When West won the trump ace, he should have led a heart. If declarer ruffs small East over-ruffs and if he ruffs with the jack or ten, East discards and waits patiently for his two trump tricks. It wasn't necessary to discard diamonds on the ace and king of hearts - in fact it was important that he didn't.

Amazing really as the three major suit honours in dummy could have been replaced with small cards and the contract would still have been successful with a total point count of twelve!

Winning the trump lead in hand, declarer must play a heart to the ace and return to hand with a spade to ruff his last heart with the ace. He then plays off his trumps, discarding two spades and a club from dummy. West can discard his two remaining hearts but on the last trump he is put in the rather unenviable position of throwing his spade king or a club. A no win situation! 

If you lead a small club you defeat the contract. In one match Valerie Barrett, understandably, was unhappy at leading away from her club king and chose the spade ten. Declarer was delighted to take all thirteen tricks. Needless to say, there were smiles from North/South and gnashing of teeth from Valerie and Brian.

At the other table the was the bidding same up to 2NT but Richard Sissons sitting North opted to punt 6NT. This time there was even more pain for West who chose the same lead!

You have five trump tricks and one each in the minors so clearly you need three tricks in hearts. It is tempting to win in dummy with the ace, go to hand with a trump and lead up to the queen of hearts but clearly this will not work as South will win the king and lead another diamond, so shortening declarer's trumps. When you lead a third heart, North will win and lead yet another diamond.

The answer is to win the first trick with the ace of diamonds and play a small heart from each hand. When declarer eventually ruffs the third diamond he can win the heart ace and ruff a third heart in dummy with the trump ten, draw trumps, and take two more winning hearts and the ace of clubs. Contract made.

East will win the Ace and lead a diamond to West's ace who will return another club for East to ruff. Its true that East/West can make 5H so one off is not so bad but 4Sx is even better. How should  you have played 4S to guarantee the contract?

On winning the second trick, you should lead a diamond after which you continue with the original plan. This time East will be unable to get the fatal ruff. This is another example of the scissors coup and is great if you pull it off.

I think it is reasonable to say that the majority of club players lead fourth highest from an honour and so you chose the heart two. Dummy goes down and the first trick is taken with partner's ace and you take the next three but that is the end for the defence. Partner has a fifth heart but will never be able make it as the suit will be blocked.

However, if you play third and fifth leads, you will lead the heart seven and the defence will prevail by taking the first five tricks. This hand was played in 3NT five times out of ten and was made each time!

It all depends on which diamond you have left in your hand. If its the nine or eight, when you play it, West will refuse to cover and you will be defeated. If you have the three left you will be able to finesse against West's ten if he plays low.

The whole point of this hand is show the importance of recognising the need to unblock early in the play.

You win the club ace, ruff a small club with the trump seven and are just about to play the spade queen for a heart discard when East points out that he has over ruffed. He promptly leads out the ace and king of hearts and you lose both the contract and the Gold Cup!

You should have been warned by West's double of your 3C bid. All you had to do was to ruff the second club with the queen and discard a heart on the spade queen You return to hand with a spade ruff, ruff a club with the QUEEN and claim your contract. You only make eleven tricks but there is a lot to be said for making a doubled contract and winning the Gold Cup! 

You need to be very careful in your play to the first trick. Nothing new there. If you win in hand you can play the club ace and follow with a club ruff in dummy but there is no certain way back to hand to get a second ruff. You must win the first trick in dummy, play a club to the ace followed by a ruff in dummy. You can then get back to hand with the heart ace for a second club ruff. You have five tricks and you would expect to make one diamond trick bringing you to six. With very good spot cards in spades you must score two trump tricks for your contract.

 If you led a heart the defence will prevail with four spades, a club and heart for +500. If you lead a diamond, the contract will make as declarer will have four club tricks, four diamonds and a spade - game made and you will be writing -750 on your card. One of these results is better than the other!

Look again at the play of the hand so far; you know that South has no more spades from the bidding and West must have started with K,Q,J,10,2. When he led to the third trick to draw out Declarer's ace he could have led any of three cards but he chose the jack. This is clearly a suit preference card demanding the higher of the remaining suits, hearts. Had he wanted a club he would lead the two or alternatively the ten for a diamond.

