Against today's slam, with little to go on, West did not find the killing spade lead, but declarer failed to exploit his good fortune.

Declarer won the lead of the club 10 in hand and decided to play on diamonds. He cashed the ace and followed with the two to dummy’s queen, which was allowed to hold. West had intelligently followed with the nine, then the four, to try to create the impression of a bad break in the suit, while East had contributed the five then the 10.

Now South had to decide whether to play for an even break in diamonds or to rely on the spade finesse. Eventually he came to hand and finessed in spades. This line would have succeeded had the diamonds been 4-2 with West having the length, since East would not have had a diamond to lead. Even as it was, East had to play a diamond on winning the spade king. But he did so, and the defense took their two tricks.

Undoubtedly, though, the best line is to lead a low diamond from hand at trick two, not the ace. If West wins with the king, there is no need for a spade finesse. If East wins with the king, he cannot put you to an immediate guess, and there is time to test the diamonds for an even break before falling back on the spades. Finally, if the diamond queen is allowed to win, playing on spades guarantees 12 tricks.

Not all balanced hands in the 15-17 range need to be opened one no-trump. In today's deal, North, playing with an expert partner, elected to upgrade his hand because of his major-suit lengths and the fact that he had a pure jack-less 17-count. He also realized that it would do no harm to make his partner declarer in any major-suit contract.

Things worked out exactly as he had hoped for. South drove to slam, first asking for keycards, then for the trump queen, and North’s response showed it, together with the diamond king.

South received a top-club lead against his six-heart slam, which he won in dummy. When trumps broke 3-2, South drew them all, cashed off four rounds of spades, and exited with the losing club to compel the defenders to shift to diamonds.

Had West won the second club trick, the hand would have been over; but it was East who took the trick. That player did the best he could when he shifted to a low diamond. South appreciated that he could delay the finesse against the diamond queen for one round. He carefully inserted the eight, and when that forced the queen, declarer could claim the balance of the tricks. Had West been able to follow with the nine or 10, declarer would have won the trick in dummy and taken the diamond finesse on the next round of the suit.

There are some people for whom the word “counting” at bridge has the same effect as the sight of a spider. They throw up their arms and run screaming from the room. I exaggerate a little, I confess, but you get the picture. One cannot hope to become proficient at bridge without a modicum of hard work. And one of the most challenging aspects of the game is the need to count every single hand (unless you are dummy — and even then…).

Today’s deal is a fine example of a hand where your first reaction as declarer is that you can claim your grand slam, but if that were the case, I would not have given it to you as a problem, would I?

You win the spade lead and draw trump in three rounds, discovering that East has the length — the first clue but only a small one — as West discards a club. Then you play a club to the ace and trump a club, lead a spade to the king and trump another club, finally cashing the spade ace and leading to the spade queen, on which East discards a club. Bingo!

If you go back and do the arithmetic, you will see that West has followed to three clubs and discarded one, and thus started with five spades and two hearts. He cannot have four diamonds, so cash the diamond ace and lead to the queen, prepared to finesse against East if necessary. And today it is necessary.

At three of the four tables in a local league event, North became declarer in three no-trump. With a 3-3 club break and East holding a singleton heart honor, this contract is makeable, but no declarer succeeded. The unsuccessful declarers won the spade lead in dummy, crossed to the heart ace and played a diamond. Had South's diamonds been solid, this line would make sense because spades might have been blocked (with West holding jack-third of spades), but here there is no guarantee that playing a diamond would make the contract. Taking a second-round heart finesse and then playing on clubs was the indicated line, perhaps.

At the fourth table South became declarer in four hearts after the murky sequence set out here. West led a spade to East’s ace, and a spade was returned. Declarer now played two rounds of clubs ending in dummy and then a diamond. East made his side’s only defensive error when he rose with the ace and played the spade jack, ruffed by declarer. Declarer now took two top diamonds, the second of which was ruffed by West with the eight and overruffed with the king. A third round of clubs was cashed and a fourth played, which East ruffed with the heart queen. Remarkably, this was the defense’s only trump trick! All declarer had left was 10-9-7 of trumps while dummy had the A-6 of trumps and a diamond. Whichever black suit East played, declarer had to make the rest of the tricks.

At teams one of my least favorite contracts is two no-trump. The chances of making precisely eight tricks are remote, and even if three no-trump is a poor contract, it may make after a poor opening lead or a misdefense.

Here was a good example of how the smallest of differences in spot cards can make game playable. In this case the key card was the diamond nine, when West started with the diamond queen against three no-trump. East took dummy’s king with the ace and continued with the diamond 10, which held the trick. He then switched to the heart two; take over from here.

It looks obvious that West started out with Q-J-8-x-x in diamonds and that the defenders cannot unscramble their five tricks. If you can score five club tricks you may make your contract without a finesse. But can you see any extra chances?

