South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
6NT |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
|
|
Contract: 6NT.
Bidding: West knows that partner has from 15 to 17 points.
Together the pair must have the 32 points required for
a small slam but not enough for a grand slam. West has all
the information needed to place the contract in six notrump.
Play: Declarer has eleven top tricks. There are two possible
finesses to take for the twelfth trick. Declarer can play North for
the spade king and lead from dummy toward his queen. The other
alternative is to finesse in hearts by leading from dummy toward
the jack. As long as one of these two finesses works, declarer makes
the contract provided
he takes the finesses in the right order.
Since declarer must always
give up a spade whether the
K
is on side or off---
Declarer
must take the spade finesse first.
If it works, the heart finesse is unnecessary. If the spade finesse
fails, the heart finesse is still
an option.
If declarer takes the heart finesse first and it loses, it is too
late to give up a trick in spades and the slam fails.