North-South vulnerable. East deals.

North-South vulnerable. East deals.
NORTH
-J 10 8 7 6
-3
-A K 5 2
-J 10 3
WEST EAST
-K Q 3 -Void
-8 7 4 -Q J 10 9 6
-J 7 6 4 -Q 9 8
-A 7 5 -K 9 6 4 2
SOUTH
-A 9 5 4 2
-A K 5 2
-10 3
-Q 8
The bidding:
EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH
2 Pass 2 Pass
Pass 2 Pass 4
Pass Pass Dbl Pass
Pass Pass
Opening lead: Four of
In tournament bridge, many bids are designed to interfere with the opponents' auctions rather than find your own best spot. But it can draw a blueprint of your holding and allow the opponents to get home in an otherwise unmakable contract.
East's opening bid showed 8-11 points with two five-card suits, at least one of which was a major. South and North both passed on the first round lest East's major suit was spades. When it was confirmed as hearts, South entered the auction and North bumped it up to four spades. West's double simply made the blueprint even clearer.
West led a low heart. Declarer won with the king, cashed the ace and king of diamonds and ruffed a diamond in hand. The ace of hearts was cashed, declarer discarding a club from dummy and a heart was ruffed. The last diamond was trumped in hand and a fourth heart was led, shattering any hope West had of defeating the contract. If West ruffed low, declarer would overruff in dummy and one of West's trump tricks would vanish. If West ruffed high, declarer would discard a club from the table and a defensive club trick would bite the dust. So West was forced to discard a club, but that proved to be no better.
Declarer exited with a club. It made no difference whether West or East ended up winning the second defensive trick. Either way, the defenders were endplayed and would be able to collect only one trump trick, and the contract rolled home. Try it.
This column is written by Tannah Hirsch and Omar Sharif. For information about Charles Goren's newsletter for bridge players, call (800) 788-1225 or write Goren Bridge Letter, P.O. Box 4410, Chicago, Ill. 60680
& copy;2006, Tribune Media Services
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