Deal 12	♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH 1NT pass  BID        You are South and it is your bid. Decide what you would say, then click on BID .
	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3

 

Deal 12	♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH 1NT pass 2♣ pass 2♠ pass  BID      Despite the great ♣ suit, you have a 4-card Major. It is your duty to first seek an 8-card Major fit, so you bid 2♣ (Stayman). Partner replies 2♠. What do you bid?
	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3

 

Deal 12	♠ A K 7 2 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ A Q 7 2 ♣ 6 2		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH 1NT pass 2♣ pass 2♠ pass 3NT pass pass pass   Well, that wasn't the Major suit you were hoping for. But with 11 points you have enough for game, so you bid 3NT. North would play 3NT. Click ROTATE
	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3

 

Deal 12	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH 1NT pass 2♣ pass 2♠ pass 3NT pass pass pass South plays 3NT. West leads ♦J, East plays ♦K. Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
	♠ A K 7 2 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ A Q 7 2 ♣ 6 2

 

Deal 12	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3		South plays 3NT. West leads ♦J, East plays ♦K. Winners: ♠ 2 : ♥ 1 : ♦ 2 : ♣ 3 : Total = 8 Thanks to the opening lead you get an extra ♦ winner. Well, since the finesse would have worked it really isn't extra, it's just nice to know about it early. You need to find one more winner and the ♣ suit beckons. A 3-3 split would be very nice, but a 4-2 is more likely. Even with a 4-2 split you can still make your fifth ♣ good - but you must be careful with entries. Since you have no immediate problem in any suit you can afford to give up the lead. So you play the ♣2 from your hand and the ♣3 from dummy. In other words, you duck a ♣. Somebody will win this trick cheaply and no doubt play another ♦. You don't mind at all - you win the ♦Q, the ♠ A K, the ♥A and dummy's ♣ A K Q 4, all of which are good. Click NEXT to see the full deal.
	♠ A K 7 2 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ A Q 7 2 ♣ 6 2

 

Deal 12	♠ 8 5 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A K Q 4 3		Ducking the first ♣ is the only way to make the contract. If you played a high ♣ first you would never have an entry back to dummy. You would have been forced to try to get there with the ♥J but as you can see, that wouldn't work. If you had just played the ♣s from the top you would have made an overtrick when they split 3-3, but gone down when they split 4-2. Making an overtrick about 40% of the time is a high price to pay for going down the other 60%.  Deal 13
♠ Q 10 4 3 ♥ 5 4 ♦ J 10 9 6 4 ♣ 9 5		♠ J 9 6 ♥ K Q 10 9 ♦ K 5 ♣ J 10 8 7
	♠ A K 7 2 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ A Q 7 2 ♣ 6 2