It certainly isn't; the contract is guaranteed without taking any finesse! Your next step is to play the ace of diamonds and continue with the jack. It doesn't matter whether the trick is taken by East or West, he will shrug his shoulders and concede. What is he to do? If he leads a diamond or a spade you will ruff in dummy and discard a losing heart and if he leads a heart he gives you a free finesse into dummy's A,J,T or your K,9,4.

Moral to the story: Only finesse as a last resort!

If you lead to the queen and East wins, you don't know whether to finesse West for the jack or play the Ace to drop it. If you run the spade ten and it loses to East's jack you have a similar problem with the missing king.

You must lead a spade to the Ace. If East follows with a small spade you will later lead towards the Q75 in dummy. As long as West didn't start with a void or small singleton spade you will make twelve tricks.

If you drop the king from West, East will get a trump trick and if you drop the king from East, you will later finesse West's jack for all thirteen.

If you lead a club to dummy's king and lead a trump, East will rise with the ace and lead a diamond to West's ace who will return a club which East will ruff. Down one! What you must do after winning the first trump lead with the queen is to lead a diamond immediately and the contract is safe. East cannot put West in to lead a third club for the vital ruff. This play is a good example of the Scissors Coup so named as it cuts communication between the defenders.

If you ruff with the four and East overruffs with the five or six you will have a problem. If you ruff with the jack and East overruffs with the queen, will you have a problem? The answer is no; you will ruff the last heart with the ace and draw trumps.

The key here is recognising a danger and finding the answer. If you have the tools you should use them and the tools in this case are the excellent spot cards in spades you have here and using them to effect.

There are two things that may go wrong if you return to hand with the jack of diamonds and take another heart finesse. East may produce the king, or he may show out on the second round. In either case the defenders are sure to switch to clubs when in with the king of hearts, and your communications will be in a tangle. Unable to enjoy the long hearts and the long diamonds, you will have to settle for eleven tricks.

It does not pay to be greedy when you have landed in an excellent slam. Few will play in six hearts, and if you make sure of twelve tricks in no trumps you will outscore those who play in six diamonds even if they make an overtrick. All the indications are that you should continue with the ace and queen of hearts to make sure of your slam.

As partner is marked with the heart king, declarer must have the remaining face-cards with the possible exception of the club jack. That means he has eight top tricks - two spades, five diamonds and the ace of clubs, and if you take your five hearts declarer will take the rest for one down.

Plus 100 is all very well but plus 200 is better, and there is an excellent chance of scoring 200 if you switch to the queen of spades at trick three. The heart pips are such that declarer might think the suit is breaking 6-2. he will view your spade switch as a welcome reprieve, and he will entertain hopes of making his contract by taking the club finesse. He will be disappointed and score a loss of 200.

There is no danger in the spade switch. Declarer may try to embarrass you by running the diamonds, but you can throw two clubs and a spade without discomfort.

Even at teams it would be right to switch to the spade queen at trick three. At pairs an opportnity such as this must mot be missed.

Declarers are always reluctant to give up the chance of overtricks by holding up too often. In this case South will be particularly keen to make ten tricks in no trumps in order to outscore anyone who plays in clubs. You should therefore try to persuade him to take the ace of spades on the third round by returning the ten of spades rather than the normal two.

If South gains the impression that you started with three spades he will see no reason to hold up three times. He will take his ace on the third round and finesse in clubs, hoping to make at least ten tricks and possibly eleven.

Imagine South's annoyance when you win with the club king and produce a fourth spade to defeat the contract!

At teams this is routine but at pairs you must do all can to improve your result. It is clear that the defenders can always cash three tricks but this may not be clear to West. Allow the the queen of hearts to hold and it will be difficult for him to switch to a club that will give the defence three tricks. Even if he does find the switch your contract is in no danger: The defenders may win one heart and two clubs, but after drawing trumps you can discard your losing diamond on the ace of hearts.

The bonus comes when West fails to switch to a club. Now you can draw trumps, discard a diamond on the heart ace and trump the third round of diamonds to establish the suit. You will get back to dummy with a trump and two losing clubs go away on the long diamonds. You score 650 and a top.

