Bridge Column for December 19, 1993 
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: 6 4 2    
                              H: A Q 5     
                              D: J 7 4 3     
                              C: K 8 4    
            WEST                             EAST
            S: A 8 5 3                       S: Q J 10 9     
            H: J 10 9 8 4                    H: 7 3        
            D: 9                             D: K 10 6            
            C: J 7 2                         C: Q 10 9 5    
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: K 7        
                              H: K 6 2     
                              D: A Q 8 5 2
                              C: A 6 3    

                  SOUTH    WEST    NORTH    EAST                  
                   1NT     Pass     3NT     Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     West made the natural lead of the jack of hearts which was
won by the ace in dummy.  A small diamond was led to the queen,
which held.  Declarer now played the ace of diamonds and found
out that East held the guarded king.  South could do no better
than to continue diamonds.  East won the king and led the queen
of spades, trapping the king and defeating the contract one
trick.
     South should recognize that East is the danger hand and must
not be allowed to gain the lead.  As long as West is the only
defender allowed to win a defensive trick, the spade suit cannot
be attacked without conceding a trick to the king.  The correct
play at trick two is to lead the jack of diamonds from dummy,
intending to let it ride if East does not cover.  
     East should cover with the king and South wins the ace.  He
now crosses to dummy's queen of hearts to lead another diamond,
once again covering whatever card East plays.  With the cards as
they are shown, declarer will actually be rewarded with an
overtrick.  
     Early on, declarer must determine if having one of the
defenders on lead (rather than the other) could be more dangerous
to the success of the contract.  Plan ahead, and if possible, 
play the hand so that tricks that might be lost will be lost to
the defender that can do the least damage.