It's Simple ...
Simple and basic attention to declarer play should be all that is necessary a lot of the time. While these NS hands could well be bid to a slam, it is the very basic declarer play that we need to talk about, because almost half the Souths who played in game in spades managed ONLY eleven tricks! Take a look:
Board 15 from 10/4/19
Dealer S NS Vul
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QJ872
T5
AQ3
AK3You may well ask how that was possible and I have asked myself the same question. The answer just has to lie in declarer not being able to count their trumps and not drawing all the trumps out before allowing East to ruff a club, OR declarer not knowing to lead hearts from the NORTH hand which will be dummy if South is declarer.
There are so many trumps and nothing else to do with them, so declarer can afford to take three rounds after noting that West shows out on the first one. And as far as the heart suit goes, with both the ace and queen of hearts sitting with East, South can not possibly lose two heart tricks unless South leads the suit from hand and not dummy. That is very basic play within the capabilities of any bridge player.
Replay this board by clicking here.
