Jonathan Swift, an English satirist and author best known for "Gulliver's Travels," allegedly said, "There were many times my pants were so thin I could sit on a dime and tell if it was heads or tails."

Someone much later reviewed a car's suspension by making the same comment about running over a coin in the road.

At the bridge table, it is great if you can leave an opponent in a heads-you-win-tails-he-fails position. How can South do that in this deal? He is in four hearts, and the defenders begin with three rounds of spades.

I agree with North's one-no-trump rebid, ignoring his spade suit. True, one no-trump might be passed out when two spades would be better, South having four spades and a relatively weak hand. But 4-3-3-3 distribution cries out for no-trump. Here, South would have done better to raise to three no-trump, a contract with nine top tricks, but four hearts was "normal."

When West led the spade ace, East encouraged enthusiastically with his 10. West cashed the spade king and played a third spade. South ruffed and had the initial thought to take both minor-suit finesses. As long as one worked, he would have been home. But then he spotted a third possibility.

Declarer drew trumps ending on the board and called for the last spade. When East covered with his queen, declarer did not ruff; instead, he calmly discarded a club.

East was endplayed, forced to lead one of the minors and concede a 10th trick to South. It was a pretty loser-on-loser play.

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