The suit distribution on this hand means that after West has opened 1 Heart and North has overcalled 4 Diamonds or possibly even better 5 Diamonds anything could happen! I illustrate how the bidding went at our table!

West will make all 13 tricks in Clubs, but if East is declarer the limit is 12 on a Spade lead when North ruffs at trick one. North will make 11 tricks in Diamonds unless East leads singleton 6 of Hearts to West's Ace followed by a small Heart return which East will trump, a Club to West's Ace and another small heart for East to trump with his remaining Diamond will give the defence the first 4 tricks. At our table the Ace of Spades was led, not unreasonably, so North went down 1 trick in 6 Diamonds doubled for a good score.

On the night the Board was played 10 times, 6 North's played in 5 Diamonds making 11 tricks with the best North/South score being +550 for 5 Diamonds doubled making 11 tricks. 3 East/West pairs played in 6 Clubs making 13 tricks, 1 pair doubled for a score of 1740 to East/West. and 6 Diamonds doubled, minus 1,  netted 100 to East/West.

Bidding is straightforward with East raising to game in Spades with his 7 loser hand with everyone aware that West as declarer has 5 diamonds and 4 Spades.

North should lead Jack of Diamonds and when South has to play the King and West's Ace. North knows and West is highly suspicious that this is a singleton. West should play 2 of Spades, North must go up with the Ace and return 3 of diamonds (requesting a Club return) for South to ruff. South duly leads a low Club to North's Ace and the defence now have 3 tricks. North now leads another Diamond and West must play Queen of trumps from dummy. A trump return to the King fells the last 2 trumps the 10 & Jack. Declarer can now mop up the last 8 tricks with 4 Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, 2 Club ruffs in dummy and the last trump.

On the night the Board was played 9 times with 3 pairs bidding and making 4 Spades and 1 other pair bidding 2 Spades but making 10 tricks. No Trumps was not a happy contract when North/South ran their Clubs.

With 21 points East opens 2NT and West raises to 5NT (forcing East to raise to 6NT with a minimum or 7NT with a better hand. With 21 points and a J10 in Spades East should raise to 7NT. On any lead East can claim 5 top Spades, 4 top Hearts, 3 top Diamonds and 3 top Clubs a total of 15 tricks!!!

On the night the Board was played 9 times with everyone bidding No Trumps. 3 pairs bid the Grand Slam and 5 pairs bid 6NT. Be Bold.

After 3 Passes South will open 1 Heart, West overcalls 1 Spade and it is decision time for North. I recommend 1NT with 5 Spades albeit only to the 9. South with 6 Hearts and a 5 loser hand bids 3 Hearts and North raises to 4 Hearts with useful 10 of Hearts and knowing partner is short in Spades, West showing at least 5 and 5 in the North hand.

On the standard lead of Queen of Spades, felling East's King and taken with South's Ace declarer will lose only the Ace & King of Hearts and 1 spade as the Diamond finesse works.

On the night the board was played 9 times but only 1 pair bid game (3NT!!) which made 10 tricks when lead of Spade King was ducked by South and West was forced to lead a minor. 5 pairs bid part score in Hearts and made 10 tricks, and the rest were part scores in No Trumps.

East's hand is an Acol 2 with 8 playing tricks and defensivestrength. After the 2  heart opening bid West with 17 HCP and two hearts to an honour goes for the old Black & finding a King missing settles for six. On a spade lead the trump finesse should not be taken because of the danger of a ruff. On a diamond lead dummy can be entered with a club & now it is safe to finesse for the trump king.

On the night only two pairs bid the slam  One pair finished in 3NT making 9 tricks - play a trump contract when there is a 9 card fit!

East's hand is atext book case of the value of "fillers" The three tens are worth half an HCP each making the hand worth a 1NT opening. Which hand has the better playing strength - the East hand or a 12 HCP hand such as A 6 3 2,   A 8 3,   9 7 6,   A 5 2?  Played from the East hand 10 tricks were easy by playing on hearts immediately, finessing against North.

On the night only four pairs reached the game contract with two going light. Only one East was declarer getting a top for 3NT+1

This is a classic example of how to describe your hand in one bid. With a 5 3 3 2 pattern & 12-14 HCP with the 5 card suit being a minor bid 1NT, NOT 1 of the minor. East hasno problem in raising to 3NT knowing that there is a combined HCP of at least 25. On any lead 3NT makes - personally I would choose the 7S (second highest of an honourless four card suit. I do not like leading 4th highest from K Q x x - too often I find the opponents have the A & J. On this deal  a heart lead & continuation sets up the 9H for an overtrick.

On the night two pairs languished in diamond part scores - obviously after a 1C opening. Even so I cannot devise an auction to finish in 2 or 3 D. One pair underbid to finish in 2 NT, 3 made 400 & 3 made 430 probably on a heart lead. The key to the hand, however, is to open 1NT as West.