The Full Deal
North should have raised to three spades (perhaps to four spades) at North’s first turn.
At the table, our opponent East pressed on to five hearts. Declarer won the spade lead, played a heart to the Ace and a club to the Ace, and the roof fell in on declarer: North ruffed, led a spade to South, and then North got a second club ruff. South took a trick later with the Queen of clubs for down two. Plus 200 scored 98%. South usually took nine tricks declaring in spades; minus 100 would have scored 82%, and minus 300 would have scored 70%.
Bonus from Val: Double dummy, East can take thirteen tricks: Ace of spades, heart to the Jack, Ace-King of hearts, King of clubs, club finesses. If declarer starts Ace of spades, Ace-King of hearts, declarer takes eleven tricks. But many players might have followed declarer’s actual line of play. Deal C104.
To explore alternative lines of play and defense, use this link: https://tinyurl.com/yck727dv
Chapter 3 of Real World Bridge 5: Competitive Bidding Part Two explores high-level competitive bidding decisions.