Aristotle said, "For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first."

In today's deal, we must find the true way to handle our honor cards. What should South do in (a) seven spades and (b) six spades after West leads the heart queen to dummy's ace?

North's three-spade rebid showed game-forcing values with exactly three-card spade support. (Note that seven spades is not as good a contract as it might seem at first glance. For seven to be reasonable, North or South needs the spade jack or diamond jack. And then they would want to bid seven of the suit in which the jack is held -- much easier said than done.)

In seven spades, take two rounds of trumps using the queen and king (or ace) -- assume they are 3-2. Then turn to diamonds. If they also break 3-2, draw the missing trump and clam. But if they are 4-1, hope the person who is long in diamonds also has the missing trump.

In six spades, also draw two rounds of trumps. Here, they break 4-1. Now you must be careful in case diamonds are also dividing badly. South must try to ensure that East never ruffs a diamond honor. Play a diamond to dummy's queen, then lead a low diamond through East. After he discards (it cannot help to ruff), declarer wins in his hand, plays a club to dummy's king, and calls for another diamond. Assuming East pitches again, South wins and ruffs a low diamond. East may overruff, but it costs his natural trump trick and the contract makes.

** ** **

COPYRIGHT: 2012, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK FOR UFS