BRIDGE

East won the ace to return the ten of clubs, ducked by West, and two overtricks were in the bank, N-S +660.

He needed to win and follow with ace and another spade to hold South to the contract.

It was not easy for East to switch to a spade at trick two with the queen in the dummy but a spade shift would have earned the defense four tricks.

The major suit game is off four black suit tricks but East must begin with a black suit to give the defense a chance of setting the contract. The ace of clubs is an unlikely selection but East might choose a spade where the defense could swiftly cash two spades and two clubs.

North's leap to 3NT promised a strong semi-balanced hand with six heart winners and offered South a choice between 3NT or the major suit game. South clearly preferred the nine-trick contract which could not be defeated on this layout. A raise to 2NT would have been game-forcing, revealing a balanced 18-19 HCP, allowing more room for investigation of the best game contract. If North had not owned a solid heart suit, he would have offered a jump rebid of three hearts disclosing a six-bagger with 16-18 HCP.

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