ark@rabbit.UUCP (08/15/83)
Here is the original problem: J9 K4 7642 AQJ108 AQ1087643 J76 A 4 You (South) are dealer at rubber bridge. You're vulnerable, they're not. You open 4S, which is passed out. The opening lead is the K of diamonds. The winning line: win the (forced) Ace of diamonds, club to the ace, and lead the small heart away from Kx! If East hops up ahead of your Jack, you will now win a heart trick by force, so assume East plays small. Play the Jack. If it wins, or loses to the Ace, you're golden, so assume it loses to the Queen. What will poor West lead now? If West returns anything but a trump, yo will win and lead another heart, establishing your tenth trick with a heart ruff. Assume, therefore, that West leads a trump. If West started with Kx, he has just given up his trump trick, so assume he started with Kxx. You now win and push another heart. If East wins, you're going to ruff the third heart, and if West wins, he must either lead another trump (from original Kxx) giving up his trump trick or lead something else and let you ruff the heart.