P.G. Wodehouse, the English author who preferred to be working on his typewriter more than anything else, said, “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t know what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose.”

This deal would trip up most players, unless warned by seeing it in a newspaper column or a lesson. It revolves around five – the number of trumps held by West.

South is in four hearts. How should he plan the play after West starts with three rounds of clubs?

If South had known that his club honors were going to be worthless, he might have settled for a three-diamond help-suit game-try after his partner’s single raise. Here, though, North, with all of his values in the red suits, would have jumped to four hearts.

It seems as though declarer has only three losers: one spade and two clubs. He appears to have 10 tricks: one spade, five hearts and four diamonds. What can possibly go wrong?

“Nothing!” they cry. Well, actually there is one thing. The trumps might be 5-0. Admittedly, that is only a 4 percent chance, but why not make the contract anyway?

If declarer ruffs at trick three, he cannot get home with this layout. He will lose two clubs, one heart and one spade. Since the spade loser is inevitable, South should discard his spade two at trick three. Then, if West persists with a fourth club, declarer can ruff high on the board, draw trumps, and claim. Or, if West shifts to, say, a spade, South can take those 10 top tricks.