I was playing in a club game alongside a strong expert partner when I looked down at my hand: Spades: 8, Hearts: Q T 8, Diamonds: A K J 9 7 6 5, and Clubs: Q T. The vulnerability was nobody. My opponent on the right opened with 1 No-Trump. We use a specific defense against 1 NT openings where a double shows a long minor suit or both major suits. However, if my left-hand opponent bids, my partner would be left guessing, although she would likely suspect I had diamond shortness. I decided to bid 3 Diamonds. I had seven good diamonds, it took up a lot of bidding space, and the opponents were relatively novice. Even if I was in trouble, they might not double me or let me make it. I did wish I didn’t have the Queen-Ten combinations in the other suits; those might have provided just enough defense to stop the opponents from making a game if I had passed.

My right-hand opponent bid 3 Spades, which became the final contract. I led the King of diamonds (our partnership leads the King from A-K) and saw the dummy: Spades: A x x, Hearts: J 9 x x, Diamonds: Q 2, Clubs: 8 7 x x. My left-hand opponent had made a good pass earlier, despite having a great fit. She didn’t forget the auction, and even if her partner had a 17-count with five spades, game was still unlikely. I cashed the King and Ace of diamonds. Everyone followed suit, and partner signaled a doubleton. I already knew the diamond distribution was 7-2-2-2, but from her perspective, she might have thought I only had six diamonds.

I knew that almost nobody opens 1 NT with a six-card major. I was fairly certain that spades were divided 1-3-4-5 around the table, with partner holding four. I had 12 points, dummy had 7, and declarer had 15-17. That left only 4-6 points for my partner. Not much. After thinking it over, I realized the right play was to give declarer a ruff and sluff. This is usually one of the first things a novice learns not to do, as it gives away a free trick. But I wasn’t sure it would be a bad move here.

Let’s look at the alternatives. Leading a trump would annoy partner and likely destroy a trick. Leading a heart was scary because the dummy had the Jack; declarer could easily have A-K-x of hearts. Leading a club from Q-T seemed like suicide. Leading from a Queen could work if I got lucky, but I was blind regarding where partner’s points were. Regarding the diamonds, if dummy pitched a card, I doubted declarer would ruff a fourth round, which would be a winner anyway, and declarer would risk losing control. If dummy ruffed, as I expected, partner should be able to read the situation and know if she needed to over-ruff or go passive. Partner is a true expert and had caught on to all my undiscussed auctions so far.

I led the Jack of diamonds. Partner had a tough choice on whether to over-ruff since she actually had J 9 x x of trumps and the Ace of clubs. However, declarer pitched a club and ruffed in hand. Declarer then played trumps incorrectly. With K-Q-x-x opposite A-x-x, she should play the King then the Ace to reveal if she needs to finesse the fourth round. This set up partner’s Jack. Declarer then played the A-K and a small heart. At this point, I could win and run my diamonds. Declarer ruffed in, but that was her last trick. She went down two. It looked like the ruff and sluff was the only way to guarantee going down one, assuming partner over-ruffed dummy.

Later, I picked up Spades: Q, Hearts: J 9 5 4 3, Diamonds: J 9 7 5 3, Clubs: Q J. My right-hand opponent dealt, and everyone was vulnerable. Right-hand opened 1 Spade. I had the right shape for a Michaels cue bid, but not enough winners, so I passed. Left-hand bid 2 Diamonds, and right-hand bid 3 Clubs. To step into a live, game-forcing auction at the three level, partner must have a monster club suit. Then right-hand bid 3 Hearts. I could have competed with 4 Clubs, but even giving partner seven club tricks, my hand only added maybe a spade ruff. I would have loved to defend a red suit, but where were the spades? I passed.

Left-hand bid 4 Spades, showing a minimum game force with diamonds. Everyone passed, and I certainly wasn’t going to bid five clubs now after partner had told me what to lead. I led the Queen of clubs, and dummy hit with: Spades: K x x, Hearts: A x x, Diamonds: K Q T 8 x, Clubs: x x. Partner overtook my Queen with the King and continued with the Ace. Everyone followed. Partner paused for a few seconds and then put down the Ten of clubs. Declarer ruffed with a six, and I ruffed with the Queen, and dummy ruffed with the King.

At this point, the trumps were: Dummy had 3-2, I had none, partner had J-9-5-6, and declarer had A-T-8-7. Declarer had two reasonable lines. She could assume I started with Q-J tight and play the Ace then the Ten of spades. Or she could take the deep finesse of the Eight, cross back to dummy, repeat the finesse, and then run the diamonds for a trump coup to pick up trumps for no losers. Partner’s ruff-and-sluff was also the right play. Declarer only had winners outside of the trump suit, so the ruff-and-sluff didn’t let declarer pitch a loser. Removing a small trump from dummy stopped a repeated finesse. In practice, declarer over-ruffed with the Spade King, then played the trump Ace and lost count. She went down four.

I mentioned to partner that we had both given up a ruff and sluff correctly, albeit on different boards. She appreciated that it is a rare situation.