If one fails, try another

Victor Borge, the comic genius who played his first piano recital at the age of eight, said, "I only know two pieces; one is 'Clair de Lune' and the other one isn't." In his shows, he probably tried to play both with the music upside down! In this deal, South had to call on his resources in two suits to make six no-trump against unfavorable distribution. What did declarer do after West led the spade jack?

North, knowing his side had a combined 33-35 points, made a quantitative raise to six no-trump. He wondered if six - or seven! - of either minor would have been better, but had no way to find out for sure. Keep it simple, sensible. South had 10 top tricks: three spades, three hearts, three diamonds and one club. The diamond suit provided the obvious source for the extra winners. So declarer, after taking the first trick on the board, played a diamond to his ace and cashed the diamond queen. East's spade discard was a blow. What did South do now?

Declarer turned his attention toward taking three club tricks, and he wanted to maximize the value of dummy's nine in case West was long in both minors. South led a low club and resisted the temptation to put in dummy's queen. Instead, declarer won with the ace and returned a low club to his jack. If everyone had followed suit, South would have taken three tricks in each suit. Here, though, West pitched a heart. Unfazed, declarer went back to diamonds, giving West his trick. South collected three spades, three hearts, four diamonds and two clubs.