Done in by an 8!


A Q J 9 2
10 9 6 5 2
3
Q 9
6 4 3 K 10 8 7 5
K J Q 8 7 4 3
K Q 8 4 J 9 7
8 5 3 2 ------
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A Contract: 6 no trump
A 10 6 5 2
A K J 10 7 6 4 Opening lead: J of hearts
Declarer to9ok the opening lead in the closed hand, cashed the A of diamodns and ruffed a diamond, cashed the A of spades, sluffing a diamond, and ruffed a spade, cashed three rounds of trump, lost a diamond to West's Q, ruffed the spade return and at trick 13, lost the 7 of clubs to the 8!
Declarer, I fear, simply forgot to count winners and how many diamonds are out, how many tricks he can lose, entertain a thought about the worst-case scenario in trump distribution, and to note how useless the A of spades is (for if declarer can develop a diamond winner on the odds-favored 4-3 split, the A of spades can only be used to sluff a winner).
Let's see: heart to the A, diamond A, ruff a diamond, ruff a heart so as to ruff another diamond, everybody following. A of spades, sluffing a diamond, deuce of spades, ruffing with the 10. Oh! Oh! Oh! I was about ready to chuck this hand, thinking maybe I'd picked a non-starter, until I saw that. Had declarer ruffed the A of spades, he could have coasted to his contract(well, of course, had he ruffed any spade from dummy, but the reference to the Ace is to emphasize how useless, indeed how counterproductive, it is here). Now let's count how many trump declarer has, now many West has, and how many diamonds remain at large, and the answers are that declarer has 4 trump, including the top three, West has 4 trump, including a thrice-guarded 8, and there is one more diamond out, which shouldn't have haunted declarer, but did.
Declarer had an easy path to his contract, once diamonds split 4-3 (which was assured at trick 5. He must ruff the first round of spades low, which figures to be pretty safe, draw trump, wherein he can afford a 4-0 split, concede a diamond to West, and claim.
We note that he could've ruffed the second spade lead low, but he didn't, obviously figuring that he a bit more risk on the second round of the suit. Butinstead of chancing the risk, he chose to figure that risk was greater than a 4-0 split.
Could declarer have made the contract with an opening lead of a club? It looks to me that he could not and that he was given a gift, which he promptly turned right back to the opposition.