Find the right defense.
Bridge Column for November 11, 2001, Harvey Bernstein
Both sides vulnerable.  West deals.
                              North
                              S: A K J 7        
                              H: K 10     
                              D: K 3 2       
                              C: A K 10 4
            West                             East
            S: 6 5                           S: Q 10 8 4 2   
            H: A 8 7 4 3                     H: Q J 6 2    
            D: A 8                           D: 7 6               
            C: Q J 7 3                       C: 9 3         
                              South                         
                              S: 9 3  
                              H: 9 5      
                              D: Q J 10 9 5 4 
                              C: 8 6 2    
          The Bidding:  
                  West    North    East    South                  
                   1H     Double    3H      Pass

                  Pass    Double   Pass     5D  
                  Pass     Pass    Pass
     One of the secrets of good defense is to make the play that
will force the declarer to make a key decision prior to having
all of the information that he may be able to gather, given the
time to do so.
     In today's hand, South could have bid four diamonds instead
of five and collected a plus for his efforts, but North had to
have decent cards for his second take out double.  South's five
diamond bid is aggressive but reasonable.
     West led the ace of hearts.  When that card held the first
trick he found himself at the crossroads early on.  If West
defends passively by leading a spade or a red card, declarer will
have time to test the spade suit.  He will play the ace and king
of spades and then trump the seven of spades with a high diamond. 
If the queen of spades falls, declarer will have the jack as a
resting place for his third club.  When the lady does not make an
appearance, he knows that he must take the double finesse in
clubs in order to make his contract.
     The only way to avoid this and defeat the contract is to
lead a small club at trick two.  If declarer puts in the ten he
will make five diamonds, but with no other information, he is
very likely going to win the ace of clubs and then try to find a
way to get rid of his club loser.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.