BRIDGE

West switched a heart for the ace as South ruffed a heart and cashed the ace of clubs on which East showed out. A trump to the jack was followed by a second heart ruff and the king of clubs extracted the last trump. Another heart ruff established the nine as master. Declarer discarded a spade from the table on the king of diamonds, trumped a third round of spades in dummy and pitched a spade from hand on the fifth heart to score 12 tricks, N-S +620.

South was confronted with a problem by the four-level pre-empt but chose a takeout double in spite of the heart shortness. This action brought the spade suit into the picture. However, he swiftly retreated to five clubs, revealing longer clubs than spades, when partner advanced to four hearts.

North considered a raise to six clubs but rejected this notion because partner had been pressured by the pre-empt. Another factor was the impending threat of bad breaks.

Curiously, South cannot win 12 tricks in clubs when West begins with a heart.

At another table, South paused for several minutes over the pre-empt before passing, essentially barring partner from taking any action. East managed to scramble 10 tricks. Questions can be sent with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The New Canadian Bridge c/o Torstar Syndication Services, One Yonge St., Toronto, M5E 1E6