A Flush of Ducks

	Q 7
	J 10 8
	A 8 6 3 2
	A 10 7

? 6 2	A ? 5 4 3
K 6 3	9 7 4 2
K 9 4	7 5
K Q J 5	6 2

	K 10 9
	A Q 5
	Q J 10
	9 8 4 3

Firstly, the King of Clubs is the best lead for the Defence, as it’s the only one which attacks the entry to the blocked Diamonds.
Although we're not concerned with a different lie of the cards, it would be right to duck the first Club in case both red Kings and the Ace of Spades are with East - thereby cutting the Defence from their second Club trick.
The Spade suit can’t be led by the Defence without giving two tricks to Declarer, because of the 10 9; and the 9 of Clubs is a second stop in that suit.
Counting Declarer’s tricks (with Diamonds blocked) there are 2 Hearts, 3 Diamonds, 2 Clubs, and 1 Spades – so the ninth has to come from:
- a second Spade, if the Defence can be forced to lead them, or
- a long Diamond, if they can be unblocked, or
- an end-play / squeeze of some description

1. The straightforward line is win the Ace of Clubs, finesse the Queen of Hearts (which West must allow to hold), and play the Queen of Diamonds.
West covers, so Declarer cashes Jack and 10 of Diamonds, leaving:

	Q 7	South is on lead
	J 10	Declarer needs 4 more tricks
	8 6
	10 7

? 6 2	A ? 5 4
K 6	9 7 2
-	-
Q J 5	6

	K 10 9
	A 5
	-
	9 8 4

Declarer can’t play Spades, as this will develop a defensive trick for the Jack (remember, you cannot guess it correctly), and can’t play Ace and another Heart, as this will develop a long Heart for East when he gets in with Ace of Spades.
So lead a Club – but West cashes Queen, Jack, and exits with a Club to Declarer. Back to having to lead a Major, this line fails for Declarer.

2. Clearly Declarer needs to make at least one more Diamond trick.
Win the Ace of Clubs, finesse the Queen of Hearts, and play the Queen of Diamonds, ducking to unblock the suit when West covers, aiming for 4 Diamonds, 2 Clubs, 2 Hearts and 1 Spade.
West will try to counter this by leading a Spade to East’s Ace, to return a Heart to Declarer's Ace, setting up the King before South can develop the 2nd Club trick - but, in doing so, sets up a 2nd Spade trick for Declarer:

	Q	South is on lead
	J	Declarer needs 6 more tricks
	A 8 6 3
	10 7

? 6	? 5 4 3
K	9 7
9 4	5
Q J 5	6

	K 10
	5
	J 10
	9 8 4

Declarer can cross to Queen of Spades, return to Jack of Diamonds, cash King of Spades, and run 3 more Diamonds to make the contract.

3. The Defence's problem is that Declarer has 2 Diamonds in hand, in the above position, to provide entries to both Spades and Diamonds.
So West must duck the Queen of Diamonds, but cover the Jack, to foil this line.
On lead with the King of Diamonds, a Spade to East's Ace and a Heart return, leads to:

	Q	South is on lead
	J	Declarer needs 5 more tricks
	A 8 6
	10 7

? 6	? 5 4 3
K	9 7
9	-
Q J 5	6

	K 10
	5
	10
	9 8 4

Now Declarer can't return to hand after cashing the Queen of Spades and the Diamonds, so can't make the King of Spades

4. Declarer’s problem above is that he needs to set up a Club trick before reaching this position. He therefore needs to find two opportunities to duck Clubs.
The first is at Trick 1, and the second is after West has ducked the Queen of Diamonds.

The position after West wins the Jack of Clubs is then:

	Q 7	West is on lead
	J 10	Declarer needs 6 more tricks
	A 8 6 3
	-

? 6 2	A ? 5 4
K 6	9 7 2
K 9	5
5	-

	K 10 9
	A 5
	J 10
	9

On a Club, Diamond or Heart lead, Declarer ducks a Diamond and makes 6 tricks.
And on a Spade lead, East can win the Ace and return a Heart – but now the Queen of Spades is an entry to the blocked Diamonds.

Perhaps better is for West to duck the Club to Dummy's 10. The position is then:

	Q 7	North is on lead
	J 10	Declarer needs 5 more tricks
	A 8 6 3
	-

? 6 2	A ? 5 4
K 6	9 7 2
K 9	5
J	-

	K 10 9
	A 5
	J 10
	9

But the position is effectively the same - Dummy ducks a Diamond to West's King, and Declarer makes 5 more tricks.


So (I think) Declarer succeeds via the "flush of ducks":

Trick 1 – Declarer ducks the King of Clubs
Trick 2 – Declarer takes the Queen with the Ace of Clubs
Trick 3 – Declarer finesses the Queen of Hearts, which West ducks
Trick 4 – Declarer leads the Queen of Diamonds which West ducks
Trick 5 – Declarer leads a Club, which West ducks
Trick 6 – North ducks a Diamond to West's King

Declarer now makes 3 more Diamond tricks, Ace of Hearts and a Spade

Did you find this line (or is it flawed?)


David Norman 4/11/2015