Warren Bennis, a social scientist who died in 2014, said, “There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish. ”

At the bridge table, declarer may have only one way to be creative – either his line works or it does not. Much better, though, is when he has two chances to make his contract and can try both. In today’s deal, South receives a trump lead against his seven-spade contract. What should he do?

North used a transfer, showed his second suit, learned that partner had three- or four-card spade support, used two doses of Blackwood, and plunged into the grand slam. (For users of Roman Key Card Blackwood, note that South would have bid six clubs over five no-trump to show the club king. Then North, wanting his partner also to have the heart king, would have bid six hearts to ask his partner to bid seven with that king. The asker asks and the teller tells.)

South starts with 12 top tricks: five spades, two hearts, two diamonds and three clubs. He seems to need either the heart finesse to work (50-50) or a 3-2 diamond break (67.8 percent).

Today, let’s look at the more likely of the two; tomorrow, the diamonds will not behave.

Declarer draws trumps and cashes dummy’s top diamonds. When they split favorably, he takes his club winners, discarding dummy’s remaining diamonds, ruffs a diamond on the board to establish his last diamond, and claims.