Bridge: Focus on key play to secure your contract; ignore anything that might derail you

Sometimes, I slip this hand into a much tougher set, putting my students to the test. It’s a very simple deal yet, when heads are full of superior thoughts, it often bamboozles . . . 

Bidding
Dealer: North
N/S Game

Using a simple system, South would open a Strong 2H, and North respond 2NT — indicating a poor hand, but one likely to contain one or two tricks. South, holding pretty much a maximum, should jump to game.

West leads her top-of-a-sequence Q♣, and South ponders. She has a spade and three diamonds to lose. To secure her game, South must trump a diamond in dummy before drawing trumps. However, all too often, a declarer will cross to dummy’s A♥ and lead a diamond, her K♦ losing to West’s A♦. West can lead a second heart and, when she wins the next diamond lead with Q♦, she can play her third and last trump. This removes all the trumps from dummy, leaving South with her same four losers. 

Declarer must remain focused. All that matters is ensuring one diamond ruff in dummy. At trick 2, she should lead out a low diamond. This will lose to J♦ but, even if a trump is led now, she can win, lose a second diamond, and there will still be one trump left in dummy to trump the third round.

I hope you found this deal too easy . . .