I am glad you liked it.
I will pontificate just a little. In a hand such as this, the problem is staring everyone in the face. The natiural line of play can be summarized as : Draw trump, run diamonds. Defenders must see if they can stop this from happening, declarer must preserve the plan. What's best?
On the auction, E can be assumed to have the top cards:
K,
AK
A. If spades are 3-2 It all seems safe if N never touches clubs. Ruff the heart. Spade A and Q. E is in. As the cards lie, the spade Ten has fallen but never mind, suppose it hasn't. There is still a spade in dummy so, on a D lead, declarer wins, draws the last trump, runs Ds. Ok, so E plays the heart K. No problem. S ruffs, and runs diamonds. Eventually a D is ruffed, the club Q is the entry back. Declarer loses two spades and a club.
As is so often the case, preserving entries is the key.
If spades do not break, this might get a little tougher.
W made a good play of the club 9 when the second club was led. I agree that N should not be fooled, but I think the 9 helped. It seems natural, although wrong if you think about it, to cover the 9 with the K.
It is, at heart, a one problem hand. Declarer wants to run diamonds, defenders want to prevent it. Looked at that way, that club Q is looking very valuable as an entry. Before playing to T2, declarer might consider what happens if E was dealt the AJx of clubs. It will go Q of clubs, small all around, and then ? I think that starting with AQ of spades is the safest approach. Spades 3-2 and all high honors with E and the contract is home. E is in and whether he has a third spade or not, and whether he has AH, Ax, or AHx in clubs he has no good move.
Added: Even if declarer can get to his/her hand, it is by no means certain s/he can pick up the spades. Leading small toward the AQ won't do it, declarer has to lead the J first. E covers, then the Q brings down the Ten. It'a asking a lot. Better to just give up a spade and preserve the transportation.
I am thinking that playing off the AQ might bring declarer home even if E is 4=6=1=2, providing the W stiff is the T. Heart ruffed. AQ of spades. What does E do? Say he plays a D. Declarer wins and plays another. If E ruffs and leads the heart Q, declarer ruffs, then ruffs a
with the 9, draws the last trump, and leads a club. I have not thought through all the variants, but it appears to work.
Side comment: This was an acbl speedball and illustrates why I do not like speedballs. If declarer had had time to think, s/he might have worked this out. Speedballs force people to play without thinking. Just why it is that people like to play a game that emphasizes thinking, and then like to play it in a format that forbids thinking, is a mystery to me.
