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Hand Analyses 3rd December, 2008
There’s an abundance of links on this page, here’s what they all mean: - Notations such as Bidding Quiz (North) are links to the weekly Bidding Quiz, a selection of the 15-20 most interesting bidding situations of the week. - Each week we pick out two or three hands which are suitable for presentation in problem format, as in Play Problem 203 (West), linking you to a page with only two hands on display. Solve the problem first, then see the solution and the entire deal. - Some analyses contain references to bidding conventions, and you’ll see links to articles in our Convention Library such as Roman Key Card - In BridgeOpedia we have categorized by theme the entire history of the most instructive Wednesday Game hands, two year’s worth. Occasionally you will see a purple arrow, linking to the relevant BridgeOpedia section. For example, in this week’s Board 6, Declarer's winning line involves a cross-ruff. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross-Ruffing”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
East decided that his 17-count was too good for a 1NT opening, and then his 1NT rebid (opposite a silent partner) showed 18-19. West invited, East declined. Against 2NT South will no doubt lead one major or the other: - If South leads a Spade: Declarer wins that and let’s suppose that he goes after the Diamonds now. South wins a Diamond and continues Spades, and Declarer makes 9 tricks if he ducks and if North persists with Spades. But North won’t do that, she knows that she is entryless so will shift to a Heart, after which Declarer is down one. So, on a Spade opening lead, Declarer’s best bet is to lead the Q♣ at Trick 2, ducking when South covers with the King. Now Declarer has 8 tricks. - If South leads a Heart: In this case Declarer can afford to go after Diamonds and he scores 9 tricks (a Spade, 2 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 2 Clubs). The defense takes just 2 Hearts and 2 Diamonds.
After the Jacoby Transfer, how do you play that 4♣ bid by North? Some use it as a splinter, showing slam interest and Club shortness, but there’s a lot to be said for 4♣ here to be a cheap version of Roman Key Card Blackwood. North’s actual intention in the above auction was exactly that and it gets N-S to the good slam. Getting to the perfect spot of 6NT is not so easy.
System Note OK, if you don’t like the idea of 4♣ being Roman Key Card, then how do you invoke Roman Key Card after a transfer sequence? Consider these two auctions: 1NT 1NT 2♦ 2♥ 4♦ 4♥ 4NT … 4NT … Yes, in the first auction 4NT is natural and invitational, typically a 5-3-3-2 kind of hand with around 16-17 HCP’s. But bidding 4NT after that second (Texas) sequence is Roman Key Card.
Let’s assume that West is of the persuasion that there’s nothing wrong with opening 1NT with a 5-card major. Let’s further suppose that he is not even fazed by having a really super-duper 5-card major, as here. That being so, should West open 1NT with that 17-count? We don’t think so, it seems altogether too good … 3 Aces, 3 Tens, and a maximum point count take this hand into the 18-19 range. So West opens 1♠ and then rebids 1NT which (as on Board 1) shows 18-19 when opposite a silent partner.
Over to East. He had a maximum for his initial Pass and felt constrained to take action next time around after West had purported to have 18-19. He might have chosen 3♦ but instead guessed to Double. Good choice!
It is essential for E-W to beat 2♥ doubled by two tricks if they are to beat the +130 which is theirs if they play in Diamonds. As the double was based on power (East thinks his side has 22-23) it’s usual to lead trumps at every opportunity. That works just fine and eventually the defense scores 3 Spades, 2 Diamonds and 2 Clubs for a lovely +300. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Opening Leads”>>
Over 1♣, East might have been tempted to try One Stopperless No Trump or perhaps a Beefy Four-Card Overcall. Well, those Spades aren’t really that beefy, and at this vulnerability that could be -200 waiting to happen. Anyway, East passes, and now South must decide between 1♥ and 1NT. All those Queens and that square shape suggest a No Trump contract, so 1NT is where South plays it. Having said that, North must have been tempted to pull 1NT to 2♣ considering the Diamond shortness.
Against 1NT, West leads the J♦ won in Dummy. Now the A♠ is dislodged and Declarer ends up with 8 tricks. That’s a good board, beating those N-S pairs who scored +110 in a Club part-score.
We confess that we would have bid 3NT with the South hand but 5♣ is not unreasonable and it has the added benefit of being cold.
