How many times have I said ‘You are soo lucky’ to whichever expert opponent had brought in a tricky contract. ‘Every card would be wrong for me.’ Well ofc it would because sometimes you have to work out in which order to take your chances, which involves planning the play from dummy going down until the final trick when you have ruffed what you need to ruff, and preserved the correct entries. Not my strong point. Not my point at all. Take this hand, played by Thomas (Charlie) Charlsen in the recent WBT in Norway. He took his time and worked out in which order to play the various options (see diagram).
2♣ was Drury – a convention showing a good passed hand with Spade support, and who can blame South for taking a shot at the slam?
West led a Spade, won in hand by Charlie. Hopefully it should look automatic to play a Club towards dummy before doing anything else and that’s what declarer did. West gave it a look but wisely ducked; a good play as, had he taken, South would have had an easy ride. Dummy won and a Club was ruffed in hand. What next?
Another round of trumps would be a mistake at this point. The best chance is to play Diamonds for two tricks: small to the Queen and, if that loses, small to the ◆10. That has to happen immediately as East could potentially take away the last trump and Charlie’s essential heart ruff disappears. The ◆Q was taken by the King and a Diamond returned. Still the best chance is to finesse the ◆10 and when that held Charlie could claim his slam.
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