The bidding paves the way for the play

Henry David Thoreau, a writer who, inter alia, railed against taxes, said, "A simple and independent mind does not toil at the bidding of any prince."

Here is a deal in which an opponent's bidding helps declarer to find the winning line of play.

South is in three no-trump. West leads the spade queen. What should declarer do?

When West's one-spade opening was passed around to South, he made a takeout double. West rebid in his second five-card suit. Then North bravely advanced with three clubs. And South took a shot at three no-trump, knowing it was extremely unlikely that this contract would fail and five clubs would succeed.

Declarer starts with six top tricks: two spades, two hearts and two clubs. If he can play the clubs without loss, he will be home. But who has the club queen?

There are only 15 high-card points missing, which might lead South to think West holds that key card. However, West's bidding suggests that East is the favorite because West has so many more spades and diamonds than East.

To try to cover all bases, declarer should lead the club jack from his hand. First, if West has queen-doubleton, he might cover. And in case West is void of clubs, South is unblocking the suit.

Here, when West discards, declarer wins with dummy's king, runs the club nine, plays a club to his 10, and cashes the club ace. Then South leads a heart to dummy's ace and cashes the last club. With two major-suit winners still nestling in his hand, the contract is home.