The Play in 3NT: If West leads a Spade (which seems most likely), then Declarer has an easy route to 9 tricks. The killing lead is a Heart after which the defense gets the Hearts going before Declarer establishes the Clubs … that’s down two.
The Play in 5♣: This contract always makes when Declarer plays on cross-ruff lines. For example: Spade lead to the Queen and Ace Q♥ (trying to tempt a cover) to the Ace when West craftily plays low Diamond ruff Cash A♠ (pitching a Heart) Ruff a Spade (setting up Declarer’s Ten) Cash A♥ Diamond ruff Now Declarer leads the 10♠ and, whether or not West ruffs in with his King, Declarer can merrily scramble her way to 11 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross-Ruffing”>>
After West’s (forcing) 3♥, what do the various East bids mean? - 4♥: Shows support, of course, but how good? Three small or honor doubleton would both be good enough. - 3♠: No Heart support worth mentioning and something in Spades. Qxx would be about minimum, we would say, though JTx or Qx would be tempting. The implication is that East does not have anything in Clubs, because of the failure to bid 3NT. - 3NT: This would tend to deny a Spade stopper, may or may not have something in Clubs, possibly a bid of convenience.
So, if those are the guidelines, East has an obvious 3♠ bid, and West goes to game in Spades, no doubt thinking wistfully about the possibility of slam as he does so. Against 4♠, the auction will beg for South to lead a Club, after which making 12 tricks requires a little bit of good behavior from the major suits. However, with trumps 4-1 and the hand with only two Hearts sitting over East’s doubleton, 11 tricks is the maximum … either the defense will get a Heart trick or a Heart overruff or else a defensive trump trick will be promoted.
South does well to push E-W to the 5-level … firstly, 5♥ would have been a fine sacrifice … secondly, by getting E-W up to 5♠ gives us a really good Play Problem. This one’s a beaut, please follow the link.
West did well not to sell out to 3♦ and had a choice between doubling and trying 3♠. The Double is better, as it keeps more irons in the fire … for example East might be 2-5 in the majors or might be able to pass the Double and extract a penalty. It’s also possible that East will be 3-4 in the majors, of course, but even then the 4-3 Heart fit could play quite well with Diamonds being ruffed in the short hand.
Careful play is needed to make 3♠. South leads the J♦, won by North, who shifts to the Q♣. Hopefully, Declarer will read this for a singleton (perhaps the shift was made at the speed of light) and will not cover with the King. North reverts to Diamonds and you ruff that on the board. At this point it may appear that Declarer is doomed to be down one, losing a Heart, a Diamond and 3 Clubs. Not so! Declarer cashes the remaining Spades, ending in hand and arriving at this position: North ♠ ♥ 875 ♦ T76 ♣ Dummy Declarer ♠ ♠ ♥ Q109 ♥ A62 ♦ ♦ K ♣ T86 ♣ K7 South ♠ ♥ KJ4 ♦ ♣ AJ9 Now, Declarer cashes the K♦ and South is squeezed. - If South pitches a Heart then Dummy pitches a Club, after which Declarer cashes the A♥ and throws South in with a Heart, forcing her to give Declarer a 9th trick in Clubs. - If South pitches a Club then Dummy pitches a Heart. Now when Declarer exits a Club, South is caught once more in an end-play. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-In Squeezes”>>
If South gets passed out in 1NT, West leads a Diamond, Declarer plays on Clubs, and it’s 7 tricks for +90.
East might have opened a light 1♦ with that 4=4=4=1 11-count. The good news for E-W is that this would allow them to compete up to 3♦. The bad news is that South doubles 1♦ allowing N-S to compete to 3♠. That’s a far superior contract to 1NT, making 9 tricks despite the 4-1 trump break. A bad hand for the light openers!
Opposite an overcall, a hand with 3-card support and an Ace and two Kings is usually worth a game-invitational raise, but not with this East hand. The negatives are (a) The K♦ is under the Diamond bidder; (b) The hand is square; (c) The trumps are rotten. So East contents himself with just 2♠ and must later have been sorely tempted to try a matchpoint double of 3♦. That’s a Double that will work only with astonishingly accurate defense! West must lead a Club (either a low one, or A♣ and then a low one). When East gets in he shifts to a Spade and now Declarer is an entry short to Dummy, she cannot pick up the K♦ and lead twice towards the ♥KQx. But on any other opening lead 3♦ is cold.
