DEFENCE  
NEVER
SEEMS
TO BE A
PROBLEM
FOR 
JOHNNY
.....
.....

The other day I was sitting East defending a regulation 3NT shown above ......and surprise surprise  my partner found the only lead to give declarer a problem , namely a spade.

At my table declarer eventually triumphed with 4C, 4S and 1D to get his 9 tricks. Indeed, looking at all four hands it is difficult to see how the defence can arrive at 5 tricks ?

However , when scoring up  the bridgemate revealed that one declarer had failed , and this was because Johnny Supremo had been defending the contract !  

Sitting East , he had managed to work out the killing line of play...... all in a matter of seconds. 

His partner too had led a spade , and when Johnny played his jack declarer swiftly covered it with the Ace. Straightaway , he set about clubs . West ducked the first round but was forced to take the next with his bullet . Again a passive spade was returned by West . Clearly , either a heart or diamond switch would have proved fatal. So yet again declarer was back in hand by taking the trick with the spade 10. 

Sensibly , he played the heart queen next , which  without blinking Johnny took with the Ace. But what did the great man do next , one might ask ?

The answer of course was to resist temptation of a diamond switch....but to play a third spade into dummy's KQ .  Declarer , poor sod , was now locked in dummy  quite content to enjoy his black suit winners......but at what cost ? For as he set about cashing out these lovely winners , the reality of what was unfolding soon filled him with horror. He was squeezing himself to death , and nothing could stop Johnny smiling away as the defence calmly gathered up the last three tricks.