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Declarer won West’s fourth-highest eight of diamonds lead with dummy’s nine and tried the ace-king of spades. No good – East discarded (the eight of hearts). He next tried three rounds of clubs – low to the queen, back to the ace-king. Also no good – West discarding on the third (as did declarer – a heart).

But what did West discard? Unable to throw a spade and unwilling to throw a winning diamond, he led go his singleton heart.

We have reached this position:

Declarer needed three more tricks for his game and there were only two obvious ones: the ace of hearts and the queen of spades. It was at the next trick that he made the key play. He led to his ace of hearts. What could West discard this time? A spade was clearly fatal so away went a diamond.

No good. Declarer now exited with a second diamond. He let West cash four diamonds, but his last two cards were ♠ J9 and declarer’s ♠ Q10. Nine tricks and game made.

Quiz Question: What is the correct way to play the club suit for the maximum number of tricks with no other factors?

Answer: Low to the ten, losing over banging down the three top cards when West holds ♣ Jxx but gaining when East holds ♣ Jx or ♣ Jxxx. Inappropriate here though, as you cannot afford a losing finesse.