Sheer Carelessness


5 4 2
6 2
A 5
A K J 10 8 7
8 K 10
J 10 9 8 7 K Q 5 4
Q 6 2 K 10 9 8 4 3
Q 9 6 5 2
A Q J 9 7 6 3
A 3
J 7 Contract: 6 spadesVul: E-W
4 3 Opening lead: J of hearts

Declarer wins the opening heart lead with the ace, goes to dummy with the A of clubs, leads a low spade for a successful finesse and then drops the king. Can there be any problem here? How many entries does declarer have to dummy, how many does he need in the worst possible club distribution and how many club leads can he effect with the worst possible distribution (at that point)? Well, the answers are basically that declarer has three entries to dummy on which he can effect four club leads, and since there are at that point only 3 clubs out against him, that should suffice, no?
Go to dummy with the K of clubs, ruff a club, ruff it high, please, go back with the A of diamonds and ruff another club high, dropping West's last club, and now go back with the 3 of spades to the five to cash two clubs, sluffing a heart and a diamond for an overtrick. Out of five declarers in slam, two managed to go down on a heart lead out of sheer carelessness over entries, I would say. How else can you hope to make the contract without exploiting that long club suit? Neither red suit offers the slightest possibility of avoiding a loser on its holding. And the clubs are so powerful, on top of which, if any declarer should take an unnecessary finesse, it would work! But here is what happened.
Club to the A at trick two, successful finesse in spades, club to the K -- ruffed! With 10 trump, how on earth does anyone let that K remain out, ignoring the the possibility of a 4-1 club break when indeed he has a guaranteed contract, as outlined above if he'll just drop it first? Only carelessness, only the most flagrant indifference to one's potential could account for that.
The other defeated declarer went down in a different manner but showed the same indifference to a natural sequence to all 13 tricks. Club to the K at trick two, successful spade finesse, diamond to the A, spade to the K and A. Diamond to the ace? He started with 10 trump and didn't know he could drop the K of spades after the finesse? Well, with such indifference to a simple count, it's no wonder he goes down in a well-bid contract. At that point he'd boxed himself into a position where he could make only on a successful club hook, going down two if it's off (losing a trick in each side suit), and making if it's on. And of course, he could also make (from his viewpoint, having led clubs only once) on a 3-2 club break. Which isn't there.
So this declarer went for the even break, leading to the A of clubs and ruffing a club, which I note he ruffed with the 3. Of course, it didn't matter what he ruffed with when East shows out on the second round of clubs, for at that point he needs two entries back to dummy and has only one -- before ruffing with the 3. Now he has none.
Well, suppose declarer gets a diamond opening lead. We take the spade hook and drop the king. So far so good, but that opening lead wiped out a valuable entry, no? Well, yes, but not one that inhibits making the contract. Of course the club hook would work, indeed, allowing an overtrick, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for a possible down one when you've got a guaranteed contract at that point: I'd be looking for a likelier 3-2 club break. Whoops! I don't get it, and what's worse, the finesse would have worked? But we're not dead yet.
Play the J of clubs, sluffing a diamond, and now on regaining the lead, go to dummy with the 3 of spades to the 5 and cash the 10 of clubs, sluffing a heart.
Anyway, between one declarer who let the K remain out while he went after clubs and the other who went to the overkill of taking a second "finesse", wiping out a very valuable entry to no purpose, they both managed to kick away a lovely contract where indeed an overtrick was possible, one because he didn't draw the last trump, the second over sheer profligacy about entries.