BRIDGE

South topped the eight with the queen to continue with a heart for the queen and king. The return of the king of clubs was taken by the ace and followed by the jack and ace of hearts on which West parted with a spade. A diamond was advanced but South inserted the ten when East contributed the five-spot.

West scored the queen to exit safely with a diamond. Declarer cashed two more diamonds to lead the spade queen in the four card ending.

West grabbed the king but was compelled to play another into South's ace and ten. East was entitled to a club winner but the game was just home.

The early play revealed that West owned six spades and could be thrown in to give declarer a second spade trick.

The lead of the queen was best and would fail only when East produced a singleton king which was rather unlikely. An exit of the ten of spades would also succeed but it was possible that East could own a singleton jack.

The three-level pre-empt left South with little choice but to overcall 3NT. A takeout double was summarily rejected because he held a perfectly balanced hand and two club stoppers.