East could have made a heavy 1♦ overcall, but by most standards is too strong, so he makes a Takeout Double despite his doubleton Spade. His plan is to bid the Diamonds later, showing a really good hand. And how about West’s 3♠, what does that show? Considering that 2♠ was available to show game-invitational values, 3♠ is used to show a 6-card suit and a few values (but not much, that would be a 4♠ bid). So East never does get to bid those magnificent Diamonds, he simply raises to 4♠.
Against 4♠, North has an obvious Club lead. She’ll cash a second Club and shift to a Heart after which Declarer needs a lot of luck to make this contract. He needs 3-2 trumps, and also needs the hand with the long trump to also have 3 Diamonds. It’s a long shot, one which does not come home, and down one is the final result.
South’s Double was lead-directing, and when West completes the transfer (where Pass was also an option) he shows 3-card Spade support. Over to North. What a terrific hand in the circumstances! There’s that 4-card Heart support … a singleton in the enemy suit … a good 5-card side-suit … and minor suit honors that are likely to be well-placed. North might consider going directly to game but that would be over the top, South might have made her lead-directing Double on KQTxx and out. In standard methods there is no game try in Hearts available, but our N-S had a little gadget at their disposal. North’s 2NT was a game-try in Hearts. How convenient! Should South accept? There are a couple of negatives to her hand … only 4 Hearts … and so much strength opposite North’s presumed Spade singleton. Having said that, the South hand is considerably stronger than it might have been, so South accepts the invitation. That’s 11 easy tricks when the A♦ and K♣ are predictably well-placed.
North might well have rebid 2♦ instead of 2♣ (see below) but we thought that we would do the easy auction first. After 2♣, South has her sights firmly set on a Club slam. She starts out with a Fourth Suit Forcing bid of 2♠, then agrees Clubs, and finally unleashes Minorwood with 4♣. The response of 4NT showed “two with”, and that was all that South needed to bid the slam.
This auction shows Minorwood in a good light. Imagine the North hand without any Key Cards (quite possible). In that case, using 4NT as Blackwood would get N-S out of their depth … but having Minorwood available allows South to sign off in 4NT if the response is unfavorable.
Playing in 6♣, North does not have the entries to set up the Diamonds, so her best plan is to take a Spade ruff and a Heart ruff in her own hand, taking the trick count up to 12 … 4 natural trump tricks, 2 ruffs, 2 Spades, 3 Hearts and a Diamond. As it happens a 13th trick materializes when the QJ♠ conveniently come down tripleton.
Back to the Bidding We made life easy for N-S by forcing North to rebid 2♣. Perhaps a better rebid would be 2♦, planning to bid 3♣ if South’s second bid were 2NT. If North does rebid 2♦ the auction takes an awkward turn: North South 1♦ 1♥ 2♦ 2♠ 3♣ ?? 4♣ would be forcing here, but would not be played by many as Minorwood, so we suppose that South will just close her eyes and boot out 6♣.
We have no fewer that three bidding gadgets (all of them Doubles) on display in this auction: - North’s Dbl: Played by many in this situation as “Snapdragon”. It’s a Double at the one-level, with three suits bid, and it shows 5+ in the unbid suit with tolerance for Partner’s suit. The Snapdragon Double neatly solves North’s problem on this deal, she’s not good enough to bid 2♥, but is reluctant simply to raise Diamonds and give up on the Hearts. So she uses Snapdragon, planning to compete up to 3♦ if South cannot support Hearts. - East’s 2♠: Here the gadget is a Redouble that was not made. Playing Support Doubles, a Redouble here would show 3-card support, so 2♠ shows 4. - West’s Double: West would like to invite game but the auction has left no room for that. With the two sides competing in touching suits, West uses a Maximal Double to invite game. East declines, of course.
Playing in Spades from the West side protects the Heart holding from the opening lead, but even so 9 tricks is the maximum with normal play.
A lively auction! South decided that her hand was worth a limit raise in Spades … it’s only 9 points but a couple of Aces and a good 5-card suit must count for something. Being a passed hand, South showed that limit raise with a Drury bid of 2♣. Now over to West. He had cleverly noticed the favorable vulnerability and decided that he would unilaterally sacrifice if N-S got to game. So, he bid 2♦ and then 4♠ offering Partner a choice, and West finally got his wish, playing in 5♦ doubled. That is down two unless North finds the dynamic opening lead of the Q♣, allowing the defense to get a Diamond ruff for down three.
