[Stephen Tu]

This seems like a nice basic beginner/int defense problem to me, textbook stuff. But most of the field (5/6!) got it wrong (at least in my view). Can BBO forum readers do better? (hidden responses pls)

Scoring: IMP

Opponents bid uncontested,
1♦-1♠-2♠-4♠

---

Partner leads ♦8. declarer plays J, you win K, declarer plays the 5. Now what?

[Walddk]

Spoiler

♠♥♦♣The diamond ruff must wait. C4 shift with a good chance that the contract goes down - provided that I rise with SA at my first opportunity.

[HeartA]

Spoiler

When declarer finesse D, it becomes obvious that pd led from stiff. There are two possibilities for use to get 4th trick (besides DK, D ruff, and my SA): pd holds HA or I get a ruff of clubs. If pd has singleton S with HA, I need to tell pd to cash it. If pd does NOT have HA, well, the only hope is that I get C ruff, in which case, I have to return C at trick #2, and rise with SA immediately when declarer touches trumps. It's not likely that pd gets two singletons, so I will return C at trick #2.

Besides, if pd has HA, we can set 4S by two tricks: I return the smallest D, telling pd to shift to clubs. Then when I get in with SA, I can get pd in and get a club ruff.

I will hope for the less and return C.