Two In The Bush

East Deals Both Vul	♠ Q J 10 7 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ A 2
	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 4 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 8 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
		You
		Pass	1 ♥
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	All pass

Your partnership leads are fourth best from power, and second best from three or more spot cards. Partner led the ♦ 7; declarer played ♦ K from dummy and ♦ 9 from hand, you of course played the deuce.

Declarer led the ♥ Q from dummy, you started a trump echo with the ♥ 4, and declarer followed ♥ 5; partner wins the trick with the ♥ K.

Partner then led the ♦ 8: ♦ Q from dummy, you ruffed with the ♥ 2 completing the trump echo 😎 as declarer played the ♦ 10.

Your trick. Now what?

ANSWER: Underlead your ace of spades!

Partner's ♦ 8 is a suit preference signal for the higher-ranking suit. Based on the other diamonds played so far, you can see that there several low diamonds still lurking somewhere. They must be in partner's hand; she realized from the auction -- and her diamond holding -- that you might be short in diamonds. 

You went to some effort to tell partner that you have a third trump and want another ruff. Partner led a high diamond rather than a low one or a non-committal middle-ish one. Partner definitely signaled a spade entry, and since you have the ace she must therefore have the king.

Why not cash the ace of spades?

Declarer opened hearts (5+) and rebid diamonds (4+),  thus declarer has at most four black cards. You can count nine spades between your hand and dummy. If declarer is void in spades, it doesn't matter what you do. If declarer has two spades, your ace will still be good later. But if declarer has a singleton spade, you won't get to partner's hand if you cash your ace. So, forget the bird in your hand. Instead, trust your partner and get two in the bush -- the spade king and another diamond ruff -- for down one.

	♠ Q J 10 7 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ A 2
♠ K 8 3 ♥ K 9 ♦ 8 7 5 4 3 ♣ K 9 6	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 4 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 8 7 4 3
	♠ 6 ♥ A J 10 6 5 ♦ A J 10 9 ♣ J 10 5

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes.  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)