A plan and a back-up

The most important principle in Declarer Play 101 is to have a plan. Look ahead and see how the play will go. As beginners turn into intermediate or advanced players, the good ones have a plan, but also a back-up plan. Sometimes, however, even Grand Life Masters forget this good advice.

Playing in the Senior Swiss Teams at the NABC in Washington DC, two expert players who have a combined 53,000 masterpoints, bid to a grand slam in clubs (low cards are approximate):

                ♠ K Q 9 3
                ♥ A 6
                ♦ A Q
                ♣ K Q 9 8 5
==
                ♠ A 7 6 2
                ♥ K 9 5 2
                ♦ 6 3
                ♣ A J 4

       West   North   East   South
                             1♣
       3♦    4NT     Pass   5♥
       Pass   5NT     Pass   6♥
       Pass   7♣     All Pass

Because West bid 3♦, the diamond finesse rated to work and 7♣ was a heavy favorite -- nice bidding!

West led the ♣2. How would you play the contract?

Declarer put in the 9 and won the 10 in his hand with the jack. He continued with the ♣A (both followed) and another club taken in dummy. The contract could no longer be made.

South played the ♠K Q and West showed out on the second spade. Here are all four hands:

                ♠ K Q 9 3
                ♥ A 6
                ♦ A Q
                ♣ K Q 9 8 5
♠ 5                           ♠ J 10 8 4
♥ Q 8 4                       ♥ J 10 7 3
♦ K J 10 9 7 5 4              ♦ 8 2
♣ 6 2                         ♣ 10 7 3
                ♠ A 7 6 2
                ♥ K 9 5 2
                ♦ 6 3
                ♣ A J 4

Did you look ahead? If the spades split, there's nothing to the play except take the diamond finesse. but what if spades don't split? Do you have a back-up plan?

Here's the back-up plan: Draw trumps (ending in your hand) and take the diamond finesse. Cash the ♦A, play two high hearts and ruff a heart. Now, play the ♠K Q. When you see the bad split, play the last club from dummy. East is squeezed between the majors.

At the other table, the North-South pair bid to 6♠. They missed a good grand slam, but won 17 IMPs anyway.

This is the BBO Handviewer presentation: