AJ74 6 KJ5432 A2   9 AKJ92 AQ87 1096

I was sitting West, and I decided to lead the 3 to a contract of 6. East - West were silent throughout.

Declarer played this slam in under 3 minutes! When the smoke cleared, declarer was 1 down!!

I will give you a clue: Trumps break 3-0, but normal distribution in all other suits.

What is your plan?

(Solution follows further down)

AK92 A10943 109 74   J1086543 5 AQ3 A9

This time I was dummy, North. Partner opened 1 in 4th seat, and West overcalled 2. I simply leapt to 4. Yes, perhaps I should have tried 3 en-route to show a maximum pass with good spade support. I admit 4 looks pre-emptive, and we can miss a slam this way. Anyway, the play's the thing....

Partner received the lead of the K. He won this with the ace, drew 2 rounds of trumps, and then conceded a club. West won with the 10 and switched to a heart. A diamond would have been most welcome, pard must have mused.

In with the A, the diamond finesse was tried. It lost, of course, else you wouldn't see this hand in print.

Making 5 gave us 47.83%.

This is matchpoints and making an overtrick would have yielded us 85% thereabouts. Can you get this score?

(Solution follows further down)

Dlr: North Vul: N-S	AJ74 6 KJ5432 A2
653 854 1096 J743		KQ1082         Q1073 - - KQ85
	9 AKJ92 AQ87 1096
==========================

1. If you won the club ace, and started with a spade to the ace, and ruffing a spade, then you are on your way to making SEVEN. You get 10 out of 10;

2. If you played on hearts with the intention of establishing the 5th heart for your twelfth trick, you get 8 out of 10;

3. Of course, if you intended drawing all the trumps first, you must humbly accept 0 out of 10. Furthermore, I would recommend that you download Mount Sunflower Solitaire from the "Downloads" page in this website, and wish you well in your new venture.
   

Dlr: West Vul: All	AK92 A10943 109 74
- - 862 KJ62 KQJ1083		Q7               KQJ7 8754 652
	J1086543 5 AQ3 A9
==========================

In Matchpoints, a percentage is allocated according to your result in comparison to all the other scores on that hand.

An overtrick on a hand like this, is near equivalent to calling and making a slam!! Understand the scoring process, and you will appreciate this.

So... how did you make 6?

Did you play a heart as early as trick 2?   You have to establish that 5th heart for your 12th trick and you will get there with trumps each time, drawing their fangs in the process. You will then throw your losing club on that 5th heart, and take the diamond finesse with a view to making all 13 tricks!!   LOL

 

Plan before you play a card.   Get the timing right!

 

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