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Who should take the blame?
 EAST-West
suffered a disaster on this deal. Who do you think should take the
blame? West led the spade king against 5 D doubled. Declarer ruffed in
the dummy and drew trumps in two rounds. A heart to the jack, king and
ace set up that suit. West
was reluctant to switch to clubs and returned another heart, allowing
declarer to throw his singleton club on the fifth heart.  This did not
actually cost a trick since he had only one trump left in dummy and two
spades to ruff. Had West cashed a club, declarer would have ruffed his
second spade and discarded the third. The defenders could defeat 5D only
by taking a heart ruff. Indeed, if West starts with the ace and two of
hearts (a McKenney signal asking for a return of the lower side suit),
East can ruff and return a low club, putting the game two down. This is
a most unlikely opening lead and the disaster had occurred in the
bidding. 5S could be made by guessing the clubs. Rather than bidding 4S,
East might try 4H — a splinter bid agreeing spades and showing at most
one heart. This would indicate the successful defence against diamonds
too. An alternative was 3C, a fit-jump bid, showing a spade fit and a
good side suit of clubs. Both these bids would suggest to West that 5S
might be playable.
— David Bird
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