BRIDGE

CLEAR thinking by East and no tell-tale hesitation at the critical point, baited a neat trap into which South duly fell.

It was easy for South to open One Heart but his partner's response of One Spade left him with a rebid problem. Three Spades felt wrong, both Two Hearts and Two Spades seemed feeble, and a good case could have been made for "inventing" a club suit. South finally settled for One No-trump which (in the partnership's methods) showed a balanced 15-17 points.

North, with game in mind, bid Three Hearts suggesting three card support and South was happy to bid the heart game.

West led the jack of diamonds against Four Hearts and East cashed two tricks in the suit before switching to the two of spades. Declarer won on the table and started trumps by leading the two. East could not hope for more than one defensive trick in the black suits. He contributed the king of hearts.

This was a "cost-nothing" play. Should West, rather than South, hold the jack, the defenders would still have come to their natural trump trick. You can see the effect convinced the king was a singleton and that West still held H1075, declarer won with the ace and finessed the eight on the next round. There was no way to escape a club loser and the contract failed.