You chose to bid 2 Diamonds. This is the correct bid, although some more experienced players would say that you shouldn't stop bidding until you investigate whether a slam is on. However, we haven't learned about slam bidding yet, so for the moment, 2 Diamonds is sufficient for game, and even if we make 11 tricks, we will only get one game from it, so why not have an easier job.

North, East and South all No Bid, and that ends the bidding sequence.

If you wish to see the hands all together so you can sort out the hands, click here.
So the contract is 2 Diamonds, and East will be Declarer, since he bid Diamonds first.

So the Opening lead needs to come from South, and his partner did not bid at all.

Here is South's hand:

Spades        Q,9,6,3
Hearts         A,J,7,2
Diamonds    7,5
Clubs          Q,9,7

There is no obvious lead. Both Clubs and Diamonds are held by opposition, so there is hope that your partner might have some Hearts and Spades. I think I would probably lead the 2 of Hearts.

The Dummy is now revealed

Spades          A
Hearts           K,9,4
Diamonds      Q,10,9,4
Clubs            A,K,10,4,2

We, of course, know that if Dummy played the King of Hearts, he would win the trick. But Declarer doesn't know where the Ace is, and expects to win the King at sometime anyway, so I think he would follow convention and play low to the trick and play the 4.

Here is North's hand

Spades        K,10,7,5
Hearts         Q,8,5
Diamonds    6,2
Clubs          J,8,5,3

North, following the suggestion, Third hand high, wins the trick, as East follows with his lowest heart, the 3.

The usual thing, when you have been given a low card for a lead, is to think that that suit has some value for your partner, so you return it at the first opportunity, so North would now play the 5 of Hearts, and East would again play low with the 6, South would play the Ace, and West the 9. So North-South have won the first 2 tricks.

The third lead is not so easy. If he plays another Heart, he can see that the Dummy has the King and will win it. If he plays a Spade, he can see that the Dummy has the Ace. And the Dummy has the top 2 Clubs. I think I might hope that my partner had had a doubleton in Hearts, and lead them again, hoping he would trump. But of course that isn't the case. The trick would be 7 of Hearts led by South, King from West in dummy, 8 from North, and 10 from East. (Incidentally, if North had had a doubleton, he should have lead with the higher of the 2.)

East West is now in charge of the hand. They have contracted to win only 8 tricks - and so far they have lost 2 and won 1. I will leave you to play the rest of the hand out. If you have not already done so, sort out the hand from Set Hand 4, and make all the first moves as I have suggested. You should make the rest of the tricks without any problems, if you remember to get the trump out, and then make use of your short suits for cross trumping purposes.

If you have problems in making this contract, or don't understand how it could be made, you can click here to see the rest of the hand played out.

You have won 11 tricks, which was well in excess of your contract, and you will score 40 points for the two Spades that you bid, and another 60 points above the line for a bonus. And a new line will be drawn under the score sheet to show that you have also won a game.

Go on now to Lesson 7 on Rebids.