This is aHand:

Bidding

West opens 1♥, over which partner makes a take-out Double. We have 11 points and two four-card minor suits, so is it simply a matter of jump-bidding in the best suit?

Not quite. In addition, we have (most likely) two Heart stoppers so we can actually respond in No-trumps. But how many No-trumps?

As explained on a previous deal, the 1NT response to a take-out Double promises at least one stopper in the enemy suit, with a hand containing 7 to 10 points. Here with 11 points, we must show the extra values – by jumping to 2NT.

It is true that partner might have as few as 11 points (if he has the perfect shape for a take-out Double) and this would result in an uncomfortable 2NT contract. However, he will often hold 13 or 14 points, which is just enough to try for game opposite the 11 to 12 points shown by our 2NT bid. That is exactly the case on this deal; North has 13 points and raises us to a thin 3NT.

Although partner has a fairly minimum point-count, it turns out that it's a good minimum. The ♦10 is a useful card, and the ♣Q is a helpful supporting honor. In fact, dummy complements our hand quite nicely.

Play.

West leads the ♥J (top of an interior sequence), which at least prevents us from making a really cheap trick with dummy’s Eight. A lead into the Heart tenace provides us with a second Heart trick but there is still work to do. Our Count and Plan shows that there are only four tricks on top, but there is potential to build up extra tricks from all the other three suits.

It might feel intuitive to play on Clubs, as we have eight cards between the two hands. However, the auction suggests that going after Diamonds first is the better play. Given West's 1♥ opening bid, he rates to hold the ♦A. If he doesn't have that card, it's fair to say he will definitely hold the ♣K.

The ♦A is a certain entry, so it is a better plan to knock out this card before the Hearts become established. Let's say that we started by playing a Club to dummy's Queen. If this were to lose to East's King, a Heart would come back, dislodging our second stopper. West could sit back nursing the ♦A as a certain card of entry to go along with his good Hearts.

By playing on Diamonds first, we aim to knock out West's sure entry before the Hearts have been set up. Later, we can take a Club finesse into the non-danger hand, East, not caring whether it loses or not (since we can expect East to be out of Hearts).

So we win the opening lead with the ♥Q, and play on Diamonds until West is forced to take his Ace. Unsurprisingly, once he has taken it he continues with a top Heart.

We must hold up the ♥A on this trick, to break defensive communications. We intend to take a Club finesse of course, but in the event that the ♣K is with East, we don’t want him to have any Hearts left to lead back. This is why we must duck the Ace – in order to run East out of Hearts.

After taking the ♥A, we do a quick recount of our tricks. One Spade, two Hearts and three Diamonds means we must collect three Club tricks. But what is the best way to play the Club suit, given that the primary consideration is to keep West off lead?

One possibility is to play low to dummy's Queen and subsequently cash the Ace, However, if West originally started with three Clubs including the King, he’d be left holding the master ♣K on the third round, as an entry to his Heart winners.

The way to counter this is to lead the ♣J, intending to run it. West, recalling the adage “cover an honor with an honor� sticks the King on it, so we take the Ace.

Still anxious not to allow West the lead we cash the remaining Diamonds (pitching Spades from table) and run the ♣9. As the cards lie, East takes the Ten but has nothing good to lead. A Spade return enables us to take one Spade, two Hearts, three Diamonds and three Clubs. The last trick is East’s

Sure, with X-ray vision, we could have felled East’s ♣10 on the second round and made an overtrick. However, that is hardly the point. Ensuring the contract is.