Best is to win the heart switch and cash the club ace and king. Here West’s queen comes down, leaving a defender with the master club — and you hope that it is East. Since that player’s switch to the heart two looks most consistent with a four-card suit, you cash your other top hearts before exiting with a club. East can cash just one more heart trick before having to lead a spade into dummy’s tenace, giving you a second trick in that suit.

In today's deal it is unclear what North's correct call should be at his second turn, after his partner shows a strong hand with hearts. A jump to four hearts would be hugely premature, so maybe North should bid a natural two no-trump, then follow up with four hearts. South clearly expected a little more in the way of shape for the raise in hearts, but then again, had North's king been in any of the side-suits, slam would have been very playable. As it was, after the lead of the diamond queen against six hearts, the slam looked virtually hopeless. Not only would declarer need a very favorable lie of the black suits, but he would also need to handle his entries very carefully.

For want of anything better to do, declarer ducked in dummy at trick one. West held the trick and continued diamonds, letting South ruff high. He followed up with the heart ace and king, then carefully led his heart four to dummy’s seven.

Now declarer needed to take two spade finesses and remain in dummy to play clubs. South was up to the task: he led the spade queen, and when East defended well by ducking,.declarer unblocked the spade jack from his hand, and the spade 10 held the next trick, leaving South in dummy. When the club finesse succeeded, declarer had his 12 tricks. Yes this was lucky, but to a certain extent South had made his own luck.

They say that anyone can take a finesse, but an expert would always rather play for a squeeze. True enough if a little cynical; but in today's deal the expert's line wins, while the 50 percent line of the finesse leaves the palooka with egg on his face.

Both tables in a teams match reached six diamonds here. The club king was led and both declarers thoughtfully ducked in dummy to avoid having the ace ruffed away.

Both declarers ruffed the next top club and drew trumps. The first declarer cashed the three top spades, ending in dummy, then threw a spade on the club ace and ran the heart queen unsuccessfully.

The expert player drew trumps ending in dummy, ruffed a club and ran all the trumps. He then threw the heart jack on the last trump and followed this with the spade ace, king and then queen. The last of these reduced West to a singleton heart, since he had to keep two clubs to match dummy’s length.

But next came the club ace, which also squeezed East down to just one heart, since he in turn needed to retain the spade jack, to counter declarer’s spade eight. Now declarer could discard his spade eight and play a heart to his ace, knowing his heart two was good.

This line of play is guaranteed to succeed, since West cannot have four spades to the jack, to go with his three diamonds and seven clubs.

And yes, if East had ruffed his partner’s winner to play a heart he would have broken up the squeeze.

Against four hearts West leads the spade king, which when dummy comes down with the queen and length, is clearly asking East to give count in the suit. When East indicates either a singleton or an even number of spades by playing the eight, West continues with the spade ace, everyone following. How should the defense continue?

The defense has been facilitated for West by the auction. If West counts his own hand and dummy, he comes to the grand total of 19 HCP. South has opened with a forcing two-club call. How many defensive tricks can one reasonably play partner for? I’d say zero would be a realistic number!

However, giving up now would be unduly pessimistic. If you can arrange for East to cooperate, you might find him with just enough in the way of trump spots to come through for you. Lead a third spade — in this position I’d play the highest of my spades to ask partner to ruff high — and keep my fingers crossed.

If East can ruff in with the heart 10, it ensures that West can make not one but two trump tricks from his heart K-9-4. Declarer must overruff, of course, or he is down at once, and now South’s trump holding has been weakened so that the nine is promoted to a second natural winner. This maneuver is called the uppercut and is almost as painful to the recipient as its boxing equivalent.

Whenever you play a small slam with no top losers but only 11 winners, one of your first thoughts will be to construct an endplay to force an opponent to give you a 12th trick. Sometimes the idea is to build a trick from the intermediates, rather than just going for an endplay.

Here, South plays in six hearts after a transfer auction in which North’s excellent trumps and aces argue for driving to slam. When the diamond 10 is led to the ace, declarer should cash two high trumps, then strip off the diamonds. Next he leads the spade two to the ace, then advances the spade nine from dummy, planning to play low if East does the same.

Should West win the trick, he is endplayed to give you two tricks in spades or to lead a club into your tenace. If East covers your spade nine with his jack, you win the trick and plan to ruff a spade in dummy, hoping to bring down the spade queen, as would happen here.

If the spade queen does not put in an appearance on the third round of the suit, you will come back to hand in trumps and lead the fourth spade, planning to discard a club from dummy if West produces the master spade. At that point the defense would be endplayed to lead clubs or give you a ruff-sluff. Finally, if all else fails, you can take the club finesse.