This is aHand:

The more you practise, the more you realize how important those "honorettes" are... the 9s, the 8s.

This is yet another hand where the appearance of a "spot" spells success.

Bidding.

We open 1♥ after two Passes and have to find an accurate rebid after partner’s 1♠ response. Again we can express this balanced 18-point hand with 2NT, making a clear limit bid.

North has enough (8 points) to raise to the No-trump game and there we rest.

Play.

West has a nice Diamond sequence to lead from and we settle down to cogitate awhile. Count and Plan….

We assess our position and see that (surprise, surprise!) we don't have all the tricks we need. There are just seven on top (two Spades, one Heart, two Diamonds and two Clubs) so we need two extras from somewhere. We have two suits that could be developed (Hearts and Spades) but it's pretty clear that the Spades are the way to go. The Hearts are feeble, the Spades have greater strength and offer more promise.

We’re going to need entries to dummy. Unlike some past hands, we won't be able to use our "overtake" strategy, so it's all about what we choose to do at trick one.

We take the opening lead in hand, preserving the ♦A as a later entry to the Spades. At trick two, we immediately tackle our main source of tricks (Spades) by unblocking the ♠A. We are a little worried about the quality of our Spade suit, so we pay special attention to the opponents' cards, watching the spots.

At tricks two and three, West drops both the â™ J and â™ 9. This is great news, as it tells us that the remaining â™ 10 8 are equals against the â™ Q. Once the â™ Q is driven from its hiding place (it has to happen sooner or later, no?) the remaining Spades are all masters.

The ♠10 duly forces the ♠Q and from there it's plain sailing. Win the ♦A, cash the remaining ♠8 6 and take the winning high cards in the closed hand.

Nine tricks arrive courtesy of four Spades, one Heart, two Diamonds and two Clubs.