South’s jump to game was probably too bold, but North would have accepted an invitation, so the final contract was normal. It would have sailed home on a 3-2 trump split, but it required good play on this layout.
South won the opening diamond lead in hand, perforce, and led the eight of hearts, ducked to East’s king. East shifted to the tricky nine of clubs, which declarer won in hand with the ace. He cashed his two high spades, learning the bad news, and led the 10 of hearts to the queen and ace. South ruffed a diamond, cashed the nine of hearts, and crossed back to dummy with the king of clubs. The jack of hearts was cashed and dummy’s last diamond was ruffed by declarer.
That did it! Four spades, three hearts, one diamond and two clubs gave South his contract. Declarer timed this hand perfectly, making good use of his limited entries to dummy. Had he won the club shift with dummy’s king, for example, the contract would have failed.
It seems that the unlikely opening lead of the queen of hearts would have defeated the contract, denying South an important entry before it was needed. West, of course, cannot be faulted for his diamond lead. Well played!
