This deal comes from the 2010 Naples, Florida Regional.

Playing in a knockout event, you hold:

Q 9 7
K 6 5 4 3
Q 9 2
6 3

LHO opens 1 and your partner, vulnerable against not overcalls 2. RHO Passes.

And you?

Red against white at IMPS you want to strive at all costs to reach games, but this hand just doesn't have enough meat to take action. (Note: If you did take action, make sure your partnership knows if a 2 bid here would be forcing or nonforcing).

I am not likely to write an article where you put down your hand as dummy in 2, so it won't surprise you to find LHO reopen with a takeout double. Your partner passes and RHO bids 2. Are you passing?

I sure hope so. It would be nice if the opponents play in hearts, but LHO has other ideas. He removes to 2. RHO corrects back to 3, the final contract.

Partner leads the Q standard and you see:

DUMMY
K 8 2 Q 9 8 2 5 4 3 5 4 2
	YOU
	Q 9 7 K 7 6 5 4 Q 9 2 6 3

Let's review the bidding:

West	North	East	South
			1
2	Pass	Pass	Double
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	3	All Pass

Do you agree with dummy's bidding? I do. He had an easy 2 bid and then when partner removed to 2, he figured his partner for short hearts, 4 spades and longer diamonds (if partner were balanced he likely would have passed either 2 or 2).

On the Q you play the 6 (hi-lo with a doubleton--if instead you play low, partner might think it is a singleton).

Declarer wins the A and plays the K to your partner's ace. Partner persists with another club to declarer's king, and declarer plays the J to your queen (partner following). Are you awake? What's going on?

Brute logic and concentration provides lots of information. We know all of the following:

1) Declarer almost surely started with a doubleton AK. Partner wasn't likely to overcall with a 5-card suit on the 2-level vulnerable, and even if he did, it isn't likely declarer would have made a takeout double holding 3 clubs.

2) Since partner followed to 2 rounds of diamonds, it seems declarer started with KJ10xx.

3) Why did declarer play diamonds this way? He probably has only one quick dummy entry (the K) and would have need two entries to pick up Qxx(x) onside. He decided it was unlikely you started with exactly Qx.

4) Declarer's bidding showed 4 spades, so by now you expect he is exactly 4=2=5=2.

So, in with your Q, you play?

Part of declarer's reasoning for keeping the K in dummy could easily be that it is an entry to the hearts. Your heart spots tell you that declarer can likely set up two heart winners in dummy. You need to attack spades before the hearts are set up. Did you figure out which spade to shift to? I hope it was the 9, for this is the real deal:

Vul: East-West Dlr: South	K 8 2 Q 9 8 2 5 4 3 5 4 2
J 6 5 A 10 A 8 Q J 10 9 8 7		Q 9 7 K 7 6 5 4 Q 9 2 6 3
	A 10 4 3 J 3 K J 10 7 6 A K

On your 9 shift, declarer is dead. If he covers with the 10, your partner plays the jack and dummy wins the king. You have to get a spade trick later to go with 2 hearts and 2 diamonds for down one.

If declarer wins the 9 with his ace, the defense can easily set up another spade trick in time.

If you don't shift to spades at all, declarer has time to set up two heart tricks to throw his spade losers.

If you carelessly shifted to a low spade, declarer plays low from hand and partner's jack is trapped. You needed to play the 9 to neutralize dummy's 8. This is a subtle example of what is commonly known as a "surrounding play." The more familiar example comes when dummy has 10xx and you shift to the J from KJ9 when declarer has the queen and your partner has the ace.

I wanted to call this article "Surround Sound," but I think that would have been too big of a hint. If you missed this play, don't feel badly. An expert at the table got it wrong as did other good players who were given this problem.