1. How many losers do you have?
   
   Three: 1 Spade and 2 Hearts.


2. How are opponents’ points divided?
   
   East showed about 12 with his opening, and West has about 6 for his response.


3. Why did East overtake his partner’s winner and switched to Diamond?
   
   Almost certainly he has a singleton Diamond and wants to ruff a Diamond.


4. Who has the ♥Q?
   
   West. West has 3 cards in Heart from the bidding. With ♥Kxx he would lead a LOW Heart. K lead shows the Q.


5. Who has the ♠A?
   
   East. As West already showed 5 points (the ♥KQ), he can’t have an Ace too. The rest of the high points must be with East.


6. Who has the ♣K?
   
   East. Same reasons as above.


7. What is the danger here?
   
   As all your Diamonds are high, you need to pull trumps to enjoy the Diamonds. BUT, if you do so now, East will win the ♠A, play a Heart back to West’s ♥Q, and West will continue with a diamond, giving East a ruff.


8. What is the solution?
   
   As the ♣K is surely with East, there is no point to try the Club finesse in order to discard a Heart on the ♣A. To make the hand you must cut communication to West’s hand and prevent the Diamond ruff: Win the ♦A at trick 2 and continue with a Club to the ♣A and then with the ♣Q. When East covers the ♣K – throw your Heart loser from hand! Now West’s hand is “dead” and defense will get just 1 Spade, 1 Heart and 1 Club (Win any return and play Spades).

Things to remember

a. The Double by North is called a “responsive double”. It comes as a response to partner’s overcall, or as a take out double after both opponents – opener and responder -, bid and raised a suit. It is similar to the negative double, but normally it is showing the other 2 unbid suits and usually also tolerance for partner’s suit. It also shows some points, suggesting to compete for the part score (or give a penalty double if opponents go too high).



South’s double is a takeout double, showing 12+ points, shortness in Hearts, and tolerance for the other suits.

North’s double is a responsive double showing both minors and likely 3 cards in spade (but not mandatory) plus some points, like:



Note that with 4 cards in spade, and after South’s double, North should bid 2♠, not double.

b. When leading your partner’s suit:
– With KQx, QJx or J10x – lead top of sequence.
– From Kxx , Qxx or Jxx – lead your LOWEST card.
– From xxx – lead the middle (if playing Attitude leads), OR the lowest (if playing count leads).

c. If your opponent does something unusual like overtaking his partner’s winning trick, and switches to another suit there is a very good chance he has a singleton in that suit. It can also be that he is taking the lead to attack a weak suit in dummy. However if the suit he returns is not through dummy’s weakness, he clearly has a singleton and wants a ruff.

d. To prevent ruffs by defenders, consider a loser on loser play as declarer, to cut communication between opponents. This maneuver here, in this hand, is called a “scissor’s coup”.

e. As declarer, COUNT! Count losers (or tricks), count opponents’ points (from the bidding), and see if you can read something into the lead (sequence, shows honor, denies honor, etc.). This count can help you place the missing cards and play the hand as if it were open!