Heart Blockage
7 4 3
8 7 3 2
J 5
K 6 4 2
K 10
Q J 10 9 5
A 8 6 4
7 5
Q 8 6 2
K
10 7 2
A J 10 9 8
A J 9 5
A 6 4
K Q 9 3
Q 3
Notrump
East/West have a lot of potential tricks, but the blockage in hearts
is their downfall as declarer. On a diamond or spade opening lead,
North/South kill one entry, and, when West wins and leads a heart to the king,
South ducks. To set up the hearts, then, West needs two more entries,
entries he doesn't have. East/West then get a heart, two spades, and
a diamond. Can East get three club tricks? No matter how hard he
tries, he cannot do so without losing two clubs first, which gives
the defense three diamonds, a spade, a heart, and two clubs.
If North/South declare notrump, though, West's two entries are enough.
A heart to the king is led, and South should duck. East leads a low spade,
South wins the ace and can kill one entry but not the other. West wins
at the first opportunity and sets up hearts, and gets a diamond,
at least one spade, a club and four hearts. (The only way to keep East's
♠ Q from scoring actually lets East score a second club
instead, so the defense actually has eight tricks.)
Spades
If North/South declare spades, the defense starts with hearts. South does
not good to duck, so he wins and attacks diamonds. Too late, West wins the
ace, pitches two diamonds on hearts, and leads a fourth round of hearts,
pitching a club. Sout to play at:
East/West have scored three tricks already, and they have two natural tricks
in trumps left, as well as the
♣ A. If South ruffs, the defenders
get a third spade trick. If he doesn't ruff, then he gets the
♣ A, two spades or a heart.
If East/West declare spades, the defense starts with diamonds and East doesn't
get to pitch any diamonds. The defense ultimately gets two diamonds, two
spades, a heart and two clubs.
Hearts
It is somewhat difficult to believe that East/West can be held to
six tricks in hearts. They have what appears to be four heart
tricks and a trick in each other suit. But the spade trick is the
most vulernable, and it vanishes in a puff of smoke.
The defense starts with diamonds, West either holding up one round
or not. What does West do, now that he's in? The only vulnerable trick
he has is spades, so he'd better set it up. South wins the spade king lead
with the ace, cashes the heart ace, and then cashes his diamond, West
forced to follow and North pitching his two remaining spades. South
then gives North a ruff in spades and leads a club at this position:
East/West need the rest, but the club lead forces them to take the entry
before the trumps are drawn, so that the spade queen can't be cashed.
Of course, if North/South were declaring hearts, they can attack spades
right away, and North won't have time to pitch his spade losers.
Diamonds
If North/South declare, the defense leads to the heart king. South
wins and attack trumps, but too late. West wins the second trump
and starts cashing hearts, East pitching spades. If South ruffs the
fourth round of hearts, that promotes a trump trick for West.
If East/West declare, the defense starts with diamonds, and West wins
the second round. He leads a heart to the king, and South ducks.
Now East is on lead at this position:
Whatever East leads, South gets an entry to draw trumps and play ace and
another spade. That kills the West hand completely, and the defense still
gets two clubs, and the heart ace.
Clubs
If East/West declare clubs, the defense attacks diamonds and West
wins the first or second.
If he attacks hearts, South wins and plays the rest of his diamonds, North
pitching two small spades. If East doesn't ruff the fourth diamond,
the defense gets three diamonds, a heart, a spade, a spade ruff and
a club. So East must ruff, and we're at this end position:
East is on lead, but what does he lead? If he leads a spade, South wins the
ace, continues a spade, North ruffs. North then leads a club, and, if East
finesses, North gets another spade ruff, while if East plays the ace,
the defense gets two clubs directly. Even then, there is the eventual
spade loser. Basically, East can't avoid lots of losers.
If North/South are declaring in clubs, East starts with the
♥ K,
and South should duck. East then leads a spade and South wins the ace and
starts diamond, but it is too late - West wins the ace and leads a high
heart and East pitches a diamond, and the defense is restricted to two diamond.
Now South has to win. He cashes one diamond, but East can ruff the third
round, cross with a spade to West and leads high hearts, pitching two spades.
South can ruff, but he's ruffing with a natural trump.
North/South get only five tricks.