Can you guess what contract was declared and what was the outcome? Is there more than one possible contract, which might be made and won with these combined hands?

The contract declared was 3 NT. The auction was uneventful – South: pass; West: pass, North: 1 NT, East: pass; South: 3NT – all pass.

The opening lead was ♦5 by East, North took the first trick with the ♦Q. North and South could count on six tricks with clubs, had a good suit of hearts and promising spades, but giving the lead to the opponents was dangerous – no stoppers left in diamonds. So North decided to go for it and took 6 consecutive tricks with clubs, starting with the ♣A, and continued to take tricks with all the rest of clubs from dummy’s hand.

As West had only one club, West discarded two small spades, two small hearts, plus a small diamond. North discarded two small spades and the ♠Q; East discarded a small heart and two diamonds.

After that North led the ♥J, West won that trick with the ♥A and led the ♦J, North played his only remaining diamond – the ♦K and East took this trick with the ♦A.

East led the ♦9; North discarded the last small spade from the table and the ♠J from hand, while West discarded another heart. East had yet one more diamond; so North discarded a small heart from the table and hand. Now North had ♠A and a small heart on the table and ♥KQ in the hand and could take the last tricks, making exactly 3NT.

Could any other game contract be won by South and North? Indeed, the par contract on this deal is 4♥, and 4♥ is makeable.

East would have led the ♦A and then a small spade. North could have taken the second trick with the dummy’s ♠A, won the next trick with the ♥J and another one with ♥Q (presuming West would have ducked.) Then North would have had to lead a small club to transfer the lead to dummy’s hand with ♣K and lead hearts again. West would probably have taken the third trump trick with the ace and scored yet another trick with the ♠K. After that North can take all the rest of the tricks.

5♣ could also be made with these cards. West would have led the ♠5 – offering a free finesse – so South could have won the first trick with the dummy’s ♠Q. Then South could have pulled the trump, leading clubs three times and led the ♥J, offering lead to West, who accepts and takes the trick with the ♥A. If West leads diamonds, East can take the opponents` second trick with the ◆A, after that South can take all the rest of the tricks regardless of the card led by East.

Analysis:

Par Contract Analysis:

The par contract on this deal is 4♥ by South/North.

Bridge Baron deal No : N1509-44415-07163-46349-97512-33123