Timing the play.
Bridge Column for February 22, 2002, Harvey Bernstein
Both sides vulnerable.  East deals.
                              North
                              S: K 8 4           
                              H: Q 8 6       
                              D: A 7 5 3        
                              C: Q 10 5  
            West                             East
            S: 10 2                          S: 9 7   
            H: K 9 5 3                       H: J 10 7 4   
            D: K J 2                         D: 10 9 8 4          
            C: A K 7 4                       C: J 9 8       
                              South                         
                              S: A Q J 6 5 3 
                              H: A 2        
                              D: Q 6       
                              C: 6 3 2      
          The Bidding:  
                   East   South     West   North                  
                   Pass    1S        Dbl   Rdbl 
                   Pass    Pass      2C     2S  
                   Pass    4S       Pass   Pass
                   Pass
     I was on vacation in Aruba last month and had the
opportunity to play at the regular Tuesday night duplicate game
of the Aruba Bridge Club.  The director, Addy Eilers of
Oranjestad, Aruba was kind enough to find a partner for me.  I
arrived at the Sonesta Beach Resort in Oranjestad and met my
partner, Mary Lou Gamble of Warren, Ohio.  We were, of course,
amused by the fact that two players from Northeast Ohio would be
accidentally paired up this far away from home.
     Gamble held the South cards on this hand and played it very
well.  It appears from the bidding that West must hold most of
the outstanding high card points.  After the opening lead of the
king of clubs, Gamble could only count nine tricks.  The defense
should be looking to score two clubs, the king of hearts, and the
king of diamonds.  If, as shown, West does hold these cards, the 
timing of declarer's play becomes critical.
     Upon winning the first trick, West continued with the ace of
clubs and a third club.  The queen held and Gamble drew trumps in
two rounds, ending in hand.  She played the ace of hearts and
then the two of hearts.  West won the king and had no counter. 
It did not appear right to lead a diamond so West continued with a
third heart which was won by the queen in dummy.  A diamond was
discarded from the South hand and Gamble was able to claim the
rest of the tricks.
     The bridge game in Aruba is much like the island itself,
warm, friendly, and very laid back.  They don't use convention
cards nor do they keep individual score sheets.  One other thing
I found different was that they don't score the game at the end. 
The director takes all of the score slips home and then brings
the recap sheet back to the game the following week.  In my case
she was kind enough to call me the next day with the results. 
Gamble and I finished a respectable third, but more importantly,
had a very pleasant game.   
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.