CREATIVE PLAY

Neither vulnerable, North deals

Opening lead: Two of ♥

North intended his jump to game to show a minimum opener, but it appears that South was expecting more. South made one slam try and then subsided at the five level, but they had passed their level of safety.

The heart lead was an obvious singleton, so South captured the first trick with his ace. All would be well if East held the king of spades, but that was not likely after the preempt. A finesse is normally a 50-50 proposition, but not after a pre-empt. South judged that West was more likely to hold that king and he found an ingenious line of play to make 11 tricks anyway.

South cashed the ace of spades, hoping to see the king fall. No luck there, so he cashed the ace of diamonds followed by dummy’s three high clubs, discarding his remaining diamond. He ruffed dummy’s last diamond and exited with a spade to West’s king.

West thought he was safe and led his nine of clubs, hoping to get off play. Instead of ruffing, however, South shed a low heart from his hand and allowed West to keep the lead. West now had no choice but to lead a diamond, giving South a ruff-sluff and his contract. Beautifully done!