The Easiest Bid in Bridge -- Still

9
A 9 7
A K J 8 7 3
K J 8
K Q 10 7 5 4 2 A J 6 3
10 Q 6 4
Q 10 5 4 2 6
------ 6 5 4 3 2
8
K J 8 5 3 2
9 Vul: Both
A Q 10 9 7 Opening Lead: K of spds, 4 of dia

NorthEastSouthWest
1 Pass 1 2
3 3 4 Pass
4 Pass Pass 4
5 Pass 6 All pass
NorthEastSouthWest
1 Pass 1 2
3 4 5 Pass
6 All pass
How'd these guys miss their heart fit? I wondered. Well, in the first case, they didn't miss it so much as abandon it once they'd found it! In the second case, it's a totally incompre- hensible, wrongheaded preference for the second suit that caused the better fit to be missed. Lemme start with the first case. North had already shown preference. Since this was a major suit, that should have settled trump, if not the level. The five club bid I suppose was to show a double fit and thus encouragement for slam, which wasn't totally ill-advised, in itself, but the second fit should in no way have distracted this pair from their heart fit.
N-S have indeed three reasons why they should be in hearts: they have 9 hearts to 8 clubs (not that either partner could have been certain of this), hearts was North's first choice, and lastly, the major suit (if trump are adequate) should certainly be preferred to the minor. Whom would I blame? I think both partners deserve blame for this. How can you run from a major suit fit to a minor? The other direction might make some sense, even if it turns out badly. But running from a major to a minor makes no sense. (Mind you now, I'm referring to running after agreeing in the major on this hand. I'm certainly not saying it's necessarily wrongheaded to choose a minor over a major.) A slap on the wrist for both.
As for the second sequence, c'mon. When they are both minors or both majors, your task is clear: choose the longer holding (yes, 5 4 3 would be preferred over A K tight). And if of equal length, then the first one bid. Here North has equal length when the choice is between a major and a minor, and he not only chooses the minor which was the second suit bid, but bumps it a notch! Makes no sense. Down 3.
As for the play of the hand, in hearts, if you get the A of spades opening lead, it'll be a matter of guessing the Q of hearts right, and who's so high and mighty as to criticize a declarer for going wrong at that point. But if the opening lead isn't a spade, then there's little excuse for going down in 6 hearts. You take two rounds of trump and then play the A K of diamonds, sluffing a spade. East can ruff the second round, but that's his established high trump he's got coming once declarer goes for the drop.
But one person did go down on this line: diamond to the queen and ace (evidently played from the other side of the table), J of diamonds, ruffed with the 4, declarer sluffing the 9 of spades! Club lead. Ruffed! Down one! Tough luck. That spade singleton could have waited a long time. Declarer must overruff and now can drop the Q in two leads. He has plenty of entries (including the second round of trump) by which he can sluff that spade. The ruff of the J of diamonds was a gift, allowing an overtrick without sweat or guess. Declarer must capture the four of hearts!
As for the declarers in clubs, they didn't fare even that well: one was down two, the other down three. Opening lead the K of spades, shift to diamonds. Declarer wins and ruffs a diamond in the closed hand! Now he has one less trump than East has! Cashes one round of trump, then two rounds of hearts with the A K, then concedes the Q to East. That's down one. East leads a trump, taken in dummy, K of diamonds played, ruffed by East, and that's down two when declarer doesn't overruff. East now does declarer a favor in leading trump himself and declarer takes the rest of the tricks.
East should lead a spade, yes, giving declarer a sluff and ruff which does him more harm than good. The hand looked like this:

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K J 8
J
Q 10 A J
------ ------
Q 10 ------
------ 6 5
------
J 8
------
Q 10

One thing is certain: declarer didn't lose any more tricks, so the sluff & ruff instead of a trump lead couldn't have done him any better than that. And it looks to me as though it would have cost declarer another trick, as West's Q of diamonds plays a key role. If declarer ruffs in the closed hand, he now has one trump in each hand and East has two. Declarer can only lead a heart, which East can ruff, or a trump, chewing up the both of his, leaving East with the last trump. If he ruffs in dummy, he would have been all right if his diamonds were high as well as his hearts, since he'd just lead them until East ruffs, at which declarer would overruff and draw East's last trump and cash his hearts. But his diamonds aren't all good, and East must decline to ruff the top diamond, meaning declarer either loses a diamond to West, or cuts himself down to one trump while East has two.
Well, they had declarer down two, anyway. The other declarer in six clubs got an opening lead to the ace of spades, followed by a spade: a sluff-and-ruff. Declarer should certainly ruff in the short club hand, preserving his five-card length, not because he has any reason to suspect a 5-0 split, but it's just a caution. Ruff in dummy, and declarer could easily overtake the second round of clubs and run 'em. Unfortunately, declarer still had to navigate the heart distribution, a tough decision, and missed there. Down three.