[han]

Matchpoints, favorable.

xxx
AKx
Qxxx
AQJ

KQ109xx
Jx
x
10xxx

Bidding:
1D-(1H)-1S-(2H)
2NT-(pass)-4S-all pass

1S showed 4+ spades, 2NT showed 16-18 HCP, balanced. Do you agree with 4S?

Play:

1) low heart lead (suggesting 3), won with the ace
2) low spade to the king, LHO drops the jack.
3) queen of spades to RHO's ace, LHO plays low club (lavinthal). (thanks Fluffy!)
4) jack of diamonds to LHO's king.
5) heart back, won with the king.
6) small diamond, RHO plays the 9, you ruff.

Now what? ( hide answers pls, I think this is solvable for some B/I too)

[Fluffy]

I think there is a mistake in trick 3 or 4

[cherdano]

I think there is still s.th. wrong, Han. In trick 3, it was LHO who pitched a low club. In trick 6, wasn't it RHO who follows with the ♦9? Anyway, I was dummy and half-sleeping, so I may mis-remember...

Arend

[inquiry]

I am a tad sleepy, so this isn't a good time to take a guess, but here goes (hidden as requested).

Spoiler

It seems RHO has five or six hearts, three spades to the ACE, and at least two diamonds (the J and 9 he has shown up with). On top of that, his heart suit was pathetic (QTxxx at best). We have 10 sure tricks in the form of 5S, 3C and 2H, these tricks are not so sure at matchpoint where we could lose 4D and spade ace, not to mention club king. So we shouldn't worry about crushing those in notrump. Do we pull trump, knock out club king and claim? Can EAST be 3-5-4-1 with stiff king? If west has king, can we get a squeeze of some kind? The double threat suit (hearts) is lacking an entry, but east is busy in three suits... can be interesting. Take club hook, if it loses, claim. If east ruffs it, he is out of trumps, so you can ruff your 4th in dummy. If it wins, time to think again. West will have five clubs *he cant afford to throw one from king-fourth* So hand is open book. West is 1-3-4-5. If he has the very unlikely dA and CK, you have him in a trump squeeze. If not you simple make your 10 tricks. When club hook wins, trump to hand, lead the next to last trump in this position.

---

What is west to play (you pitch heart from dummy). If a club, club hook, club ace, ruff diamond, club ten good. If diamond, club hook..now you know !CT never good, ruff a diamond --ace falls--, club to the ace, take good diamond for 11 tricks.

Of, if east has two clubs and ducks the first club, this could have problems. He wins the club king, forces you to ruff a red card (you now out of trumps) and your good club Ten is stranded.. you take your chances.... :0

[han]

Your line wouldn't win at the table Ben, but I don't dare to say that it is wrong. You are playing against conservative players though, and RHO wouldn't overcall on a 7-count with Q10xxx when red against white (you know what, neither would I).

There were still some mistakes, as notices by Arend. I fixed them, hopefully for good.

[GijsH]

I think this is a non-problem: there is nothing better than the ♣ finesse.
Squeezes don't work because the communication is insufficient.

[han]

OK, perhaps it was not as straightforward as I thought. Lefty has 1-3-4-5 shape and righty 3-5-4-1 (I think that you can count on the AJ109 in diamonds on your right). Even if the finesse is on you will lose a club trick on the 4th round.

I thought that the best play for an overtrick was to play for the drop and was rewarded with the stiff king on my right. Perhaps Gijs is right and I was just lucky.

[Fluffy]

Ben's line is much prettier