IMPs
Dealer: South
Vulnerable: East-West

AUCTION
SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1	X	4	Pass
Pass	X	Pass	Pass
Pass

West leads the K, followed by the A, which you ruff. Next you table the K; West wins (East following with the 8) and shifts to the J.

Plan the play.

Solution

Well, you're not exactly sure what is going on here. Initially, things looked pretty good, since the bidding indicates a strong liklihood that West holds the K. In that case, you have only three losers--a spade, a heart, and a diamond. It is certainly possible that west is leading from KJT(x), but now you are forced to at least consider the possibility that East holds the K. Of course, based on the bidding, there is also a strong possibility that West has four hearts, meaning that if East does hold the K, it is doubleton. In that case, you can win the A and duck a heart later to establish the queen. Fortunately, there is no need to take the heart finesse; even if west holds the king, you can win the A and lead up to the Q later. But which of these plans is best? As it turns out, there is a plan that will allow you to succeed in either case, against any reasonable distribution.

Your plan should be to win the A, cross to the A, ruff a club, draw the last trump, cash the K (pitching a heart), ruff your last club, and return to your hand by ruffing your last diamond. This will be the position:

Now, with the lead in your hand, lead a heart toward the queen. Assuming west plays low, play the queen. If West holds the K, this is your thenth trick. If East wins this trick, however, and has no more hearts left, he will be forced to surrender a ruff and discard, with the same result--making four spades doubled. Note that one of the key plays was ruffing one club before drawing the last trump. Had you failed to do so, you could not complete the strip and end up in your hand with trumps remaining in both hands (check it).

The full deal:

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