East-West vulnerable. West deals.

East-West vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
10 5 4 2
A J 8 4
2
J 6 4 3
WEST EAST
A K Q 8 3 J 9 6
Q 3 9
10 8 5 A J 9 7 4 3
Q 10 7 K 8 5
SOUTH
7
K 10 7 6 5 2
K Q 6
A 9 2
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1 Pass 1NT 2
Pass 3 3 4
Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of
Listen to the bidding, count your tricks and your problem can become obvious. Consider this deal.
East's one-no-trump response was forcing, but that did not prevent South from introducing his hearts at the two-level. North made a well-judged raise and South continued to game.
West led the king of spades and, at the table, continued with the queen. Declarer ruffed, drew trumps ending in dummy and led a diamond. Whether or not East rose with the ace, the contract rolled home.
Had West stopped to reflect, he might have found the winning defense. East's bidding showed a limit raise in spades with three-card support. Therefore, there was no second trick available in spades, and it was unlikely that the defense was going to collect one in hearts. Three tricks had to come from the minors and, if declarer held the ace of diamonds, the contract was probably unbeatable.
The defenders therefore had to collect two club tricks and do so before declarer could discard any clubs from dummy on high diamonds. That meant that a club shift at trick two was vital.
But not any club. Should West shift to a low club, declarer simply plays low and will lose only one club. That also is the case if West shifts to the queen of clubs. By a process of elimination, that makes the lead of the ten of clubs the winning play. No matter what South does, the contract must go down if East started with either the eight or nine of clubs along with the king or ace. 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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