Both vulnerable. West deals.

Both vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
8 2
Q J 8 5 3 2
5 3
J 10 9
WEST EAST
10 3 6 5
A K 9 7 6 4
A K J 10 4 9 7 6
K 6 2 8 7 5 4 3
SOUTH
A K Q J 9 7 4
10
Q 8 2
A Q
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1D Pass Pass Dbl
Pass 2 Pass 3NT
Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of
The late Alan Truscott first reported this deal in The New York Times. It features brilliant defense by Californian Kyle Larsen.
At both tables in a national team championship South arrived at three no trump without disclosing the seven-card spade suit. At the one table West started with three rounds of diamonds and declarer had an easy task.
Where Larsen held the West cards, he started with the king of diamonds and then shifted to king and ace of hearts. This defense caused grave problems for declarer. Since discarding a card from either minor would allow the defender to switch to that suit safely, declarer let go of a winning spade.
Larsen read the position perfectly. Since declarer had a minimum number of tricks available in high cards, the only holding that justified the jump to three no trump was a long, solid spade suit. That made the eight of spades a potential entry to dummy's hearts. Larsen therefore reverted to diamonds, cashing the ace and continuing with the jack. Declarer could take a diamond and a club and six spade winners, but in the end had to concede a trick to the king of clubs for a one-trick set.
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
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.