But, either way, 5♦ doubled is an excellent sacrifice as N-S have 12 tricks in Hearts. Should North have pushed on to 5♥? Probably. Surely South has some Club length and strength on this auction, which will no doubt allow North’s third Spade to be dumped. And if there are any major suit finesses to be taken they are likely to work. So, not bidding 5♥ seems rather feeble to us, but bidding up to 6♥ would have been wildly optimistic.
We said that N-S can make 12 tricks in Hearts and so they can. Here is the sequence of plays: A♦ is cashed Diamond continuation is ruffed T♥ holds the next trick Q♣ covered by the King and Dummy’s Ace J♣ is cashed Club ruff Cross to Dummy’s 9♥ Club ruff Cross to Dummy’s A♥ Cash the last Club Spade finesse There were a couple of subtleties in this play. Firstly, Declarer cunningly led the T♥ on the first round of trumps as she did not want East to cover. That kept her in her hand and gave her the entries to set up the Clubs … if they had now been 3-3 she would not have needed the Spade finesse. Secondly, she played on Clubs early, while trumps were still available for entries to the Dummy. Of course, it would have been too dangerous to play the Q♣ at Trick 3, West might have been 5=2=6=0 instead of 5=0=6=2. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Drawing Trumps or Not”>>
That 2♠ opening provides North with some difficulty. She could have overcalled 3♥, that might work, but it’s not ideal with such a good hand and only 5 Hearts. On the other hand, her actual choice of Double was not a great bargain, either.
3♠ makes 9 tricks, so playing in 4♣ down one is a reasonable result for N-S. And it will be an even better result in West makes the unfortunate opening lead of the A♠ allowing 10 tricks to roll in.
Here’s another gadget, the Impossible Spade. West’s 1NT denied 4 Spades, so the next time around he had no use for a natural 2♠. The common treatment for 2♠ in this auction is for it to show a really good raise to 3♣. Does West’s hand really qualify? Marginal, we would say, and he only has 4 Clubs (remember, East might have just 3 in this auction). A reasonable alternative to 2♠ would be 2NT.
We like East’s 3♠ bid! This is a case of East bidding what he’s got and letting West decide what to do. East paints a clear picture of a man without anything in Diamonds, and that prompts West to bid the only making game of 5♣.
After this auction, North will lead a Heart, and now, with the Q♦ and Q♠ both offside, Declarer is headed for down one. However, for the Walsh-style pairs (who bypass 1♦ unless they have a good hand), the auction will go: 1♣ 1♥, 1NT Pass. Now North will probably lead a Diamond to South’s Ace, then a Diamond back. South gets in later with the Q♠ and that is the defense’s last chance to find the deadly Heart shift. If South is up to the task it is down one, if not then Declarer will eke out 7 tricks.
West could be forgiven for passing that square 12-count, but then again there’s a lot to be said for getting an AKxx suit into the auction, if only for lead direction. East’s 2♦ was an “inverted raise” showing at least game-invitational values (and also denying a 4-card major). That 2NT bid means different things for different folks. Most would say that it shows 12-14 and a balanced hand, others would go a step further and say that it also guarantees stoppers in both majors (with a stopper in just one major they would bid that suit at the two-level).
That difference in style somewhat randomly will determine whether East or West is Declarer. - If West rebids 2NT: North’s opening lead will be a Heart or a Club both of which are equally fatal to the defense, giving Declarer his 9th trick. - If West rebids 2♥ (stopper-showing): Now East will be Declarer and South will be on lead with additional information at her disposal. With West showing something in Hearts and presumably denying something in Spades it makes a lot of sense for South to lead the T♣, while looking forward to a Spade shift through Declarer in the fullness of time. That defense (or a Heart opening lead through Dummy’s strength) is the killer, allowing E-W to rue that their methods were so helpful to the opponents.
How do you like South’s 2♠ raise? Some might pass, reasoning that game is highly unlikely opposite a passed hand. True, but passing 1♠ does make it easier for West to back into the auction with a balancing Double. We know some East’s who would back into the auction even if South does bid 2♠, but this is a board where aggressive balancing will work out badly. The bottom line is that 2♠ makes 9 tricks, and if E-W get hyper-active and compete to the 3-level they will go for -200 or -500.
