Not Sure

4^th September – Board 5: North/South Game. Dealer North.

Nobody reached a slam on the hand shown below and that was well done but give North the jack of clubs instead of the queen of spades and there are twelve tricks on top….

	North: S Q 5 3 H J 9 4 D Q 10 5 C A Q 6 2
West: S 9 6 H 8 7 5 D A 9 8 7 4 3 C 10 3		East: S K J 10 8 7 H none D K 6 2 C J 8 7 5 4
	South: S A 4 2 H A K Q 10 6 3 2 D J C K 9

West	North	East	South
	No	No	2C
No	2D	No	2H
No	3H	No	3S
No	4C	No	5C
No	5H	End

I’m not sure about the bidding to be honest, especially what South should do over 4C.  Just retreating to 4H seems a little feeble as North has promised some positive values with his 3H bid while 4NT misses out on all those hands where 6H is cold despite North only holding one ace, as mentioned above. Maybe 5C is best, giving North the opportunity to cue bid the ace of diamonds if he holds that card or to assess whether tricks are likely to come from the club suit. Or maybe it’s just too difficult. I see that all those people who are in favour of leading an ace against a slam would be disappointed on this occasion. Declarer would be able to make a trick in diamonds via a ruffing finesse and come to twelve easy tricks and I also see that if the East/West hands are reversed then West would be squeezed between spades and clubs on the run of the hearts.