South in today’s deal was Polish World Champion Katarzyna Dufrat. She found herself in a poor slam after a highly competitive auction that forced North to make a key decision at a high level. North made the aggressive choice and now Dufrat had to play it.She won the opening heart lead with her ace and led a club to dummy’s 10. This won, but East’s discard on the ace of clubs was a disappointment. West’s opening heart lead was certainly a singleton, so Dufrat could be reasonably sure about the distribution. She discarded a diamond on the ace of spades and ruffed dummy’s remaining spade, cashed her two high diamonds, and led a club to West. She ruffed the forced spade return and started to run her clubs. This was the position with one club left to cash:She cashed her club and discarded a diamond from dummy. East was finished. Whatever East discarded would allow Dufrat to take the last two tricks. Beautifully played! Published - May 28, 2026 11:35 am IST