| West | North | East | South |
| 1♠ | |||
| 2♠(1) | Pass | 3♥ | 3♠ |
| 4♣ | 4♠ | All Pass |
(1) Michaels
This one required careful handling. West led the ♥K. On the bidding, declarer placed the ace of clubs on his left. This left him with three sure minor-suit losers, so he would have to play the trump suit without loss. The bidding suggested that West would be short in trumps. If the trumps were 3-1 (at least an 8 to 3 favourite), then cashing the king of trumps and playing a trump, covering East’s card, would be enough to make the contract.
Declarer then considered what he could do if trumps were 4-0. The answer was that he would have to ruff three cards in hand. As it could not
cost to ruff a heart at trick two, declarer did so, but he was careful to ruff with the seven of trumps. Next, he led the eight of trumps to the king and then ran the six of trumps when East followed with the four. Declarer ruffed another heart and cashed the ♦A K to take advantage of his only hope for the contract – that West had begun with 0=5=2=6 shape. After that, South led the ♣K. West took the ♣A Q but then had to play a card that declarer could ruff.
After ruffing the club exit, declarer was in a three-card ending. He had the ace and jack of trumps plus the ♦8, which he played to the next trick. East won the trick but then had to lead a trump and declarer took the last two tricks for his contract. The full deal:
