S/All		♠	K 7
		♥	6 4 3
		♦	K 7 6
		♣	A J 10 9 3
		♠	A Q J 10 9 8
		♥	A Q
		♦	9 4
		♣	Q 7 6

¹ Pre-emptive
² Negative

West leads the ♦A (East the ♦10) and continues with the ♦Q. How should South play?

Something goes wrong in the bidding...

S/All		♠	A Q 7
		♥	K 6 5 4 3
		♦	J 5 4 3
		♣	J
		♠	J 10 4
		♥	-
		♦	A K Q 2
		♣	K Q 10 9 8 7

¹ Conventional, game (!) forcing
² Slam try (rather aggressive but South expects – rightly so – a better hand in North in view of his 2♦ bid), suggesting clubs as trumps
³ Control showing, agreeing clubs (!) (why not 4♦, establishing that suit?)
⁴ No spade control
⁵ Inconsistent since he has a spade control (North 'makes up' for his overbid of 2♦; he cannot correct to 5♦ now in view of his earlier 4♥ bid: South would expect both a spade and a diamond control, since clubs are trumps...)

Let's just say that North has skilfully avoided the best contract – 5♦ – in order to give South an opportunity to test his playing skills in 5♣.

West cheerfully joins in the game of strange decisions by leading the ♥J instead of a spade – the logical lead after this auction. How should South play?

S/All		♠	J 8 7
		♥	A 6 5
		♦	J 7 6 5
		♣	Q 10 9
		♠	Q 10 6
		♥	K 10 4
		♦	A K Q
		♣	K J 4 2

West leads the ♥3. How should South plan the play?