North-South vulnerable. South deals.

North-South vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x Q 8 6 3
u K 5
v A Q 5 3
w 6 4 3
WEST EAST
x 10 7 x 9 5
u J 8 7 3 u 10 9 6 4 2
v J 10 9 8 v 7 4
w K 7 2 w J 10 9 8
SOUTH
x A K J 4 2
u A Q
v K 6 2
w A Q 5
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
2w Pass 2v Pass
2NT Pass 3w Pass
3x Pass 6x Pass
Pass Pass
Opening lead: Jack of v
There are hands where your line of play is obvious from the very first trick. However, that does not mean that you need not be careful how you play.
South's first two bids showed a balanced 23-24 points. With 11 high-card points and four spades, North made the value bid of six spades.
West led the jack of diamonds. Declarer naturally played low from dummy just in case the diamonds were 6-0, and won in hand with the king. Next order of business was to draw trumps, and the 2-2 break was welcome but not necessary. Then, the hearts were cleared, ending in dummy and the groundwork was complete.
It was not yet time for the club finesse. First, the ace and queen of diamonds were cashed and, when East failed to follow to the third round, the contract could be claimed. Declarer simply exited with the remaining diamond, discarding a club from hand. West was left with an ugly choice, either returning a heart, presenting declarer with a ruff-sluff, or a club into declarer's ace-queen tenace. Either way, declarer lost only one diamond trick.
& copy; 2004 Tribune Media Services
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