THE BEST LINE?

Both vulnerable, South deals

Opening lead: Queen of

Dummy had too much in clubs opposite declarer’s singleton. The queen of diamonds instead of the queen of clubs would have made the slam cold. How would you play six hearts in today’s deal?

An eleventh trick is almost certainly available in diamonds, after the opening lead, by leading a low diamond toward dummy’s 10. But which black-suit finesse would you then take? You could try both black-suit finesses without touching diamonds, but if the first finesse lost, you would have an almost certain diamond loser also. There are chances here, but what is the best way to combine those chances?

Australia’s Tim Bourke, a frequent source of deals seen in this space, suggests the following: Win the diamond lead and cash the ace of hearts. Lead a club to the ace and ruff a club. Lead a heart to dummy’s king and ruff dummy’s last club. Then cash the king of diamonds and lead another diamond. On this lie of the cards, West would win the third diamond and have to lead a spade or yield a ruff-sluff. Making six! Should West have another diamond to exit with, there would still be time to try the spade finesse.

Our good friend at the Advanced School of Bridge Mathematics tells us that this line of play offers a 70 percent chance for success. This is much better than just taking a finesse.