Part-score deals are relatively rare beasts in my columns, but they can often be the most instructive, offering multiple possible avenues in the play.
I doubled three diamonds for takeout as North, hoping to locate a major-suit fit. I might have been tempted to pass for penalty on my partner’s hand regardless, angling for the magical plus 200 at matchpoints scoring, but she reasonably decided to bid three hearts.
West led an unusual diamond king, which pinpointed the rest of the key high cards for South. She won with the diamond ace and returned the suit, West winning with the nine and shifting to a club, to the queen and ace. Declarer now crossed to the club king and called for the heart jack, covered by the king and ace. Alas, declarer now laid down the heart queen. This apparently harmless move was fatal. East could draw declarer’s trumps using the spade ace and queen as entries, and we were rewarded with a dreadful minus 200.
There is no rush to draw that second round of trumps. Declarer should start on spades after the first round of hearts, and since the ace is marked as being offside, it is best to try to duck the first spade trick altogether. South can take the low heart return with the queen — there is no reason to play for the bad break — and duck another spade, felling the ace. All that remains is to cash the heart 10 and then run black-suit winners, making nine tricks.
This is another variant of the theme of setting up side suits before drawing trump.