Labyrinth
By Mark Horton In 46th World Bridge Teams Championships On 25th August 2023
This deal from Round 16 is a potentially tough play problem for NS should they reach 4
.
Suppose South is declarer and West leads the 
2?
Having won perforce in dummy it looks natural to cross to hand with the 
K and play a spade to the king. When that holds declarer must come to hand with a diamond, ruff a club, repeat that process and then play a spade. If West overtakes East’s queen, cashes the J and exits with a club declarer ruffs but can then play a diamond securing the last two tricks with dummy’s A and a diamond.
You can change the order of play, leaving the trump suit till last, but with the A onside you should be able to negotiate your way out of the maze to get home.
Across the four events 49 pairs reached 4, 31 recording 10 tricks.
