Declarer Play TWO

[mck4711]

[hv=pc=n&s=skqt62hadq94cakt5&w=s3h6dtc&n=s875hkjt92da3c762&e=sh3d6c3&v=n&=w&d=w&a=1Sppdp2hp2np3nppp&p=DTD3D6DQHAH6H2H3SQS3S5C3]399|300[/hv]

 

You have reached 3NT after W had opened the bidding with 1♠. S made a mistake at trick 3, because W could have taken over and defeated the contract. But S's mistake was neutralized by W's one. Nevertheless, S needs another 6 tricks. How?

[kemperb]

Not sure I agree with South's bidding, but that's not the point of the post. So on to the play problem:

 

I don't see how West has an opening bid without the DK, so I will assume they are playing Roman leads (or he's being tricky) and he has KJT(xx).

 

It seems right to attack their communication suit (diamonds), but first what is their distribution? The club discard makes it likely that East has five of them, so I will play West for 5341 shape and play as follows: Unblock ♦A, lead a club to the ten or ace (see below) and exit the ♦9. West must win this and either give me my heart finesse or exit the last diamond. The latter leads to East leading clubs to my king and getting thrown back in with a club to lead hearts for me, defense getting two diamonds and two clubs.

 

The kicker with this line is that West can cash the ♠A before exiting in diamonds, which gives the defense 1♠ and 2♦ without giving me nine tricks, so I must limit them to one club trick. That means I must guess whether West started with an honor and sky ace on the first round, or whether it's a spot card, which requires a finesse of the ten. AJ9xx Qxx KJTx x is an opening bid in my book, but not everybody's, so I'd have to decide based on opponent and/or table feel.

[kemperb]

So I'm curious how this hand ended up. It's a pretty complicated play problem IMO, and I'm a little disappointed to see neither other suggestions nor a description of what actually happened.