North-South vulnerable. South deals.

North-South vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
Q J 5 4
10 8 6 5
A K 7
4 2
WEST EAST
9 6 10 8 7 2
K J 9 7 3 4 2
10 4 Q J 8 3
K Q J 10 6 5 3
SOUTH
A K 3
A Q
9 6 5 2
A 9 8 7
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1NT 2 3NT Pass
Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of
Alexander Pope warned that a little learning can be a dangerous thing, not must be. South, declarer at three no trump, learnt just enough from his opponent's action to find the winning line to nine tricks.
The auction was a straightforward 15-17 point no-trump sequence. Holding four cards in hearts, North deemed that a spade contract might run into opposing heart ruffs, so elected to bid the no-trump game.
West led the king of clubs and continued with the queen when declarer held up the ace, East following with the three and then the six. When South still refused the trick, West continued with clubs. East now played the five and South won with the ace.
With eight tricks, had there been no bidding declarer might have looked for a ninth in hearts, hoping to drop a doubleton nine of knave. This became too risky in light of West's overcall. Since East's carding had shown three cards in clubs, declarer elected to try for an endplay.
He cashed the ace and king of diamonds and ace and king of spades, and when West followed to these four tricks, the hand became a laydown. Declarer exited with a club, and West had to lead a heart into declarer's major tenace for the fulfilling trick.
Note that South cannot afford to cash a third spade trick. That will leave him without an entry to hand to throw West in with the club.
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
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