West dealer : Both vulnerable

West	North	East	South
1	1	?

What would you do as East with:

9 3 2
10 9 6 4
5 3
A K Q 6

There is no good action for East. The hand is too weak for 2 and bidding 1NT with no stopper in the opposition suit is risky, too. You could pass, of course, but if South also passes and West re-opens with a double, what will you do then. The action with least risk, in my view, is 1NT and hope partner can produce at least one honour.

I chose a riskier move, 1 , showing four or more spades. I survived this little frolic and the bidding went like this:

West	North	East	South
1	1	1 ?	Pass
1NT	Pass	Pass	2 (1)
All pass

(1) Natural, long spades

West leads the K and this is what you see:

Declarer plays the A from dummy.

What card do you play on that?

Against 2 K and this is what you see:

Declarer plays the A from dummy.

What card do you play on that?

You should discourage the diamonds, since you much prefer a club switch. Play the 5 if you play reverse signals, high-hate.

Declarer follows with the 2: seven – queen – three.

How do you plan the defence from here?

East dealer : Both vulnerable

West	North	East	South
---	---	Pass	4
4	?

What would you do as North with:
Q 2
K Q 9 4
A Q 8 6 4
A 3

East dealer : North-South vulnerable

West	North	East	South
---	---	1 (1)	2
2	Dble (2)	Pass	3
3	?

(1) 4+ spades
(2) For takeout

What would you do now as North with:

6,4,2
Q,8,6,3
K,5
A,Q,9,6

North dealer : Both vulnerable

West	North	East	South
---	3	Dble (1)	Pass
?

What would you do as West with:

East dealer : Nil vulnerable

West	North	East	South
---	---	Pass	1
2	Dble (1)	5	?

(1) Both majors, 6+ points

What would you do as South with:

A Q 8
6 4
A K Q J 10 2
7 4

Make your decision before reading on.

Today’s problem Part (2) (declarer play):

Let’s suppose you have chosen to bid 5 A and this is what you see:

Trick 1: CA: five – three – four
Trick 2: West shifts to the 8. What do you play from dummy?