Count every hand. Bridge Column for June 10, 2001, By HARVEY BERNSTEIN Neither side vulnerable. South deals. NORTH S: Q J 10 5 4 H: A K 3 2 D: 10 8 C: J 4 WEST EAST S: K 9 7 2 S: A 3 H: 10 9 8 7 4 H: Q D: A 6 D: 5 4 3 C: 9 7 C: K Q 10 8 6 3 2 SOUTH S: 8 6 H: J 6 5 D: K Q J 9 7 2 C: A 5 The Bidding:// SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 1D Pass 1S 2C 2D Pass 2H 3C Pass Pass 3D Pass Pass Pass Thanks to Jim Bachelder of Columbus for sending this hand along. Bachelder finished 336th in the 2000 Top 500 competition by accumulating 453 master points. He was the declarer on this hand and found an interesting point that will help all players. West led the nine of clubs to the jack, queen and ace. Bachelder led a small diamond toward the ten. West ducked. A small diamond came back to the jack and the ace. West continued with the seven of clubs, East winning the king. He got off lead by playing another club, forcing declarer to trump while discarding a spade from the dummy. Bachelder led the six of spades. West played the seven. The ten was played from dummy and East won the ace. The singleton queen of hearts was tabled and Bachelder found himself wishing that he had drawn the last trump when he had the chance. He tried to get back to his hand by playing a small heart towards the jack but East trumped. Here is the end position: NORTH S: Q J 5 H: A 3 D: Void C: Void WEST EAST S: K 9 7 S: 3 H: 10 9 H: Void D: Void D: Void C: Void C: 10 8 6 3 SOUTH S: 8 H: J D: Q 9 7 C: Void Looking at all four hands it is pretty clear that East should lead a spade so that West can win the setting trick. But either East wasn't counting or he thought that if West was entitled to a spade trick, it wasn't going away. East led a club and Bachelder trumped, discarding a spade from dummy. West also pitched a spade. Bachelder cashed a diamond. West discarded another spade and a spade was pitched from the dummy. East discarded a club. Another diamond from the South hand was too much for West to take. If he threw the king of spades, the small heart would be thrown from dummy, and if he discarded one of his hearts, dummy would throw the spade. In either case, West's spade trick vanished and the contract was made. Bachelder made a mistake by not drawing the last outstanding trump while he had the chance. His opponent took advantage of that and then, for no good reason, gave the gift right back. Had he been counting declarer's hand, he would have known that he had a second spade. If it was the king there was nothing that could be done, but if it was not the king, there was no reason not to get it while the getting was good. Don't get lazy on defense. The declarer has a decided advantage in the play of the hand, but even the best make a mistake now and again - be prepared to accept these gifts and try not to give any of them back. _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.