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Bridge
 West opened with a weak two and North doubled for take-out. When South responded 3NT, North could see the chance of a slam. His 4 NT was a limit bid, a non-forcing slam suggestion. Although South had little to spare in terms of points, his five-card diamond suit was a plus value and he decided to attempt a small slam in notrumps. How would you play this contract when West leads the ten of diamonds? Declarer won the diamond lead in dummy and tested the spades by playing two rounds of the suit. West showed out on the second round and declarer was left with only eleven top tricks. He next played five rounds of diamonds, discarding a spade and a heart from dummy. All now depended on declarer’s play in clubs. Rather than simply playing for the drop — the percentage play, looking at the suit in isolation — he took the trouble to count the West hand. West had shown up with one spade and two diamonds. Add in the six hearts indicated by his weak-two bid and that left him with four clubs! Declarer cashed the king and queen of clubs and finessed dummy’s ten, certain that this would win. Indeed it did and he was able to claim his slam. Whenever a contract will depend on your guess in a key suit, you should consider playing the other suits first in order to gain information on the distribution.
Neither side is vulnerable.
What will you say on the West cards?
 Answer
For many years players have used the Law of Total Tricks to decide how high they will compete. You expect partner to hold five spades. You have five too and 5+5=10. So the Law suggests that you should bid 4S. Recently, players have begun to realise that this is too much when you do not hold a singleton in your hand. Here your side-suit queen and jack may contribute as a defensive value. So, 3S is enough.
Awards: 3S — 10, 4S — 8, 2 S –4.
David Bird — Knight Features
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