Reflex play is to cover the Q♥ with the K♥ 

That's standard play isn't it?

Well yes it is mostly but think it through

Declarer is planning/hoping to take several ♥ tricks

The only obvious potential entry to dummy is K♦ 

Based on the bidding & the ♥  play Declarer is near certain to hold A♦ 

And doesn't appear concerned about a ♣ continuation or ♠ switch

Why should you go along with Declarer's plan?

Taking 1 ♥  trick only to set up 3 for the opposition

Not even a close decision

So spurn the reflex play, sacrifice your trick & duck the Q♥ 

Partner follows suit & you know Declarer started with AQ doubleton

At our table Declarer then gave up on ♥ 's

And settled for running winners to end with 10 tricks

If the Q♥ is covered Declarer ends up with 12 tricks has happened twice

As the cards lie Declarer can always make 11 tricks

But here sacrificing your ♥ trick ensures the best result for defence

Certainly not Pass since you have game points

It's then dependant on your system

Probable system options over a 2NT opener are:

a) Natural - 3♠ or 3NT

b) Normal Stayman 3♣ 

c) 5 card  Stayman 3♣ 

d) Baron 3♣ - partner bid 4 card suits up the line 

    Opener shows only a 4 card ♣ suit by responding 3NT

e) Transfers - 3♥  to show 5+ ♠ 's

f) 3♠ showing 5♠ & 4♥ 

With a),b) & e) being the most likely

To digress - the contracts on this hand initially surprised me

9 played in the hopeless 3NT by N

2 played in 3♠ by S

Only 2 reached the winning contract of 4♠, played by S

So it's clear Transfers were not used by the 4 playing in ♠ 's

But they may have started with Stayman

On reflection I could see the possible reasons

Some play in occasional partnerships & stick to basics

Some may be regular pairs but have never explored development over 2NT

Some are just comfortable with their game & avoid extra brain strain

Looking at a couple of the alternatives

a) Natural 3♠ has problems on this hand

    1) How does opener decide if it's forcing 

        Or to play from a Yarborough with a 6 card suit

        At least 4 may have bid a  Natural 3♠ 

        2 openers passed & two bid on to game

   2) It passes up the possibility of playing in a 4-4 ♥ fit

   3) It puts the big hand on the table

a) Natural 3 NT

    This is a point counters bid without consideration of shape

     Passing up the possibility of a major fit

f) 3♠ showing 5♠ 's & 4♥ 's

   Perfect on this occasion

   But low frequency of use may lead to forgetfulness

So what's the way forward to those who want to develop their game?

Pretty well everyone uses Stayman over 1NT 

Which makes option b) the easiest to remember

Ideally coupled with Transfers

I think the frequency of 2NT justifies the effort

Personally I play Baron with Transfers & the f) 3♠ option 

Baron has the potential to identify minor suit slam possibilities

And major suit fits

On the ♦ plays it's looking like N has made a MUD lead

In which case S figures to hold 5 ♦ 's

You are about to lose communication with dummy 

But if N holds Q♠ you have a good chance

On the assumption that is the case can you see the way home?

Declarer overtook the K♦ and took the ♠ finesse - the J held

On a ♣ continuation S won with the K & played another ♣ 

Declarer discarded a ♥ & N followed

So the ♣ 's break 3-3 but you are pinned on the table

All well and good if the ♠ 's break 3-3

So do you go for broke hoping to take 10 tricks?

Or can you find a line that guarantees 9 if N started with 4 ♠ 's?

S looked to hold 8 cards in the minors

So Declarer wasn't optimistic about the ♠ break

Accordingly the ♣ winners were played 

Then the A♠ with S following

Dummy was down to K86♠ & Declarer to A8♥ & Q♦  

Declarer saw that he would squeeze himself by continuing ♠ 's

If N was winning Trick 12 what suit would be returned at Trick 13

What should Declarer discard at trick 12?

By carefully following defenders cards the answer is likely to be apparent

Unless there is some subtle misdirection taking place

But in practice the potential problem was avoided

Declarer found the safe way home

At trick 11 continuing not with the K♠ but with a low ♠ 

S discarded & Declarer threw the small ♥ coming down to A♥ & Q♦ 

N won & it didn't matter what the continuation was - contract made

This is a poor contract

A count of sure tricks shows only 7

But take a few moments to think

E opened the bidding and has shown both black suits

Probably 5/4 or 5/5 but only 8 points maximum in them

Hence E must hold points in ♥ 's - likely 2 of the honours

If W holds the A♥ you are going off so assume it's with E

From the analysis it's clear ♦ 's will not break kindly

Since W figures to hold 4 or 5

It's also clear you can't afford for W to get the lead & play a ♠ through you

Over to you - time to play 

At the table declarer ran the 10♣ holding

Then a ♦ to the Q

Returned a ♦ and successfully finessed the 10 with E discarding a small ♠ 

And could now count 8 tricks

Declarer continued with K♦ & E discarded 4♥ 

Then a ♣ to the Q, W following

A♣ was cashed followed by A♦ 

Declarer discarded a ♥ & E a ♠ 

Trick 9 the 2♥ from dummy E won with Q♥ 

Then cashed K♣ , A♥ & A♠ 

Relucantly conceding trick 13 to declarers boss ♠ 

Contract made

What did declarer do right?

