Tough play to make

South successful today’s woody was Australian Joe Haffer. North-South were playing antagonistic doubles, arsenic astir bash these days, truthful South’s escaped bid of 1 spade promised astatine slightest 5 spades.

East won the opening bosom pb and cashed different precocious heart. He was end-played astatine this constituent and had nary bully exit, truthful helium tried the 8 of diamonds. Haffer captured West’s jack with dummy’s ace and took immoderate clip to think. East’s assertive bidding, thought Haffer, marked him with some achromatic kings. Neither finesse was apt to beryllium successful, truthful Haffer took neither one. He cashed dummy’s ace of spades and led a diamond to his queen. He led a diamond to dummy’s 10 arsenic East shed a heart. Haffer discarded a nine connected the king of diamonds and led a spade from dummy. East won with the king but had to pb a nine from the king of clubs oregon output a ruff-sluff. 10 tricks either way. Nicely played!

Haffer played the manus well, but the defence mightiness person prevailed. The East-West methods were that West’s eight-of-hearts pb was either from a abbreviated suit oregon included the 10. East could person risked starring a debased bosom astatine instrumentality two. West would instrumentality his 10 and surely find the winning nine shift. Maybe adjacent time.