This deal was played in the 2018 World Championships. A 4-2 split, you wonder? That means our trump fit was only 7 cards? I suppose so. In the Round of 8 in the Knockout Teams, South held:

 K5  
 AJ754  
 108  
 J1083.
 

His partner (white against red) opened 1NT and he responded 2, a transfer to hearts. LHO doubled and this was passed around to him. Opener's refusal to accept the transfer would typically mean he has only 2 hearts. South tried 3 (forcing) and opener bid 3. What's that? Not clear for now, but without a diamond stopper, South bid 3, raised to 4. The 4 was led:

AQJ9  Q10  K54  KQ62

K5  AJ754  108  J1083

Partner might have tried 3NT--we'll see later how that would have fared.

East wins the club lead and returns a club, ruffed small by West. West plays the A and the Q which you win in dummy. Needing the rest, you lead the Q for a finesse. It wins (West following with the 8). On the 10, East covers with the king to your ace and West throws a diamond to leave:

AQJ9 -- 5  KQ

K5 J75 --  J10

East remains with 9x, but careful handling picks up the suit. Knowing the clubs will cash, you take both of them and then ruff a diamond. This reduces you to the same number of trumps as East. Then, you play the K and a spade to dummy. If East started with a singleton spade (1=4=4=4) you will be down, but this is quite unlikely. In fact, the full deal is shown below. With the lead in dummy at trick 12, you lead a spade and have your J7 over East's 96. You lost the first 3 tricks, but rallied to win the next 10.

Vul:East-West Dlr: North	AQJ9  Q10  K54  KQ62
108432  83  AQJ96  4		76  K962  732  A975
	K5  AJ754  108  J1083

So, what about 3NT by North? After a diamond to the jack (ducked) and the Q continuation, declarer would have to win the K. If he tried to knock out the A (hoping diamonds were 6-2 with the A with the doubleton), he'd swiftly be defeated. If instead he advanced the Q, he'd have 3 hearts, 4 spades and a diamond. Still, 3NT is down 1 on the Real deal. Well bid and well played for +420.