South in today’s deal was Egyptian star Walid el-Ahmady. We can’t be sure, but we think South’s four-notrump bid was natural, not Blackwood. North, who had shown nothing, probably felt he was too good to pass after South’s very strong bidding.
West could not lead a spade and chose to lead a heart. A club lead would have defeated the slam. El-Ahmady won the heart lead with his queen after East played the 10. South ran off all six of his diamonds, leaving this position:
El-Ahmady knew the king of clubs was in the East hand from the opening bid, so he led a club to the ace. When the king fell, he continued with the queen of clubs, discarding his low heart, and East couldn’t defend the position. A spade discard by East and South would just duck a spade. East discarded a heart instead, so el-Ahmady led a heart to his ace and then a low spade to dummy’s jack. East won with the king, but he had to lead a spade away from his queen and the slam came home. Very well played!
