The Hand:
| Norte | |
 8 5 3 J 7  Q 9  A Q J 8 4 3 |
|
| Sur | |
| 6 A Q 10 6 K J 10 7 5 2 K 5 |
|
Dealer South N/S Vul
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 |
||
| Pass | 2 |
2 |
3 |
| 4 |
5 |
Pass | Pass |
| Doblo | Pass | Pass | Pass |
Contract: 5 Doubled
Lead: A
West led A and continued with the J, South ruffed with the 2, and played a trump to dummy’s Q, West played low and East pitched a small spade.
How do you continue?
It is obvious that if declarer leads another round of trumps he will be forced again, after which he could not make the contract.
A change of plan is necessary. If South can rightly guess how many clubs and how many hearts West has, and if he has five cards in these suits and the K is with East, as is likely on his overcall, South can make his contract in spite of West’s length in diamonds.
South at this point resorted to a cross-ruff and thus made his doubled contract.
In trick 4 the declarer leads dummy’s J and another heart to his Q, he continues with a club to dummy’s J, cashes the A and ruffs a spade in hand with his 7, and plays the A that makes the trick.
The position reached is:
| North | |
| 9 Q 8 4 |
|
| South | |
| 10 K J 10 |
|
South leads the 10 and West could only make one trick: the A.
The complete hand was:
| 8 5 3 J 7 Q 9 A Q J 8 4 3 |
||
| A J 4 9 5 4 A 8 6 4 3 9 6 |
K Q 10 9 7 2 K 8 3 2 — 10 7 2 |
|
| 6 A Q 10 6 K J 10 7 5 2 K 5 |