Both vulnerable. South deals.

Both vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x 10 5 3
u J 10 2
v K J 9 8 5
w K 4
WEST EAST
x K 8 6 x 7
u A Q 8 7 u 9 6 4 3
v 7 4 v Q 10 2
w J 10 9 6 w Q 7 5 3 2
SOUTH
x A Q J 9 4 2
u K 5
v A 6 3
w A 8
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1x Pass 2x Pass
4x Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: Jack of w
Follow the bidding and play of this deal, then decide: Did anyone err and, if so, who?
The bidding is simple enough. Playing five-card majors, North has a classic raise to two spades. Once spades have been raised the South hand becomes worth some 20 points, so to bid anything less than four spades would be a gross underbid.
West led the jack of clubs, won in dummy with the king. Declarer ran the ten of spades to West's king, and West cleverly shifted to a diamond, covered by the nine and ten and taken by the ace. Declarer drew the outstanding trumps and tried the diamond finesse. East won with the queen and shifted to a heart. West took two heart tricks before reverting to clubs, and the contract was down one.
What's your verdict?
Charge declarer with booting the contract. After the spade finesse loses, declarer can afford to lose two red-suit tricks. While it might seem logical to tackle the stronger suit, diamonds, the danger is that, if the finesse loses to East, a heart back will put South in a position where he has to take a guess, one which he cannot win as the cards lie.
The easy way to make the contract is to lead a heart from dummy at trick two and go up with the king. If it wins, declarer must make at least 10 tricks. But even if it loses, the contract is still secure. As soon as South regains the lead, he leads a heart to the ten, setting up the jack for a diamond discard while the king of diamonds is still on the table as the entry.
& copy; 2005 Tribune Media Services