4 A Q 10 5		J 10 8 6 5 2 6 3 2 J 8 7 4
	Q 4 A K 8 Q J 10 8 5 K 6 3

West	North	East	South
1	1	Pass	3NT
Pass	Pass	Pass

Opening lead: Q

I’ll bet most players think their dummy play is more effective than their defense. (On defense, alas, they have a partner to cope with.) Would you rather try to make today’s 3NT or try to beat it? Say South wins the first heart and leads a low spade through West, who opened the bidding. West plays low, and South takes the king and next runs five diamonds. West can pitch two clubs, but if he Ihrows a third club, South can lead a low club to drop the ace. If West throws a heart, South leads the ace and then a low heart; and West must give South the king of clubs at the end. End Play In real life, an expert West might prevail: He’d see the end play coming and would pitch one heart and the five and queen of clubs. If South thought West began with AJ7 QJ1094 74 AQ5, he’d lead a club and go down. (But yes, an expert West might play the jack of spades at Trick Two if he had that hand, avoiding the end play.) So, would you rather try to make 3NT or try to beat it?