North-South vulnerable. North deals. NORTH S: A 6 5 2 H: A K 10 4 3 D: A 5 4 C: 6 WEST EAST S: K J 4 S: 10 H: 8 7 5 H: Q J 9 6 2 D: K Q J 10 D: 6 3 2 C: 10 3 2 C: A J 7 4 SOUTH S: Q 9 8 7 3 H: Void D: 9 8 7 C: K Q 9 8 5 The Bidding: NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST 1H Pass 1S Pass 4S Pass Pass Pass Opening Lead: KD The opening lead was the king of diamonds and the result was down one. South was guilty of bad timing. The ace of diamonds won the first trick and the ace and king of hearts were played immediately so that declarer could discard losing diamonds. At trick four the six of clubs was led from dummy. East played the ace of clubs and returned a diamond which was trumped with the three of spades in the South hand. This is the point were declarer erred. The seven of spades was led to the ace and the deuce of spades returned toward the queen. East showed out on the second spade. West won the king and cashed the jack. Another diamond lead followed which extracted the last entry from the South hand. Declarer was able to cash the king and queen of clubs and then ruff a club in dummy, but had to concede a heart trick for down one as there was no transportation back to the good club in the South hand. A better plan for this hand would be to ruff a club prior to drawing trump. Additionally, it is usually right with this type of trump holding to start drawing trumps by leading small toward the queen and covering whatever card East plays. This is a safety play that provides a measure of control in the event that the suit does not break well. Making a decision about trumping losers or drawing trumps is not always as easy as it appears. Construct a basic plan at trick one and be flexible enough to adjust your plan as play continues and you learn more about the outstanding cards. __________________________________________________________________