Bridge Column for August 28, 1994 
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: J 10 6 5 3      
                              H: 7 6             
                              D: Q 9 3       
                              C: A Q 4           
            WEST                             EAST
            S: K 8 4                         S: 9 7          
            H: A J 10 9 3                    H: 5 4 2      
            D: 8 7 2                         D: J 6 5 4           
            C: 8 3                           C: K 6 5 2     
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: A Q 2  
                              H: K Q 8        
                              D: A K 10        
                              C: J 10 9 7      
                 SOUTH     WEST     NORTH    EAST                 
                  1C        1H       1S      Pass 
                  2NT      Pass      3NT     Pass   
                  Pass     Pass
     In retrospect, four spades is a much better contract.  There
is no way, however, to get there from here.  You will have to
play the contract you arrived at.
     The opening lead is the jack of hearts.  You play the six
from dummy, East plays the two and you win the king.  Nine or ten
tricks are available, so long as you can keep East from getting
on lead to put a heart through your queen.  You would like to
avoid the club finesse altogether, and you need to manage your
entries to dummy.  If you cross to dummy with the queen of
diamonds and run the jack of spades, and it loses, a club return
from West will put you at the mercy of the club finesse, which
you were trying to avoid.  If you go after spades in some other
manner, you are risking the contract when East has the king
third.  
     You now say to yourself, "If the spade finesse loses is
there any way I can induce West to not shift to clubs?"  
     The answer is logical.  West will not shift to clubs if he
thinks he can get partner in with another suit.  Therefore you
should provide him with an alternative to clubs, in this case,
diamonds.  If you play a diamond to the queen, everyone will know
where the ace and king are.  So lead a club to the ace and run
the jack of spades.  West will be very hard placed to find the
incredible return of a club.  On the return of a diamond you will
be able to unblock the spade suit, reach dummy with the queen of
diamonds and come to nine tricks.
     This hand comes from the excellent new book "For Experts
Only", a collection of thirteen great essays designed to
challenge the imagination of the expert bridge player.  This
collection was edited by Pamela and Matthew Granovetter of
Netanya, Israel, and published by Granovetter Books, Cleveland
Heights, Ohio.  
     Don't let the title of the book fool you.  While I wouldn't
recommend it for the novice bridge player, it is an excellent
selection for any player trying to improve the quality of their
game.  It is a very good value at $14.95 and you can order your
copy locally by calling Granovetter Books at 371-5849.