East pauses and emerges with a 1-bid. South does some mental addition and bids 7, which is a conventional bid used by N-S to force a Double Nil bid by partner. E-W are aware of the meaning of this bid and West goes into a huddle.

Realizing that 270 points gives N-S 504, and a combined 3-bid by E-W gives his side 507 (with 3 bags to be divided), West decides to bid 2 and go for the make with 1 or 2 bags. North obliges South and bids Double Nil.

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

South opens with the king of clubs, hoping to see the ace come out. When it doesn't, he leads the queen of clubs to help clarify the situation and possibly remove club returns from E-W. East is smart enough not to break spades by ruffing and sluffs the diamond jack. South takes his chances with a third round of clubs...whew!

South now leads the diamond queen - what else can he do? East decides to take her winner and go for the win by making her side's bid. She decides to switch to hearts and leads the fateful six! Nothing else matters; South will ruff the next trick and take the remaining 8 tricks for the set and the game.

Could EW have won this game? Yes, if South's 7-bid is legitimate then he is marked for long, good spades in addition to the good side suit (clubs). He has at most 3 diamonds and hearts combined so an immediate attack on hearts is called for. The casual lead of the heart six was the death knell. The heart deuce puts South on lead and forces him to lead clubs, setting his own DN!