Bridge

Sometimes we overlook a simple play to ensure a contract. Can you avoid a blind spot here?

Your overcall would not meet with universal approval, and you do not much enjoy your later choices. Partner's 2H shows a good raise, and you venture 2NT to show a minimum with a heart stopper. Partner makes several slam tries, but you resolutely turn them down. North leads the seven of spades. How do you plan the play?

You have three potential losers, one heart and two clubs. You might run the opening lead to your jack, planning to discard a club on the third spade, but that leads to certain defeat if South has the queen. If you can force an opponent to open up clubs you will lose only one trick in the suit, so you should consider elimination play. Win the ace of spades, draw trumps (it takes just one round) then cash the king of spades and ruff a spade. Cross to dummy in diamonds and lead a heart towards your Qxx. This fixes South, provided he has both ace and king of hearts, very likely on the bidding. When he wins he is endplayed. If he leads a heart you can discard a club from dummy on the queen; a spade gives you a ruff and discard; and a club ensures two club tricks.

The actual declarer forgot to eliminate spades. When the heart was led from table, South got off lead with a spade. Declarer belatedly eliminated spades and hearts, but then had to open up clubs himself. He led the five towards dummy, and events took a comical turn. North petered with the eight to show an even number and the jack lost to the king. South removed any guess by returning the nine to the ten, queen and ace. Declarer now played off all his trumps then, at trick 13, ruefully tabled the seven of clubs, only to discover that it was a winner after all.