North-South vulnerable.  
South deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: A J 5 4          
                              H: J 8 7       
                              D: K 7 5       
                              C: J 5 3   
            WEST                             EAST
            S: Q 10 3 2                      S: K 9 6        
            H: 3 2                           H: K 6 5 4    
            D: J 3                           D: 10 4 2            
            C: 9 8 7 4 2                     C: A K 10      
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: 8 7  
                              H: A Q 10 9   
                              D: A Q 9 8 6 
                              C: Q 6
     The Bidding:      
                  SOUTH    WEST    NORTH    EAST                  
                   1H      Pass     1S      Pass
                   2D      Pass     4H      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
    Opening Lead: C9
    Lil Siegel of Beachwood was sitting South and Dorothy Cohn
of Mayfield Heights was North when this hand came up.  The hand
is representative of the good that can come from thinking ahead
in the auction.  Siegel would liked to have opened this hand with
a bid of one diamond but she would then have a serious rebid
problem if her partner answered one spade (as she did) or one no
trump.  While the South hand is good enough for a second bid, it
is marginal for a "reverse", that is, a bid at the two level of a
suit ranking higher than was bid at the one level.
     The solution was to open the hand one heart.  After the one
spade response from her partner she bid two diamonds.  North's
four heart call was very aggressive, but not unusual in the world
of duplicate bridge.
     A spade lead might have made the hand difficult, but the
nine of clubs was tabled and when East played the king, ace, and
then the ten of clubs, Siegel discarded a losing spade and made
an overtrick for a top board.
     Bridge is a game of calculated risks.  With study and
practice your calculations will become more accurate and your
risks will pay off more often than not.
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