IMPs
Dealer: South
Vulnerable: Both

AUCTION
SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
2	Pass	3	Pass
4N	Pass	5	Pass
6N	Pass	Pass	Pass

West leads the Q

Plan the play.

Solution

You have ten tricks off the top (2 spades, 3 hearts, 3 diamonds, and 2 clubs). Clearly, your additional tricks must come from Dummy's diamond suit. With a normal 3-2 split in diamonds, you could take all thirteen tricks (2 spades, 3 hearts, 6 diamonds, and 2 clubs). Be careful! This is IMP scoring and overtricks are not important if the contract might be placed in jeopardy. Imagine what will happen if diamonds do not divide 3-2. Say you start by winning the opening lead and cash the AK; if one opponent shows out on the second round, what can you do? You could cash the Q and then give up a diamond, establishing the two remaining diamonds. But, unfortunately, you have no entry to the Dummy to score your two good diamonds! Bad Luck? No, just poor planning.

The key is to realize that you do not need six diamond tricks, only five. Is there a way to score five tricks if the suit breaks 4-1? Yes, all you need to do is give up the diamond trick early, retaining a diamond in hand for reaching the Dummy. Take a look at the full deal:

If you start by cashing high diamonds, you will be held to ten tricks. It does little good to set up the suit, because you cannot return to Dummy. However, if you duck a diamond early, this will be the position:

Now you can win anything East returns and reach Dummy's established diamonds with the 5. By making the safety play of ducking a diamond, you now score 2 spades, 3 hearts, FIVE diamonds, and 2 clubs.

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