An unlikely winning play. 
Bridge Column for November 15, 2002, Harvey Bernstein
North-South vulnerable.  East deals.
                              North
                              S: 5                
                              H: K Q 5       
                              D: K Q J 4     
                              C: K 8 7 5 3 
            West                             East
            S: K Q J 9 3                     S: 10 7 6 2 
            H: A 8 7                         H: 4 3 2      
            D: 7 3                           D: 10 9 8 6 2        
            C: A 4 2                         C: Q           
                              South                         
                              S: A 8 4 
                              H: J 10 9 6   
                              D: A 5       
                              C: J 10 9 6 
          The Bidding:  
                   East   South     West   North                  
                   Pass    Pass      1S   Double
                    3S      4H      Pass    Pass
                   Pass    
     Sabine Auken of Germany is one of the best players in the
world today.  She sat in the South seat when this hand was dealt
at a tournament in France earlier this year.  The opening lead
was the king of spades.
     There appear to be plenty of tricks available to declarer
except for the fact that if she starts by drawing trump she may
lose control of the hand.  Auken made ten tricks, but the key
play may surprise you.
     The opening lead was taken in hand with the ace of spades. 
The jack of clubs was led.  West played low and the king was
played from dummy, crashing the queen.  A small club came from
the dummy and East discarded a diamond.  The ten of clubs was
played from the South hand.  West won the ace.
     West continued with a third club, trumped by East.  Declarer
unblocked the nine of clubs on this trick.  East led the ten of
spades and declared trumped this trick with the king of hearts
from the dummy.  The five of hearts was led and declarer played
the jack from the closed hand.  West had to duck.  If West took
the ace of hearts at this point it would be the last trick for
the defense.
     Auken played her last spade, trumping in dummy with the
queen and then made the key play.  She played the king of
diamonds and when that held, the four of diamonds was led and she
won the ace in hand.  Had she simply entered her hand to lead a
heart, West could have won the ace and played a diamond, locking
declarer in the dummy with no way back to her hand to draw the
last trump.
     By playing two rounds of diamonds prior to playing another
heart, Declarer left West with no way to keep her from entering
the closed hand.  The spade return was trumped in hand and the
last trump extracted. 
     Bidding and making four hearts was an extraordinary result. 
This is another of those hands which look easier than they turn
out to be.  Most pairs played a club partial, making four.
_______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.