You cannot beat those who play in two hearts but it is unlikely that there will be too many of them. Your weak no trump has prevented you from reaching your best best contract but it has pre-empted your opponents. neither could take the risk of competing at the two level and it seems that they have a 5-3 fit in spades and West may well have come in with 1S had you opened with 1H or 1C. Clearly you have no more than five tricks in defence against a contact of 2S.

If others are conceding 110 defending 2S, you can afford to lose 100 in 1NT. The signs are that you should not be greedy; make sure of your five tricks first and settle for two down. If you try to steal a diamond trick you are likely to finish three down and minus 150 is certain to be a bad result.

The danger is that West has led a singleton club or fourth highest and East has the singleton. Either way there is the danger of a club ruff unless you can sneak a trump through if the trumps break 2-2. If you lead the king, West will win having taken the view that aces are there to beat kings. He will then lead another club which will be ruffed by East. Your best chance is to lead the trump jack or ten and hope that West is not alert and plays small in which case you make your contract.

One off in 4S doubled is a good save but not if you can get a plus score for defeating 4H.

Presumably West is leading from J 10 X with or without a higher honour. If you play the queen, East will win with the king and return a heart to his partner's ten. West will continue with a third heart, the defence wins the first five tricks and the contract is defeated.

Declarer must not cover the first heart but cover the ten with the queen when West continues the suit. East will win with the king but cannot get West in to lead another heart through dummy. Contract made.

Julie led the eight of hearts and the defenders took the first two tricks! Her reasoning was that East must be short in one suit and would in all probability be able to discard. Sound logic as, without a heart lead there were fifteen top tricks. Would you find that lead?

No one else tried 6 clubs. One pair bid and made 5 clubs; five pairs bid 3NT of which two went one off and one made six(?); the other two made all thirteen tricks.

There are a number of considerations: West led the diamond ace from Ax which is not usually a good idea so he did not have  have an attractive alternative and it was the unbid suit. He then discarded a discouraging small spade on the third diamond. Seeing dummy's strong clubs, it is almost certain that the defence has no further trick outside trumps and East is looking at a very promotable trump holding. At trick four East must continue with a fourth diamond and West must ruff with his trump queen. Although dummy overruffs with the king, East must win the third round of trumps with his ten. Contract defeated!

There is no defence. This was not the problem; your partner should be declaring four spades, probably doubled. Look at the full deal.

South has six spades and he expects partner to have four after his double, a total of ten. The law of total tricks states: "You are safe in competing to the trick level equal to your partnership's number of trumps. Avoid bidding beyond that level in competitive auctions".

West leads the king of clubs, East encourages a club continuation, and you ruff the third round. You finesse the queen of spades, and draw the remaining trump. You return to your hand by ruffing dummy's fourth club and take the diamond finesse. Once you are back in your hand , you repeat the diamond finesse and score up your game, losing two clubs and a heart. OK, South was fortunate to find the two key kings in the opening bidder's hand, although it was no real surprise. South did not have to make his contract in order to justify the four spade bid as going down one or two tricks would still net a profit compared to allowing the opponents to make an easy game. They might even have been pushed to the five level.

The indications are that declarer's shape is 6-1-3-3. If partner has any honour in clubs, even the ten, you would have made your contract of four hearts in comfort. You would probably have made eleven tricks, in fact, for you would not guess wrong in trumps after the revealing bidding. So you need to defeat the enemy game by four tricks, scoring 800, to compensate adequately for the loss of your vulnerable game.

You will not score 800 by continuing with the heart force, nor by switching to clubs if declarer has the king. South will draw the last trump and finesse in diamonds to escape for one off.

The way to extract the maximum penalty is to return the jack of diamonds , locking declarer in dummy and forcing him to play clubs himself. You win the first club, give partner a diamond ruff, and win two further clubs to achieve your target of 800. 

Note also East petered with an odd number of trumps, the usual way to indicate the possibility of a ruff.