Here is one of three boards this week where the use (or non-use) of the “Walsh-style” might affect the result. The pair in the auction above was playing Walsh, which is why South by-passes her 5-card Diamond suit to get her Spades into the auction. Soon thereafter E-W zipped into 4♥ making an easy 10 tricks. That’s a bad result for N-S considering they have an excellent save in that by-passed Diamond suit (5♦ is down one). Not a triumph for the Walshites! Well, that’s the price to be paid for playing Walsh, but more often than they lose the Diamond suit the Walsh players will benefit from auctions which are unhelpful to the opponents.
West has enough playing strength to open 2♣, but with two-suiters it’s often a good idea to start bidding suits right away. When East raises Hearts, what is your rebid as West? There are some (you know who you are) who will leap majestically to 5♦ thereby demonstrating that they are intimately familiar with the modern-day miracle of Exclusion Key Card, but regrettably showing less familiarity with the concept of cooperative bidding. Let’s say that West does perpetrate Exclusion and let’s further say that E-W are playing 3014 in this situation (for Exclusion that really is better than 1430). East responds 5♥ and West is none the wiser, he’ll have no idea where East’s values are, nor whether there is Diamond wastage. Better to splinter with 4♦ and ask East’s opinion. East loves 4♦ and shows something in Spades, after which West goes straight to slam.
6♥ is not exactly cold but it’s well worth bidding, weighing in at around 65%. This time Declarer’s luck is in, scoring +1430 for close to a top board.
A simple auction to the best spot. South will probably lead a Heart but that is not good for the defense, handing Declarer a third Heart trick. Now Declarer knocks out the A♠, and later gives up a Diamond, for 11 lucky tricks. Why lucky? First of all, E-W had to play this from the East side (see Note below), then they needed to get that Heart opening lead, then they needed to dislodge the A♠ from North before giving up a Diamond to South, as doing it the other way around allows South to get in first and hold Declarer. Of course, it was the entry situation which led Declarer to play on Spades first.
Walsh Note This is another deal which provides the possibility of a Walsh-style auction, one which would go like this: West East 1♣ 1♦ 1NT 2♥ 2♠ 3NT East would not bid 1♦ when holding a 4-card major unless he also had game-going values. So West is free to bypass his own 4-card Spade, knowing that Partner either does not have them or else will bid again. After 1NT E-W finally get around to showing their majors with the end-result that 3NT is played from the West side, probably making only 10 tricks (unless North leads a disastrous Club).
South’s 1NT is a bit off-shape but not much the worse for that, and we would have to say that North’s bidding was optimistic, that’s not much of an 8-count. Nonetheless, 3NT turns out to be a superb contract and Declarer claims 10 top tricks after the opening Heart led. Of course, things are somewhat less superb for Declarer if West improbably finds a Spade opening lead. Now the defense takes the first nine tricks!
South’s 1♠ showed at least a 5-card suit, and normal procedure would be for North to raise with 3 of them, letting Partner know that there is an 8-card major fit. But raising with three small seems somewhat bizarre when there is a fine 7-card suit waiting to be rebid. Either way, N-S will end up in 4♠ for 10 tricks and +420.
This is a difficult board for North! If she passes 3♦ then South will no doubt double again and North will bid 3♠ and play it there. We all know that there is some stretching required in these preemptive situations, but is the North hand really worth an immediate 3♠ (over 3♦)? Maybe not, though she is close. Anyway, the stretchers reach the making game, the others don’t.
What a horrible rebid problem! You would get votes for 1♠, 2♣, 2♦ and 3♦, but we’ll bet that none of those will be enthusiastic votes. How did West manage to get himself into such a pickle? Yes, that’s right, he missed his call on the first round of bidding! Opening 1NT with that hand solves all problems.
If West does open One Practical No Trump he’ll hear the dreaded response of 2♦, transferring to Hearts. No matter, the 5-1 fit plays fine, even overcoming a 5-2 trump break, for +110. And +110 is about as good as E-W can expect on these cards.
