Listen to the auction

North-South vulnerable, South deals

NORTH S-Q J 5 4 H-10 8 6 5 D-A K 7 C-4 2 EAST S-10 8 7 2 H-4 2 D-Q J 8 3 C-6 5 3

The bidding: SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 1D 1H Dbl- Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All pass

-Negative, values with no clear bid Opening lead: King of Club

North-South had agreed on an opening one no trump range of 12-14. South’s one no trump rebid showed 15-17. This is a common treatment in many parts of the world, though not frequently encountered in the USA.

South ducked the opening king of clubs lead, and the queen of clubs continuation, but he won the third round. East’s carding had been discouraging about the clubs, so South placed the remaining club with West because he kept leading the suit anyway. There were only eight top tricks without the heart finesse, and the auction suggested that the heart finesse would lose. South could cash the ace of hearts and continue with the queen, hoping for a singleton or doubleton jack with East, but he decided to try something else instead.

South cashed dummy’s ace and king of diamonds, followed by his ace and king of spades. When West followed suit to all four of those cards, it looked certain that his original distribution was 2-5-2-4. The solution was obvious — South exited with his last club to West’s 10, forcing West to lead a heart into the ace-queen. Game made!

South took a risk by cashing the ace and king of diamonds. Had West started with only one spade, a real possibility, the endplay would not have worked unless West had a six-card heart suit and only two diamonds. The option to lead the ace and queen of hearts would also be gone, but that was not a very good chance to start with.