Thought about the bidding

Figured out the distribution leading to the ♦ finesse against W

And declarer knew that only one E hand could guarantee the contract

5-2-2-4 distribution with doubleton AK♥ 

Without that a mistake by defence was required

But we all make defensive errors from time to time

So there was always this chance of success

Where did defence go wrong?

Presumably in the assessment of declarer's hand

Or just switching off in the latter stages

Declarer's first bid was 1NT limiting the point range

By the time of the ♥ play declarer had shown 6 points

On the play E would know for certain of a further 3 - J♣ & Q♠ 

Based on the lead & play  W could interpret a further 2 or 3 with declarer

If declarer's first bid was meaningful the N hand could not contain a top ♥ 

So W could have risen with K♥ 

Cashed the long ♦ then continued with a ♥ or ♠ 

When W failed to do this E could have saved the day

Since E has the most certain count of declarer's hand

Winning with A♥ & returning the Q♥ to reach the W hand

But the auto play of Q♥ would not be uncommon

Observation & cooperation are key to this defence

Every card can tell a story

What does S's lead of 4♥ show, what is your lead style?

It's likely a singleton or lowest from 3 to the Q

With  4 to the Q partner should have competed

The outstanding ♥ 's are the 5, 7 & Q

Hence it looks possible to reach partner's hand via ♥ 's

Accordingly you return a ♥ but not any old ♥ 

Because you desperately want partner to return a ♦ 

So you choose the 10♥ 

This is a simple signal - the highest ♥ you can spare

Partner should read this as a message to return a ♦ 

Winning with Q♥ partner returns 2♦ giving you a ruff

Now it's your turn to interpret the 2♦ 

If partner has a remaining quick entry it can only be in ♣ 's

Without that entry a middle sized ♦ would have been returned

So the 2♦ must request a ♣ 

You return your lowest ♣ to partners A

Partner leads a 2nd ♦ & you ruff again

No more tricks to come but declarer is already 2 down

Could Declarer have done better?

On the opening lead declarer followed with the 3 from 53

It's so easy to dismiss such small cards

Every card can tell a story, or may in this case weave a web

Suppose from the 2 seemingly worthless cards the 5 had been played

Now how does that carefull observer sitting N interpret the situation

Most likely that S has led from a 43 doubleton

In which case N takes 2 ♥ tricks

Then switches to the highest ♣ & hopefully getting 1 ♦ ruff

At worst the contract is only 1 down

Suppose S started with Q♥ instead of the 4♥ 

Now N should follow with the 10♥ 

And a thoughtful S should think about this

Partner appears to have AK so why this over the top encouragement?

Seems to be asking for a ♦ switch

Fair enough I'll switch to the 2♦ 

Again leading to the contract going 2 down

It's getting repetitive but every card can tell a story

Small cards can be every bit as important as top honours

A straightforward everyday hand

Lead could be top of nothing

You try the J♦ , W covers with Q♦ & you win with the K♦ 

Count the tricks 

If ♣ 's break kindly the contract is easy

So you play on clubs

E/W follow to 3 rounds

Cash all your winners

Contract made with 5 ♣ 's, 2 ♦ 's & 2 ♥ 's

Know the target take the tricks

No brain strain 

It's not uncommon

You see the contract is cold & your mind relaxes

Cash the winners & look forward to the next hand

Partner may congratulate you

But hold on a moment this is a duplicate session & overtricks count

Partner might wonder if you could have done better

So take another look at the hand

Going back to the point when you knew the contract was making

The end of trick 4

And pausing to consider options

Maybe you are worried about the ♠ suit 

But the opposition can't attack it without giving you a trick

Whatever you do at that point you can't be beaten

So you might finesse against 10♦ 

But perhaps you are convinced the original ♦ lead was top of nothing 

What about the ♥ suit?