You have already lost three tricks and look like losing another in diamonds. Will your sacrifice be worth while? Losing 700 to save a slam may not be too bad; it depends on how many East-West pairs actually bid the slam. You would be happier if you could hold the loss to 500, as you would outscore those whose opponents only bid game.

The best chance of avoiding a diamond loser is to find West with the king and another but if this is the case, then the slam is defeated by a normal diamond lead and your sacrifice is a phantom. The only chance of holding the penalty to 500 is to find someone with a singleton king of diamonds and that is the one to go for. Play a small diamond from hand , and if West plays low go up with the ace, hoping for a singleton king with East.

You can see that the defenders can always cash three tricks but this may not be clear to West. Play low from dummy at trick one, allowing the queen of hearts to hold.

It is hard for West to find the club switch and, if he does, your contract is not in danger. The reward comes when West fails to find the club switch. Now you can draw trumps, discard a diamond on the ace of hearts and trump the third round of diamonds to establish the suit. A trump puts you back in dummy, and two losing clubs go away on the long diamonds. The deception thus gives you 650 and a top score.

Your opponents have attacked your weak spot and there will not be time to knock out both minor-suit aces. It seems you will have to be satisfied with nine tricks unless you can safely try for the overtrick.

If you win the first trick in hand and play on clubs someone will take the ace immediately and continue the spade attack. You will then have to run for home with your nine winners. You might try slipping a diamond through but this is a dangerous move as, if the ace of diamonds is taken immediately, you will go down.

The better way of trying for the over trick is to win the first trick with the spade ace deliberately squandering dummy's entry and then play a club to the ten and continue the suit. Seeing his partner peter in clubs, East may decide to shut out the suit by holding up his ace until the third round. If so, you will switch to diamonds and finish with the all important extra trick.

East should ask himself why you did not win the first trick in hand but defenders do not always think of these things.

This is a matter of counting your own tricks and getting the timing right. Partner's three of clubs is clearly a singleton so you can give him a ruff and the trump king will be the third trick for the defense. You must ask yourself from where is the setting trick to come. Either partner must have an ace, in which case it does not matter in what order you take your tricks, or he will have to have the king of spades. In the latter case you must plan the defense carefully. Suppose you lead a club and give partner a ruff immediately, he will be unable to attack spades from his side so he will lead, say, a trump. Your king will be allowed to win and when you lead a spade, declarer will rise with the ace, draw trumps ending in dummy and discard his spade losers on the clubs.

To be sure of setting the contract, you must lead a spade at trick two. There is no need to hurry to give partner his ruff. On the bidding he is marked with three trumps and the ruff can be safely postponed.

Three no trumps is, of course a safer contract.

To be successful, it is clear that the diamond king must be on side in which case you have a heart and diamond loser and you therefore cannot afford to lose more than one trump trick. On the lead, it is safe to assume that West holds the heart queen which together with the necessary ace of diamonds gives him nine high card points. Consequently, he cannot have the ace of spades or he would have opened the bidding. You rise with the king of spades which wins, lead another and look very smug when the ace and queen fall together. You eventually will lead towards dummy's king of diamonds intending to play it if West plays low. Of course, if the king loses to the ace you were  always going to go down so there is nothing to lose.

The only distribution that can hurt you is a 4-0 break. After winning the the first trick with the ace of spades, lead a low diamond from hand. If West follows with a low diamond, play the nine from dummy. If East shows out, West is limited to one diamond trick. If West discards on the first diamond lead, you can limit your diamond losers to one by winning with dummy's king and leading a diamond toward your hand.. Finally, if East wins the first trick with the queen or knave, then the suit does not break 4-0 and you are left with four certain diamond tricks.

With the actual lie of the cards, you can also make your contract if you play the ace first but this would be wrong as you will go down if East has the four diamonds.

If you cover the queen with the king at trick two you will go down as West will ruff; you cannot escape the loss of four heart tricks since dummy's trumps are too low to be of consequence. It may seem likely that East has five hearts instead of six but there is a certain way to make the contract in either case.

The winning play is to duck the second heart trick; let East win with his queen. If East leads another heart, play low again and West will ruff (else you will ruff in dummy); but that is the last trick for the defense. Whatever West leads next, you will win the trick, draw trumps, and claim the rest.