Bridge Column for March 13, 1994 
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              NORTH
                              : A Q 3            
                              : A 5         
                              : K J 8 5 3   
                              : K J 2  
            WEST                             EAST
            : 7 5 2                         : 9 8 6 4      
            : 10 8 3                        : 9 7 6 4 2  
            : 7                             : Q 9 6             
            : 9 8 7 6 4 3                   : 5           
                              SOUTH                         
                              : K J 10   
                              : K Q J     
                              : A 10 4 2
                              : A Q 10   
                  SOUTH    WEST    NORTH    EAST                  
                   2NT     Pass     7NT     Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     Even though North-South hold a combined 38 high card points,
they cannot make all of the tricks without successfully finding
the queen of diamonds.  Interestingly enough, if the missing
queen is any other than the diamond queen, thirteen tricks can be
claimed immediately.  Since the long tricks must come from the
diamond suit, however, there is some work to be done.
     The opening lead was the three of hearts.  The five was
played from dummy, East followed with the nine and declarer won
the king.  Realizing the necessity of bringing home the diamond
suit, he played the ace of diamonds and a small diamond to the
North hand.  When West discarded a small club on the second
diamond, the contract was lost as there was no way to avoid
losing a trick to the guarded queen.  South was apologetic, but
after all, the finesse was a 50-50 chance.  North was not happy,
but waited until after the game to point out that the hand was
ice cold.
     Before deciding how to play the diamond suit, declarer
should attempt to uncover the distribution of the East-West
hands.  He should start by cashing the top two tricks in spades,
hearts, and clubs.  When everyone follows to two rounds of spades
and hearts, and then East shows out on the second round of clubs,
West is known to have started with six clubs and two cards in
each major suit.  The third top heart is cashed, both opponents
following.  Declarer now knows that West could not have started
with more than two diamonds.  
                              NORTH
                              : Q            
                              : N o n e         
                              : K J 8 5    
                              : J  
            WEST                             EAST
            : 2                             : 9 8          
            : N o n e                       : 7        
            : 7                             : Q 9 6             
            : 9 8 7 6                       : N o n e     
                              SOUTH                         
                              : 10   
                              : N o n e
                              : A 10 4 2
                              : Q   

     He must be careful to consider that East could hold all four
diamonds.  Leaving a spade entry to the North hand and a club
entry to the South hand, Declarer now plays a small diamond to
the king.  West and East both follow low, eliminating the danger
of a 4-0 split.  The queen of spades is now cashed.  When West
follows to this trick, all of his cards are accounted for, and
the queen of diamonds is not one of them.  Declarer plays the
jack of diamonds from the North hand and finesses against East's
holding.
     Remember, you don't have to be a great bridge player to
count out a hand.  But the great bridge players count out each
and every hand.  That is one of the reasons that they are
considered to be great players.