East had various ways to bid his hand: - Open 2♣ and rebid 2♥: This hand does not have enough playing strength to insist on game. Also, bidding that way risks losing the 4-4 Spade fit. So, scratch that off the list. - Open 2NT: That could work, but with 4-5 in the majors there’s the danger that a major suit might be missed (even playing Puppet). - Open 2♣ and rebid 2NT: East might like the No Trump approach and feel that his hand is too good for a 20-21 opener. - Open 1♥: Yes, this is the perfect bid. Perfect, that is, if the auction does not now go “Pass, Pass, Pass”. If that fate is avoided then East has every expectation of getting to the right place.
Who can predict what South might lead after this auction? A Heart lead looks distinctly dangerous (Partner might have Qxx). The lead of the A♠ gets what it deserves when it hands Declarer 12 tricks on a plate. A low Club is reasonable, but also fatal to the defense, 12 tricks once again. The best opening lead turns out to be a Diamond, after which Declarer has a choice to make … either take his 11 tricks … or else finesse against the Q♣ one way or the other, making only 10 tricks with a wrong guess, 12 tricks otherwise. Would you be one of those who tries for 12 and risks getting just 10? Sure, you would! Making 11 tricks will be a bad board when most of the field is getting 12 tricks with a helpful black suit lead, and the only way to recover is to take the Club finesse.
That’s not a particularly convincing auction but it’s worth reviewing anyway: - 2♠: We know many Souths (ourselves included!) who would rebid 2NT with that hand. - 3♥: This is ambiguous, it could be asking for a Heart stop or it could be showing something in Hearts as part of a slam auction. Why would South not bid 3♦ here? That might be confusing, N-S might spend the rest of the auction being unclear as to whether Diamonds or Clubs were trumps. - 3♠: Showing something in Spades (not much, admittedly!) - 4♣: Minorwood, a cheap way of bidding Roman Key Card Blackwood in minor suit auctions. - 4♦: One Key Card (1430 responses)
We don’t suppose that many pairs will reach the Club slam, and those that do must handle their slam with care. West leads the K♥ won by Declarer’s Ace. Now, the K♣ and Q♣ are cashed and when both defenders follow Declarer is almost home. She cashes A♦, crosses to the K♦, ruffs a Diamond high, and cross to the A♣, drawing that last trump in the process. The Diamonds produce two pitches and now it only remains to knock out the A♠ and claim.
West might have dredged up a positive response with that AJ9xx suit, but some partnerships have better suit requirements than that. Anyway, 3NT is the obvious contract. In 3NT Declarer can always make 11 tricks, but not without risk in some cases. For example, suppose that South leads a Spade, won by Declarer. Declarer can now take 10 tricks just by establishing a second Spade trick. To get 11 he’ll need to take the Diamond finesse, of course, making 11 when it works, but only 9 if it doesn’t.
E-W have a combined 27-count with no weak suits and yet they are probably going down in 3NT. Once the A♥ has been knocked out there are 8 tricks, but finding the 9th is not easy. The opening lead of the K♠ or a low Heart would present Declarer with his contract, but on other leads, with sane defense, it’s down one. A Diamond lead dashes Declarer’s hopes immediately, so let’s give Declarer a chance and make North lead a Club. We’ll also let Declarer play in inspired fashion by winning the Club in hand with the Queen and leading a low Spade towards the board. Nice play, now, whether North rises with the King or plays low, the Spades are good for a second trick, and Declarer’s 9th. If Declarer can be inspired we should offer the defense the same courtesy, so to beat the contract we’ll let them to three good things … North rises with the K♠ at Trick Two … she shifts to a Diamond, low from Dummy, with Declarer ducking … South continues with Diamonds (which would be fatal if Declarer started with three). Down one!
In the balancing seat the No Trump overcall ranges change: - 1NT: 10 -15 or thereabouts - Double then 1NT: 16-18 give or take - 2NT: 19-20 more or less. So, if that’s the schema, South has an almost perfect 2NT bid, apart from the minor difficulty of something less than a full Heart stop. But it’s close, and a good Partner will have the all-important Heart honor (the alternative is to Double and then bid Clubs). North’s 3♣ was Stayman, which gets South to the obvious spot of 3NT.
3NT may well be the obvious contract but it’s not a particularly good one, though it has practical chances. A 4th best Heart opening lead from West would fix Declarer’s wagon, but the Queen is the standard lead from that holding. So, West leads the Queen, won by Dummy’s King. Now Declarer loses the Diamond finesse, after which a Spade shift spells doom for Declarer. But there are other defenses where it is easy to see West walking into a red-suit end-play.
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