The Full Deal
East’s three heart overcall put South under tremendous pressure; that was a very unusual call at unfavorable vulnerability.
At the table, South chose three notrump. West led a heart; East took the Ace (better to put in the ten) and returned the Queen to South’s King, and declarer was surprised to see West follow. In a team game, declarer would have had to worry about a possible 5-0 diamond break, but at matchpoints, overtricks were more important. So Queen of spades, diamond to the King, Ace-King of spades discarding clubs from the South hand, and declarer ran the diamonds. The end position involved pressure play; see the next page if you’re interested.