Hand of the Week

West passes with a flat 11 points, 8 losers.   But North should open their 11-point hand.   Only 7 losers, and it meets the Rule of 20.

So 1D, 1S by South, 2D by North.   Or possibly 2S by North.    Either way it's not looking very exciting and South will pass 2D, or maybe put it back to 2S.   If you play weak jump shifts then 2S by South is only a 5-card suit, they would have responded 2S with a 6-card suit.   North may raise to 3S, but I still don't think South goes to Game.

West has a tough lead against a spade contract, and maybe a trump is best.   (the computer tells me a club is best).

Declarer wins and realises they need the diamonds to come home on.   They need to break 3-2, and you need West to have the Ace or Queen.    You may also need a late entry with a heart ruff.   So play another round of trumps and then lead a diamond to the Jack.    East wins, returns a spade, and now king of diamonds and ruff a diamond.    The little diamonds are all good , so draw the last trump, ace of hearts, and pitch three losers on the diamonds.    (In fact you can make 11 tricks on this line by taking the club finesse, but that is too risky.)