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100%
by Paul Lukacs, with Ted Muller

South leads the
Q.
East to make 6
against any defense and distribution.
When first published, this problem was touted as being only 99.9% secure, which means that the author missed the hand's best feature (in failing to appreciate that south's diamond length was immaterial). A truly elegant layout, this is a composer's dream in that there must be no variation in the sequence of plays.
Declarer wins the
A; in order for there to be any
problem, trumps must split 3-0. Assuming that
to be the case, the
A is
led. If that is not ruffed, a spade is played to the king, then a club toward
dummy. If south is void, he cannot afford to ruff a loser. The
K wins, and a heart is played
to the ace. If that is ruffed, then the club loser goes away on the
K and a marked heart finesse
is taken.
If the
A wins, another club is led toward the
ace. Now a club is discarded on the
K. If that is not
ruffed, south is thrown in with a spade, and he is endplayed. Declarer covers a
lesser club lead, or gets a free heart finesse.
If, at trick two, south does ruff the first diamond and returns a
black suit, declarer wins the
K
and
K, then plays off two high
hearts. If north shows out on the first heart, then his pattern must be
0-0-10-3; after discarding a club on the other diamond,
a club ruff will set up a trick for a heart discard. Alternatively,
if north shows out on the second heart, then he is
0-1-10-2; the trumps are drawn, squeezing south in
clubs and hearts. Finally, if north follows to two heart leads, then he can
have only one club, and a second-round finesse in that suit
is marked.