Vul: West
Dir: Both |  9 4
 A 10 9 3
 5 3 2
 7 6 5 4
| | | |
| |
Q 8 3 2
2
J 7 6
K J 10 9 3
| | | | | 6
K J 7 5
A Q 10 9 8
A Q 2
|
| | | | A K J 10 7 5
Q 8 6 4
K 4
8
| | | | |
I held the South cards and made a play that I've never seen before. East opened 1 and I overcalled 1. This was passed back to East who doubled. I redoubled to show extras and West's 2 came back to me. I tried 2 which bought the contract: | | | | | | LC | | Pass | Pass | 1 | 1 |
| Pass | Pass | Dbl | Rdbl |
| 2 | Pass | Pass | 2 |
| (All Pass) | | | |
West led the 2, obviously (from the auction) a singleton. If I played low from dummy, I knew I would be defeated. East would win the K, issue a heart ruff, and have the entries to issue two more heart ruffs--I'd lose the first 6 tricks.
What about winning the A at trick one? | Also no good. I'd have to start trumps. The defense would be able to play minors at me. I'd never have time to develop a second heart trick. For example, say I win the A and play trump. When West gets in he plays clubs, tapping me. I draw trump, but never have time to develop anything other than 5 spade tricks, the A and the K.
After trying all the possibilities in my mind, and realizing they all fail, I came up with a good idea. I glanced at the opponents' convention card and noticed that they lead LOW from three small. This gave me a chance. I played low from dummy at trick one and casually dropped the Q under East's king! Put yourself in East's shoes.
The lead (2) now looks to East be from xxx. Declarer has unblocked the Q from Qx. East fell into my trap. He couldn't figure out that the lead was a singleton. He did not play any more hearts--ever. East went into passive mode--thinking he had the hearts stopped. This is just what I needed.
East shifted to a trump which ran to West's queen. West played a diamond to East's ace and East still did not get the message. He continued diamonds. I won, drew trumps and now had the timing to set up my extra heart trick. East looked shocked when West showed out on the second heart. I ended up with five spades, the K and two heart tricks to make 110. As the title says, it was a tricky trick one.