This is Match 5 Board 12 from the congress. West is dealer, N-S vulnerable. You are South holding:
The bidding goes:
| South | West | North | East |
|---|
| - | Pass | 1 | 3 |
|
What do you do?
You are playing Better Minor. You have a flat hand with 12 points. East's 3S bid has made life very difficult for you. What to do? Here is the full deal:
Because there is a bonus for a vulnerable game you cannot afford to be passive especially in a teams event. So you have to bite the bullet and bid 3NT. You would prefer to have better spades but there is no other sensible bid.
West leads the Ace of spades and continues the suit. You win with the King, knock out the Ace of diamonds and take the spade continuation with the Ten. You lead the Queen of diamonds and discover that East is out so West has the Ten which you can pick up. So you wrap up 9 tricks - 2 spades, 3 diamonds and 4 clubs.
J85
KQJ7