Your partnership held 7 ♣ 's & against the odds they broke 3-3

Similarly you have 7 ♥ 's & might be fortunate a 2nd time

So try ducking a round of ♥ 's

Whoever wins can't do better than cashing 2 ♠'s before putting you in

Say E wins & returns a ♦ you win in dummy & continue with a ♥ 

The ♥ suit does break 3-3 and you finish with 10 tricks

Now partner should congratulate you

At the Table

The 7♦ was led twice & both declarer's made 9 tricks

One cashed out, don't know about the other

Counting tricks you reach 10 & then 11 if K♦ is with E

It's not looking great, maybe you've pushed too far again

Maybe something fortuitous will occur

Like E having K♦ and W a singleton J or 10♦ 

Allowing a double finesse in ♦ for 3 tricks

Or E dropping singleton Q or J♣ under your K

Allowing a ♣ finesse to bring in 3 tricks

Well yes it does happen occasionally, but the chances are very slim

At the table the most common scenario is probably this:

Had enough of this thinking lets get on with it

Rise with A♠ at Trick 1 & draw trumps, take the ♦ finesse

Ending with 10 or 11 tricks

Anyone considering a possible squeeze play?

Hoping to find E with both minors

Question - when did you last rectify the count?

Most common answers probably being something like:

What do you mean?

Never knowingly

Done it on rare occasions

So what is this 'Rectifying the Count'?

It's deliberately losing the trick/s you can afford to lose at an early stage

A vital concept when embarking on a squeeze play

In this case that means losing 1 trick early

So that later if the hoped for squeeze position exists

The squeezed defender has no safe card to discard

This may well sound horribly complex

But consider this 

You can't avoid losing 1 trick so it does no harm to lose it early

In this case you do it immediately by ducking the K♠ lead

W continues with Q♠ 

Right now you don't want to commit to a discard

So play low from dummy and ruff in hand

At this stage there is some reason to be encouraged

E has followed with the 7 & 9♠ 

So it's looking like E may have started with 3 and W with 5 headed by KQJ♠ 

With that holding & K♦ most or at least many would bid 1♠ over your 1♥ 

So the odds of the ♦ finesse working now look better than the original 50%

Draw trumps in 2 rounds ending in dummy

Now take the ♦ finesse which succeeds

E contributing the 10 and W following small

Now run the remaining trumps

Coming down to A9♦ & K75♣ in hand

With A♠ , 7♦ & A102♣ in dummy

Cross to A♣ in dummy & now play the squeeze card A♠ 

Having to discard from KJ♦ & QJ♣ E is in a hopeless situation

You see what E discards & then choose your discard accordingly

Whatever E throws you can take the remaining tricks & make the slam

Check out what happens if you don't 'Rectify the Count'

You would cross to dummy at Trick 9 

At which point E would have no difficulty following from KJ♦ & QJ8♣ 

So you end up with 11 tricks

At the Table

It's not surprising that nobody played in 6♥ but 2 made 12 tricks

I don't know how they achieved it

But I'd be delighted to hear they did it via the squeeze described

General Thought

I don't know who or how many look at the 'Hands' section 

But in selection it's almost inevitable I choose hands that interest me

Whilst these may be beneficial to some they may be too complex for others

In that respect I find it difficult to choose hands for 'Improver's'

If anyone comes across a hand for consideration please let me know

On sight of dummy you can calculate that partner has at best 3 HCP

Declarer should have made the same calculation

Partners lead hasn't helped but no use dwelling on that

You follow low to the 2nd ♦ 

Declarer wins with A♦ and plays a third round

Partner follows and you win with Q♦ 

Whoops - you are end played

And can't avoid giving access to the 13th ♦ in dummy via K♠ 

Contract made

Rewind to the 2nd round of ♦ 's

Is Declarer just cashing winners or is there a deeper strategy?

With an opening 1NT a distribution of 2-2-4-5 is unlikely

So take it that Declarer started with 3 ♦ 's

If they were AJx a finesse will be taken against your Q

Nothing to be done about that but what about Axx?

Declarer knows you have most of the points

And may be hoping to throw you in with the Q♦ on a 3rd round

A look at your hand confirms that would not be good at all

So holding on to the Q♦ cannot be the best play

Indeed playing the Q♦ cannot, of itself, be a losing play

So play it on this 2nd round & hope partner has J♦ 

Say Declarer takes this trick with A♦ & continues with another 

Hoping you started with QJx

Partner wins and returns what?

Partner might reason thus - Declarer has shown 10 HCP

If he has the A♠ surely he would cash 9 tricks 

Rather than playing the 3rd round of ♦ 's when wide open in ♥ 's

So he would if playing a NT contract but not here

On the assumption that N's double was sound S can count the hand

Partner has only shown 3 so far

Hence must hold AJ♠ & AK♥ to reach the minimum of 15

So S switches to Q♠ & beats the contract

However Declarer is not totally without recourse when Q♦ is played

With second sight, ducking & putting the pressure on you

If you cash AK♥ then switch to your last ♦ all is well

If you immediately return the ♦ you can be end played in ♥ 's

Even this possible but unlikely scenario can be avoided

On the same logic as above 

By dropping the Q♦ under the K on the first round of ♦ 's

Thus guaranteeing that partner will get the lead at some point

This type of play is not easy & many may not consider it

Even when it's in your mindset it can be missed by a lapse in concentration