Source: http://www.andrewrobson.co.uk/
 – – 2 2 |
|
| A Q – – – |
|
| K 2 – – |
Spades are trumps. You cannot score a trick with your K if you are on lead. But if dummy is leading, you can score your K “en passant”, by leading either card. If East ruffs with Q, you overruff with K; and if East ruffs with A. you discard, and K is promoted.
| 9 2 6 5 3 2 A K 3 2 7 4 2 |
||
| J 8 J Q 10 9 7 K Q J 9 6 3 |
Q 10 7 6 5 Q 9 8 7 J 8 5 8 |
|
| A K 4 3 A K 10 4 6 4 A 10 5 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Pass | 2NT1 | Pass | 42 |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
- In case North has raised with three cards.
- Marginal, but he does have an ace-king and a ruffing value (in spades).
| 4 by North; lead 8 |
What happened
Declarer won K lead with A (West’s overcall made it likely East’s 8 was singleton). He then cashed the A, felling West’s J, and followed with K (hoping for West to have QJ, his only chance of avoiding a trump loser).
West discarded on the second trump, and now declarer cashed AK, trumped a spade (West discarding), and led a trump towards 10. East took Q, then led Q10. Declarer could only score 10 and AK – down one.
What should have happened
Even after cashing two top trumps, declarer can make not only his contract, but also an overtrick. It’s all about scoring his trumps:
Win , cash AK, then follow with AK and ruff a third spade. Cash AK, ruff a third diamond, then ruff a fourth spade with dummy’s last trump. Here is the three-card ending with the lead, crucially, in dummy:
| 3 7 4 |
||
| Q Q J |
Q Q 9 |
|
| 10 10 5 |
3 lead ensured a trick, an almost unbelievable 11th, for 10. Both defenders (in a sense) won the last two tricks. Game made plus one.
If you remember one thing…
Scoring trumps “en passant”.