Hand 301 — rule of 20

Play this hand
Dealer
S
User Side
N/S
Contract
4S
Declarer
N
Tricks Makeable
11
Recommended Lead
KD
Vulnerability
None
System
SAYC

Planning

With 12 points, add your points to the number of cards in your 2 longest suits. If the number is 20 or more, open the bidding. In this case the count for north is 22.

The Deal

North
K Q J 8 2
A Q 10 7 4
6
8 2
West
6 5
8 6
7 5 3
J 10 7 6 3
East
10 9 4
K 9 3
K Q J 10 2
A Q 5
South
A 7 3
J 5 2
A 9 8 4
K 9 4
North: 12 HCP, 5-5-1-2
East: 15 HCP, 3-3-5-3
South: 12 HCP, 3-3-4-3 (bal)
West: 1 HCP, 2-2-3-5

Bidding Sequence

S W N E
PassPass1SPass
2DPass2HPass
3SPass4SPass
PassPass

Final Comments

In 4 spades we can count our losers
0 spades
1 heart
0 diamonds
2 clubs
3 losers means we make our contract.
As the cards lie, we also make the king of clubs.