TWO HANDS THE SAME, TWO DIFFERENT

Abraham Lincoln said, "If I were twofaced, would I be wearing this one?"

The North-South hands in today's deal are sort of two-faced, the second mask appearing tomorrow.

How should South plan the play in three no-trump after West leads a fourthhighest spade six?

It was a straightforward auction. South's two-notrump opening bid showed 20 to a poor 22 points -- if there is such an animal as a poor 22! North expected the contract to be a cakewalk, but South had to be careful.

Declarer started with eight top tricks: one spade (given the lead), three hearts, two diamonds and two clubs. The ninth trick could definitely come from clubs, but the lead might have to be lost if the finesse in that suit was losing. Alternatively, hearts might split 3-3.

First, though, South had to decide what to play from the board at trick one: the king or the four. Because there were only two cards, declarer called for the king -- high-low with a doubleton, as it were.

Here, the king took the trick. Now South had to make sure that he kept East off the lead; otherwise, East would push a spade through declarer's queen.

South cashed his three top hearts -- no luck there. So he played the club ace (just in case West had a singleton queen), crossed to the diamond ace and ran the club jack. The finesse lost, but the contract was assured.

Declarer even got an overtrick when West, in desperation, cashed the spade ace, hoping that South had started with queen-doubleton.