North-South vulnerable. West deals.

North-South vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
4
Void
K 9 8 7 5
J 10 8 7 6 5 4
WEST EAST
A 10 5 6 2
10 9 5 4 2 8 7 6 3
J 4 3 A Q 10 6
A K Q 9 3
SOUTH
K Q J 9 8 7 3
A K Q J
2
2
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1 Pass 2 4S
Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: Ace of
The secret of good technique is to spot the potential problems. If you can accomplish that, the solution might be found.
The auction is fairly straightforward. South has three obvious losers so this department finds no fault with the jump to four spades.
West led the ace of clubs and continued with the king. Since East-West were leading the king from ace-king, West's playing them in the "wrong" order showed a doubleton. Declarer ruffed the second club and led a sneaky queen of trumps from hand, but West was having none of that. He took the trick with the ace of spades and returned the three of diamonds. Declarer called for dummy's king but East won with the ace and returned the queen of clubs. Whether South ruffed high or low, West's 10 of spades was promoted to the setting trick. Try it.
Had South spotted the problem, the solution was not hard to find. At trick three South should lead the jack of hearts and ruff in dummy! Now South leads a club and discards his diamond, a loser-on-loser play that avoids the trump promotion by cutting communications between the defenders. Declarer can win any return and start on trumps, and as long as the 10 of spades is guarded no more than twice, the contract is secure.
There is a simpler line. At trick two declarer can simply discard his diamond loser on the king of clubs, executing the same scissors coup.
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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