[AL78]

MPs:

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We got a complete bottom as 4♠ made. No-one else was in it, the majority were going off in the heart game, stopped in a heart partscore, or let South play in a club partscore.

Double dummy says 4♠ goes one off. Looking at it I can't see how. At the table, we made two club tricks and a heart (declarer did a loser on loser play after running the ♥Q and cashing the ace). When I was in with a club at trick two I think I got off lead with a spade, that doesn't set anything up for us but what does give us a fourth defensive trick? If it is a diamond to knock out an entry at an inconvenient moment, how do I find that given it might blow a trick if declarer holds the ♦Q?

[Cyberyeti]

You need to get a diamond on the table early to remove the late entry and establish your diamond winner.

[smerriman]

AL78, on 2020-January-04, 12:43, said:

How do I find that given it might blow a trick if declarer holds the ♦Q?

If declarer has at least 1 heart (even if small), you know it *doesn't* blow a trick even when declarer has the ♦Q, because the diamonds were going to be thrown on dummy's hearts anyway.

Conversely, if partner has the queen, you have to set it up before declarer can discard any diamond losers.

[akwoo]

Assuming that East's 3♠ is nonforcing (which is how most good players play it), South should be leading the Q♦ at trick 2.

[nige1]

AL78 "Double dummy says 4♠ goes one off. Looking at it I can't see how.
+++++++++++++++++++
- Press [PLAY] on the diagram. to try a defensive line, card by card.
- Press [GIB] to high-light cards in red, that defeat the contract
- Click on a card to play it manually. Press [GIB] after each play.
- Press [Previous] or [Rewind] to explore a different line
GIB makes expert analysts of us all

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[AL78]

I can see it now, knocking out the diamond ace at trick 2 or 3 destroys the communication declarer needs to draw trumps and establish discards on the hearts. I should have worked out that leading from the king is unlikely to cost and has a good chance of gaining, as declarer is going to make the queen if he has it, and it takes a very specific layout for declarer to have the queen, me theoretically being able to take a trick with my king after three rounds of the suit, and declarer being unable to establish a discard or two on the hearts.