bridge

West continued with another club but declarer ruffed and placed the queen of spades on the table. East grabbed the ace and played a third club earning partner a trump promotion. West overruffed the nine of spades with the ten but declarer could win any exit, draw trump and run the diamonds to dispose of two hearts, N-S +170. South's sequence promised a strong hand in addition to a probable six-card spade suit. North was not enamored with this turn of events since he held a singleton spade and partner was also marked with heart length because East had declined to raise hearts. The value of his diamond suit was also suspect since he could conclude that partner was almost certain to be at least 6-4 in the majors.

Five diamonds would likely come to grief when East begins with a heart. North wins dummy's ace and continues with the king of spades for the ace. East exits with a diamond to defeat the minor suit game. However, there was no chance of reaching the minor suit game when North, not unreasonably, elected to pass partner's advance to three spades in search of a plus score.