If you look at all four hands, it seems declarer must ultimately go down one after West leads his singleton spade against four hearts. East wins with the ace and returns the queen, covered by declarer with the king and ruffed by West. Since South still has a spade and a diamond to lose, he seems destined to wind up with only nine tricks.

But if he proceeds carefully, declarer can make the contract. Let’s say West returns the jack of diamonds at trick three, which is the best he can do. South wins with the king, plays the A-K of trump, then cashes the A-K of clubs and ruffs a club in dummy. Eight tricks have been played, and this is now the position:

With East at this point known to have started with six spades, two hearts and least three clubs, South can feel certain of making the contract. Since East can’t have been dealt more than two diamonds, declarer cashes the ace of diamonds and then exits with a spade. East wins and must return a spade, allowing South to dispose of his diamond loser as he ruffs in dummy.

Tomorrow >> Famous Hand.

— Steve Becker King Features