Defence - Grab       J R Dent

E/W Vul				Bidding	South	North
Dealer South					1H	1S
					4S	Pass
	♠ Q J 9 8 3
	♥ 5			East leads the King of Clubs.
	♦ K J 8 6			Both opponents can see the strong
	♣ 7 6 3			heart suit in dummy. This is an
♠ 7 5		♠ 10 6		URGENT warning to the defenders
♥ 8 7 4 3		♥ J 9 6		that they MUST GRAB THEIR TRICKS NOW.
♦ A Q 9 4		♦ 7 5 3 2		Otherwise any losers which
♣ J 8 5		♣ A K 4 2		NS have will be discarded on the hearts.
	♠ A K 4 2
	♥ A K Q 10 2			On the Ace and King of clubs West
	♦ 10			follows with the 5 and 8, assuming
	♣ Q 10 9			EW are using normal signals.

 

East knows West cannot ruff so the only possible weakness is in diamonds. East MUST lead a diamond.

This is a recent hand from play. Amazingly, at six tables North was allowed to make eleven tricks.

The hand also shows how essential it is for West to signal carefully when the Ace and King are lead. In my view, signalling

on partner's lead is far more important than the fancy discard systems which are so fashionable.