North J 5 4 3 K Q J 10 9 A 5 3 2 West 10 9 8 -- J 10 9 8 6 9 8 7 6 5 East K Q 6 2 8 7 6 5 Q K Q J 10 South A 7 A 4 3 2 K 7 4 3 2 A 4 The bidding: East South West North 4 4 1 3 East led the J

In Bridge, the wisdom is that if both sides are leading trump, one of them must be wrong. This profound statement does not apply to Spades.

East amused himself by leading a sneaky jack of clubs. It held the trick, and South took the next club with the ace. South tried the ace of hearts only to have it ruffed by West. A shift to the jack of diamonds was taken by the king, and South played ace and another spade.

East topped North's jack of spades, and realizing his K6 were high, he played them both. With five tricks already in the bag, he cashed his remaining two clubs for the set.

South's spade leads were necessary to keep his side's hopes alive, or else East-West would have a merry time crossruffing in the red suits for an easy set. East's trump leads were also correct to stop the opponents. If he allowed North to score one of his two remaining spades, then three more heart tricks would raise North-South's total to a bid-fulling seven.