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West led the ♦A, which went 5, 4, 2. He considered leading hearts to cut down on the possible diamond ruffs in Dummy, but his partner had (mistakenly) suggested a club switch by playing the ♦4. If partner did indeed hold the ♣A, and since it was likely to be West’s last time on lead, an immediate club shift through Dummy’s KQx could be important. After the club shift, Declarer won the ♣A in hand and led a heart to Dummy’s K. She next led Dummy’s high clubs pitching a diamond on the first one and a spade on the second one. She then drew two more rounds of trump ending in her hand and led the ♠J, finessing against West’s Q.
East won her ♠A, led the ♦Q and then a low diamond to West’s K. Down 1.
How sad! The hand is cold for 11 tricks, not only in 4♥ but also in 4♠, as we will see below.
Let’s go back and look at Declarer’s hand just after Dummy has come down. It is important to realize that Declarer, as the master hand, has not 1 diamond loser, but 4. She has to determine how to get rid of three of them because she always has to lose the ♦A. The simplest way is to win the ♣A, then ruff 1 diamond in Dummy. Next, when leading the ♣K & Q, she must pitch her other 2 diamond losers.
The way she played the deal, she failed to ruff a diamond in Dummy early on. Then she got rid of 1 diamond loser but wasted the chance to get rid of a second one on the second club honor. She mistakenly thought that pitching a spade would somehow lower her number of spade losers. When declarer and dummy hold the KJ109 of a suit between them, the maximum number of losers is 2, and on a good day when the Q is in the slot, this holding will only lose one, the A.
Consequently, Declarer sluffed a non-loser and held onto a loser when she played Dummy’s second club honor.
But there is yet another sad tale in this deal. North should not bid 4♥ but 4♠. The reason is simple: having 9 trumps is better than 8. From the bidding, North knows that partner has 5 hearts; she might have more, but she doesn’t act like it. Her 3♠ bid indicated she is happy to play in North’s spades. That strongly suggests she has 3 spades and only 5 hearts.
This situation should not be confused with the choice between a 4-4 fit and a 5-3 fit (or a 5-4 fit). In this situation, playing in the 4-4 fit is often better for two reasons. First, if the 4-4 suit is trump, it will often deliver an additional trump trick, e.g., 5 tricks, rather the maximum of 4 it is limited to when the 4-4 is a side suit. Secondly, the 5-3, as a side suit, will often allow declarer to pitch losers on it in the play. Mind you, that doesn’t always work out, but it often does.
Here the choice is between a 5-3 fit and a 6-3 fit. The 6-3 fit is safer, especially if the opponents can force Declarer to ruff their long suit.
Look at the deal with the hands rotated so that North, now as South, is declaring 4♠.
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