BRIDGE

West continued with the diamond king in spite of partner's discouraging play of the three-spot. At trick three, he switched to the queen of clubs as East grabbed the ace to essentially curtail play. South could win any return, draw trump and claim the contract, N-S +620. It was imperative for the defense to cash their tricks before declarer gained the lead. Otherwise, South would draw trump and run the heart suit to win the rest of the tricks. South's failure to raise hearts indicated that he held at most two hearts rendering a heart shift out of the question because East could not be void. We can surmise that this result would be duplicated at most tables although the odd declarer will manage an overtrick when West fails to shift to a club at trick three. The other major suit yields ten tricks when East begins with the ten of diamonds. East wins two diamonds and switches to a club holding North to the contract. However, it is unlikely that many pairs reached the heart game because North has a clear-cut raise to four spades when partner rebid three clubs.