You are South declaring three diamonds after West makes a preemptive jump to two spades over your opening bid. West leads the three of spades. Here is what you see with a summary of the auction:
Trick 1: You win the king of spades, East playing the jack.
Trick 2: Then you cash the ace of clubs, both following.
Trick 3: You then lead the eight of clubs, ruffing low in dummy.
Trick 4: Next comes the three of hearts from dummy and you put in the eight, losing to West’s jack.
At trick 5 West shifts to the four of spades. What spade do you play from hand? Scroll down for the answer.
Solution: Play the nine of spades, knowing it will get ruffed. West started with six spades for the preemtive overcall. You and dummy started with a combined total of six spades. East’s jack at trick one had to be a singleton. Don’t let your ace of spades get ruffed!