Without the Count

Posted by Nick Hughes on Friday, 31 October 2014 at 09:50

Andrew Mill showed how to make this tough game from Round 5

On a club lead to the ace, South should return ♥K, putting North to the test. Winning is to overtake to cash ♥Q and a ruff. Easy.

The problem for North is that South's ♥K could be a doubleton, when overtaking to cash ♥Q sets up dummy's ♥9. Awkward. 

Mill showed that the hands can be made if North ducks. Win the trump switch in hand to ruff a club then draw trumps and cash ♣K. At this point North is down to ♥ AQ, ♦ T987. A diamond pitch is clearly fatal so North has to pitch ♥Q. This allowed Mill to lead a heart to set up his 10th trick.