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North-South reached 6H on this auction.
S-------W-------N-------E
1C-----P-------.1H-----P
2C-----P-------.2S-----P
3C-----P-------.6H-----P
P------.P
While north was deciding whether to open 1H or 2C south abruptly opened 1C. Now north’s thoughts turned slammish. He wished they played strong jumpshifts, but for now 1H would have to suffice.
North’s second bid of 2S, a responder reverse, is game forcing. He may or may not have a 4+ card spade suit and south has likely denied one. But it is game forcing and that’s the point.
After south’s 3C call, north knows that a 3H bid will further describe his hand but he decided that all he needed from partner to have a play for slam was one major suit ace. So, without further ado and without providing any more information to the opponents he took the plunge and bid 6H.
Had north gone ahead with the 3H bid, south really doesn’t like his choices but he has to make a call. 3NT or 4C are both possible. Neither one helps and north may just bid an auction-ending 4H. 3H and 3S would be better from north’s point of view. After 3S, he might place partner with the ace of spades or after 4H, a 5D cuebid will get to the slam.
East reasonably led a 4th best diamond.
Declarer can see 11 tricks after driving out the trump ace. The 12th could come on a spade finesse or maybe a second diamond trick could be arranged. To that end north put up the queen on trick 1 hoping west would cover with the king. West did and the rest of the play was easy.
If west didn’t cover declarer could still take the spade finesse to try and make the contract.
If there were 2 dummy entries, a ruffing finesse in diamonds would be a possibility too, but with only one entry that won’t work.
Regarding west’s play, although every situation is different, the rule of thumb is to cover the second honor in a case like this. It works perfectly here.
After the game NS were discussing the hand. The double dummy analysis on the hand record indicated 6H could always be made. North couldn’t see it but after a couple minutes his partner found the line. Can you find it?
After clearing trump, lead the jack of spades from hand. If west doesn’t cover let it ride and you’re home. If west covers, win the ace and finesse the 10 on the way back to hand. This is a cool play but unlikely to be found at the table, unless your name is Zia. A straight finesse against the queen offers a 50-50 chance and is the best chance of making the contract.
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