Here was the original problem:
Trick 1: A♦️(West), 7♦️, 2♦️, 4♦️
Trick 2: K♦️(West), 2♠️, 6♦️, 9♦️
Trick 3: 3♠️ (North), 7♠️, K♠️, 3♦️
Now what?
Solution—
This is a classic endplay situation. Do your best to eliminate ♥️s from the East hand and then throw her/him in with a trump [K♥️, A♥️, ruff ♥️, then a ♠️ to East’s A♠️]. If East is out of ♥️s, she/he will be forced to choose between:
(1) leading ♣️s up to dummy’s ♣️ K J x x
(2) leading ♦️s– allowing you to discard a ♣️ from your hand and trump in dummy, i.e. a ruff and sluff.
Either way you will avoid losing two ♣️ tricks. In the unfortunate case where East started with four ♥️s — you will have to fall back on a ♣️ finesse.
Here was the entire deal:
East could have avoided the endplay by taking the A♠️ at trick three.
[For more bridge quizzes click on Bridge Index page.]
