Rather Elementary


3
A J 7 6 5 3 2
A 10 7 6
K J 6 4
Q 10 9 5 4 K J 2
9 8 4 ------
5 K J 9 8 3 2
Q 8 5 3 K J 6 4
A 8 7 6
K Q 10
Q 4 Contract: 6 NO
A 10 9 7 Opening lead: 6 of spades

East has a lot of cards to discard on those long hearts in dummy. But then, if he'd followed a couple of simple principles, one espoused by the category here -- keep the same number of cards in a suit as dummy shows (insofar as you can) -- he would've come out smelling like a rose. The other principle is espoused under "Only You", which advises protecting any suit you know that only you can protect.
Unfortunately for the defenders, as declarer ran 7 hearts. Being in no trump, he had no reason not to, and yes, he got some favors from the defense, notably East. Indeed, East cut himself down to 3 diamonds on the first three heart leads! That is to say, looking at 4 diamonds in dummy, one club and no spades (after that opening lead), he chose to cut down to one less diamond than dummy holds and retain four clubs and two spades when one would think one spade would be enough to hit partner upon regaining the lead.
On the next two leads, he was able to pitch his spades -- one would think that since declarer can finesse past his king of clubs only once 3 clubs would be enough. Anyway, after discarding the rest of his spades, he now discarded one more diamond -- all the while retaining four clubs! Yes, a club finally was pitched on dummy's last heart, but of course the damage had been done in cutting down to two diamonds while dummy has four. Declarer now led a low diamond toward the Q, East ducking. East ducking? I'm not kidding. With K J in diamonds, East ducked that lead! Declarer won with the Q, went back to the A of diamonds, dropping the K, of course, and finished off the diamonds, ending up with the A of clubs for an overtrick.
Whew! I must confess that though keeping the same number of diamonds as dummy shows, as mentioned, would've worked to defeat the contract, actually East could also have done so by trusting that his partner's opening lead showed an honor and thus keeping just two diamonds, if that was his pleasure and at least one spade. He knows he can get the lead on the second round of diamonds. Why not keep just the J of spades (in case his partner wants to discard the Q for any reason) and sit back. That would have allowed East to get down to one spade, two diamonds and thus only the K J of clubs, but hey, you can't save anything -- nor is it necessary as is self-evident. Even if declarer holds the A Q of clubs (and takes the finesse), that's still only 11 tricks, and if West holds only the 10 (guarded at least twice), that'll still be enough to set declarer. Further, if declarer did hold the A Q 10 of clubs, East could point out that he was squeezed. (If he retained 3 clubs and no spades, declarer could take the club hook, cash the A and continue clubs. East wins but must lead from his K of diamonds.)
Which he wasn't on this hand. Not by a long shot. C'mon. Keep that diamond suit guarded, trust that your partner will guard the black suits if he has anything at all, and far from coughing up an overtrick, you'll beat that incautious contract.
Six hearts is feasible, of course. Several declarers, playing from the opposite hand (as were all heart declarers), got a diamond lead from the K and the rest was a cakewalk. (Declarer wins cheaply and leads a low diamond. He can afford to lose that second round and subsequently ruff a diamond with a high trump in dummy. Some without a diamond lead went down by leading a low diamond on the first round of the suit(which is before trump are out, since the intent is to ruff some diamonds in dummy). This allowed second hand to pop up and give his partner a ruff. A few declarers solved that difficulty by banging down the A first round, and then low to the Q. Declarer gives up the second round, and now can handle a diamond lead with two ruffs in dummy, one round of trump being drawn by an honor in the short holding and two more with the A and J. Bingo.