BRIDGE

Both vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
x A 10
u 6 3 2
v A K Q
w 7 6 4 3 2
WEST EAST
x J 9 6 x K 8 7 5 4 3
u 9 7 5 4 u 8
v 8v 10 9 4 3 2
w A K J 9 8 w 5
SOUTH
x Q 2
u A K Q J 10
v J 7 6 5
w Q 10
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
Pass 1w Pass 1u
Pass 2u Pass 4u
Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of w
Every time you make a bid, you convey some information to your opponents. But not bidding can be as revealing, as this deal reveals.
At this vulnerability, East would be risking a major bloodbath by intervening, and North-South proceeded unmolested to four hearts. Note North's raise to two hearts with only three-card support but with a mostly prime hand including a ruffing value.
West started with the king, ace and jack of clubs, East discarding two diamonds as declarer ruffed. A simple hand became complicated when East discarded a spade on the second round of trumps. The jack of diamonds was declarer's 10th trick, but it was obvious that there was no way to unblock diamonds since West could hardly have three diamonds, and declarer had no side entry to his hand.
Declarer found the answer to the problem in the auction. West, a passed hand, had shown up with A-K-J fifth in clubs. Had he held the king of spades as well, he would surely have opened the bidding. With East marked with great length in the pointed suits, declarer was able to put this knowledge to work.
Declarer drew four rounds of trumps, discarding the ace of spades from dummy! After cashing playing off the ace, king and queen of diamonds, declarer led the ten of spades. The best East could do was to rise with the king, then put declarer back in hand with a spade or a diamond to score the last two tricks.
& copy; 2004 Tribune Media Services
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