Both sides vulnerable. South deals. NORTH S: K J 5 H: A D: Q J 8 4 C: A Q J 4 3 WEST EAST S: A S: 9 6 4 3 H: K Q 8 H: J 10 9 7 4 D: A K 10 5 2 D: 9 6 3 C: K 10 9 7 C: 5 SOUTH D: Q 10 8 7 2 H: 6 5 3 2 D: 7 C: 8 6 2 SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST Pass 1D 1NT Pass 2S Double Pass 3D Pass Pass 4S Pass Pass Double (All Pass) Opening Lead: KD An opening no-trump bid with a hand containing a singleton is frowned on by theory and avoided in practice by all but a few eccentrics. But an overcall of one no trump is another matter, as with the hand shown above. North had no perfect action after West opened one diamond. His bid of one no trump was as least as good as any of the alternatives. South's two spade bid was to play, but after East raised diamonds North made a very aggressive leap to four spades and West doubled on what appeared to be pure power. The opening lead was the king of diamonds. The best defense would be a club shift at trick two with the intention of giving East a club ruff later in the play of the hand. At this point it might be a little difficult to find this line of play. Instead, West cashed the spade ace and continued with the eight of hearts to the singleton ace in the dummy. The key to success for declarer is to play an honor from dummy under the spade ace. The five of spades is required to provide an entry to the South hand. But even if he makes that play, what is the best way to proceed? He can draw trumps but then what? If West discards carefully, retaining one heart, two diamonds, and four clubs, the contract will be defeated. The winning play is to lead the diamond queen from dummy at the fourth trick, discarding a heart from the South hand. West does best to win and play a heart. Dummy ruffs high. The bidding and play suggest that West's spade ace is a singleton, so South finesses the spade eight, draws trump and finesses the club jack. When the jack holds he throws his last heart on the diamond jack, ruffs a diamond and repeats the club finesse to make his doubled game. __________________________________________________________________