Standard Play Wins the Day

While these NS hands should possibly be bid to a small slam, it is the play that I want to talk about today.

Board 11 from 6/03/2019
Dealer S Nil Vul

AK84
82
A863
K43
QJT92
94
9742
75
63
Q753
T5
QJ862
75
AKJT6
KQJ
AT9

6NT is a very reasonable slam, but let’s say South is in 3NT, just to make the play less stressful. West makes the absolutely obvious lead of the queen of spades. How would you play it? How SHOULD you play it?

The best source of tricks is clearly the heart suit. You will do best by hoping the queen is with East, and finessing by leading the eight or the two from dummy and putting in the ten if East plays low. There is the faint possibility that West will win the singleton queen, and that is why sometimes, with that particular set up, declarer might play the ace or king first and then take the finesse. However, by cashing the ace first, declarer gives up the possibility of two finesses, and that leaves a heart loser in this particular deal. Let me go through the play as it should occur in a normal match point session:

Declarer wins the king of spades in dummy and immediately takes the heart finesse, winning the ten.
Declarer now can afford to play off the three diamonds in hand.
Then, it is safe to go to dummy with the king of clubs (NOT the ace of spades in case West is cleverly not taking the queen of hearts!) and ...
... Repeat the finesse.
Now, after the second successful finesse, the other hearts fall from East and declarer makes all the tricks.

The play should be routine if you are a practised declarer. Interestingly, the two pairs who did bid to 6NT at our club also made thirteen tricks, whereas others did not do as well in the play. Is there a moral to that?

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