Bridge

South ducked the jack of spades but won the continuation of the ten. A low diamond was advanced for the jack and queen as East switched to the king of clubs. Declarer scooped the ace and cashed a top diamond collecting the ten from West. He finished the diamonds and followed with the top hearts. Hearts broke 4-2 but nine tricks were home, N-S +600.

Defeat would have been imminent if West had produced the queen of diamonds or East had held queen-ten fourth but it was declarer's lucky day. A switch to the king of clubs at trick two will not defeat the contract. Declarer wins the ace and plays a diamond for the jack and queen. The defense can cash only two clubs because of the blockage where South emerges with another nine tricks.

North's resolve to raise to 3NT was more than a tad aggressive. With a miserable 6 HCP, he should have passed partner's 2NT rebid (18-19 HCP). The game was a low percentage contract, to be sure, but the friendly layout dictated that South could not be prevented from earning the game bonus. At one table, South upgraded his hand and opened 2NT where North employed Stayman to settle into 3NT when partner denied a fourcard major.