BRIDGE

North-South vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
x A K 9 3
u 10 3
v A 6 4 2
w 10 7 2
WEST EAST
x Q J 10 6 4 2 x Void
u 9 5 2 u 8 4
v Q 3 v K 10 9 8 7
w Q 3 w A J 9 6 5 4
SOUTH
x 8 7 5
u A K Q J 7 6
v J 5
w K 8
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
2x Pass Pass 3u
Pass 4u Pass Pass
Pass
Opening lead: Queen of x
There are times when you know that an opponent is going to ruff one of your winners. But you can sometimes recover if the opponent does so at your convenience, not theirs.
North might have tried three no trump over South's balancing three hearts. The odds were greatly in favor of South holding a high card in clubs, and nine tricks might have been easier than 10.
West led the queen of spades, covered by the king and ruffed by East. East returned the 10 of diamonds to the jack, queen and ace. Declarer drew trumps but could not avoid losing another trick in spades and one in each minor for down one.
The bidding marks East with a void in spades. Declarer can use that knowledge to take advantage of his spotcards in the suit. Suppose South were to play a low spade from dummy at trick one. West wins, but whatever he does next is to declarer's advantage. If West shifts to a new suit, declarer has 10 tricks as long as East holds the ace of clubs. If West continues with a low spade, declarer simply covers and East cannot harm declarer after ruffing.
The most interesting line is if West continues with the jack of spades. Now declarer covers and East ruffs. On the return of the 10 of diamonds, declarer wins, draws trumps and then leads a spade, finessing the nine. A diamond goes away on the ace of spades and a club to the king delivers the fulfilling trick.
& copy; 2006 Tribune Media Services