North’s four-diamond bid would not be everyone’s choice, but it led to a good slam contract. South was Patryk Patreuha, from Poland.
South won the opening spade lead with dummy’s ace and led the king of clubs. West won with the ace and led another spade to dummy’s king. South cashed the queen of diamonds, feeling pretty good about things, and was sick when West showed out. South did not give up. He cashed the queen of clubs, discarding a heart from his hand, and ruffed a club. He cashed his queen of spades, shedding a low heart from dummy, then cashed the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart. This was the position, with the lead in dummy:
South led a club from dummy and over-ruffed East’s nine of diamonds with the ace. He ruffed his heart with dummy’s jack of trumps and led another club. He picked up East’s last two trumps with a trump coup. Beautifully done!
