Bridge: True skill is demonstrated when luck deserts you

The speed and conviction with which declarer proffered his excuses when he failed took everyone by surprise, especially his partner: she knew that the contract could have been made . . . 

Bidding
Dealer: South
Love All

West led J♠; declarer counted four potential losers in his hand: a spade, a club and two diamonds. South reached for Q♠, East won and immediately switched to Q♦, continuing when South ducked. Winning the second round, declarer drew trumps, and advanced Q♣ from hand. When West followed low, he ran it. East won with K♣, and led a third diamond to West’s king. The case for the defence began immediately: “Both finesses wrong — as usual — couldn’t be made.”

The key is to appreciate that neither finesse needs to work if you time the hand correctly. Even if the club finesse loses, dummy’s suit can provide a discard from hand. In order to achieve this, South’s A♦ must still be intact to prevent two losers there. At trick 1, declarer should rise with A♠, draw trumps with ♥AK, and then take the club finesse. When this loses, East can cash K♠ and lead Q♦, but declarer has time to win A♦, cash J♣, cross to dummy with J♥, and then play A♣ on which he can discard a diamond loser. This way, despite bad luck, the contract still makes.