Posted 2013-August-02, 07:21
First thought:
Ruff, ♣K, ♦ ruff, ♣A, ♣ ruff.
If ♣Q came down third, I pull trumps. If not:
♦Q, ♦ ruff, ♣.
If west has ♣Qxxx, I have to ruff high and hope for trumps 2-2. If east has ♣Qxxx, I make with trumps 2-2 or 3-1, since west has to insert a middle trump on the fourth club to avoid a complete cross ruff for 12 tricks. And when he does, I can pull trumps after all even when they were 3-1 (I have only ♥AQ doubleton left in hand at this point).
Michael Askgaard
Patroclo asks how to make 6♥ on a ♦J lead, covered by ♦K and ♦A.
At the table, I would ruff ♦A and go down. Free cleverly sussed out that the key-play is to discard a ♠ at trick one. Thus, you preserve sufficient hand-entries to ruff two ♣s in dummy. You finish by drawing trumps and cashing ♣AJ. Thank you, Patroclo, for an interesting and instructive deal.