A Magnificent Hand


Q 4 3
J 8
A 9 7 4
Q J 9 8
K J 10 9 8 5 2
A Q 10 7 4 K 6 5 3 2
8 6 5 3 ------
6 4 3 7 2
A 7 6
9
K Q J 10 2 Contract: 5 dia, 6 clubs
A K 10 5 Opening lead: K of spdes (diamonds), 3 of clubs (clubs)

Two declarers, one in the unbalanced suit, picking up all the tricks he could, the other rightly in the balanced suit, bidding to the right level (little slam), but misplaying the hand by a trick. Quel dommage!
There isn't much to say about the declarer play of the diamond declarer. The lead of the stiff K of spades neither helped nor hurt either side. Declarer could've dropped it himself later, or even, for that matter, let the K hold for a winner, subsequently winning tricks with the A & Q.
Declarer took the trick, however, and there's not much to work out for the remainder of the hand, as declarer pulls in two spade winners (eventually), five diamonds and four clubs for eleven. The play of the other declarer, however is something else, since now the stiff K becomes very important, and a slam is at stake.
Declarer took opening club lead, cashed two more club tricks, then 5 diamond tricks, then lost a heart to West's Q, won a tenth-round K of spades lead, followed by a lead to the Q of spades, followed by a spade to East's J, and a lead to West's A of hearts. How could he have done better?
Of course it takes a slap-happy optimist to expect a stiff K of spades, but whether so or not, declarer's big mistake was sluffing the 8 of hearts on the fifth diamond.
That second heart is a winner, or substantially so. Elsewhere I have termed such a card, one which is the only way of increasing trump winners, as a winner-enabler. It can be ruffed in the closed hand, giving declarer five club winners. Or looking at dummy, if declarer sluffs a spade on the fifth diamond, then drops the stiff K, declarer has no spade losers on the hand.
Of course the question now is, could one have foreseen that? I've already acknowledged that one could hardly have expected a stiff K. Even so, acknowledging that, I would hafta say that sluffing a heart that can be ruffed in the closed hand when no other card can be has to be wrong. And if declarer keeps away from a wrong play here, he's going to find the cards turn up roses for him. And that's not such an outrageous thing to ask of him.