BRIDGE

Neither vulnerable. North deals.

NORTH

xK J 4

u8 5

v5 2

wQ J 10 9 8 6

WEST EAST

xQ 10 7 5 2 x8 3

uQ 9 7 4 uK J 6

vJ vQ 10 9 8 3

w7 3 2 wA 5 4

SOUTH

xA 9 6

uA 10 3 2

vA K 7 6 4

wK

The bidding:

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

3w Pass 3NT Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Five of x

As we know all too well these days, it is human nature to hoard assets. But there are times when economy just does not pay.

We are not thrilled with either North’s opening bid or South’s response. It is wrong to pre-empt when more than half your values are outside the long suit. And we would not bid three no trump with a bare high honor in partner’s suit because North might not have a side-suit entry to develop and run the clubs. A better shot is to raise to five clubs. South’s trump filler and four tricks on the side could easily have made that game laydown.

West led a fourth-best spade. Declarer played low from dummy and captured East’s eight with the nine. The king of clubs was led and allowed to hold. With only one entry to dummy, the club suit withered on the vine and, when diamonds failed to produce any additional tricks, the contract failed by two tricks.

Declarer should have foreseen that the defender with the ace of clubs would have refused to win it the first time the suit was led. In that event, declarer would need two entries to the table to establish and run the clubs, and those could only be in spades.

As is so often the case, once the problem is isolated the solution becomes obvious. Declarer should win the first trick with the ace of spades and lead the king of clubs. Now the holdup won’t help as long as West holds the queen of spades -- quite likely in light of the opening lead and East’s play to trick one. When the king of clubs wins, declarer leads a spade to the jack and reverts to clubs until the ace is forced out. The king of spades is the entry to the board to run clubs and rack up 11 tricks.

2009 Tribune Media Services