Tram-rails

[nige1]

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Charles Outred showed me this interesting problem from the Scottish National Premier League Teams, last weekend. How would you play 6♠, on West's lead of ♥A? To make it you need to be lucky and to guess well. Nobody succeeded, at the table. I failed when given the problem at single-dummy. It might be more sensible to wait and try it at double-dummy when the full deal is posted, in a day or two. [/hv]

[Cyberyeti]

Not getting that right at the table (the double dummy version was up when I saw it).

[pescetom]

Not my cup of tea, but maybe West has ♠Qxx and ♣ void? In that case anything but ♦ would be the end.

[nige1]

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How would you play 6♠, on West's lead of ♥A.

Here is the full deal for Charles Outred's problem.

Even double-dummy, you have to play carefully.

[/hv]

[Cyberyeti]

 

The key to the play is to play no spades, and use the club entries to hand up to ruff out the diamonds and ram them through W before he can discard a club.

 

So the timing has to be:

 

1 heart ruff

2 diamond ruff

3 club to hand

4 diamond ruff

5 club to hand

6 diamond K ruffed and overruffed (if he doesn't ruff, you continue with the Q and then a low one ruffed, ruff a heart and endplay W with a club)

7 heart ruff

8 low diamond ruffed

9 club to hand and W can't hurt you whether he ruffs or not