At the sight of dummy, South realised that he needed four tricks from the heart suit to make his contract. There was no other suit that might produce an extra trick. The chances were pretty good because of his 10 of hearts. He didn’t have to rely on a 3-3 heart split, but a 4-2 split with the jack doubleton would do nicely. It was a long shot, but a 5-1 split with a singleton jack would do just as well.
South ducked the opening diamond lead as a matter of technique. He won the diamond continuation with his ace, noting East’s club discard, and set out to see what else he could learn about the hand. He led a spade to dummy’s ace and cashed the king. He then cashed three rounds of clubs, ending in his hand, as West shed a diamond on the third round. Two high spades saw East discard another club, and South had a perfect count on the hand. West had started with 4-2-5-2 distribution and East had started with four hearts.
South led a heart to dummy’s ace, cashed the king, and confidently led a heart to his 10 to bring home his contract. A simple but elegant line of play!