Contract bridge: Call in help for seemingly unsolvable problem

An endplay does not need to occur towards the end of the hand. Here, declarer faced multiple problems, all of which evaporated once an excellent play was identified.

Bidding
Dealer: South
Game All

South’s 2D opener indicated a Strong 2 in one of the four suits and, over North’s relay, 3S showed a nine-trick hand with spades. Dummy was, as expected, pretty poor, but 10♠ seemed to be an entry. However, when South won West’s J♥ lead and tested the trump suit, the 3-0 break scuppers that. The club suit is frozen: if South tackles clubs, he is doomed but, if the opponents lead clubs, a trick must be established. What can declarer do? 

The simple answer is: throw opponents on lead at a point where, whatever is led next, assists the declarer. Having played one top trump, South cashes his other top heart from hand, and then leads Q♦. Whoever wins will be similarly embarrassed. Here, East held A♦ and now faced an unenviable choice: a diamond allows South to win in dummy with K♦ and pitch a club loser from hand; a trump can be run to dummy’s 10♠ and again K♦ can be cashed; a club breaks open the suit, ensuring only two losers there; a heart provides a club discard from hand and a ruff in dummy, and a second club can be thrown on K♦, resulting in an overtrick. All options suit declarer to a tee.