Bridge: Aug. 30, 2024

“If you were stuck on a desert island,” Rose asked me in the club lounge, “what one bridge book would you want?”

“The heck with bridge,” Unlucky Louie said. “I’d want a book on how to build a boat.”

“I read a book about shipbuilding the other day,” Cy the Cynic offered. “It was riveting.”

Cy is seldom riveted on the play: As declarer, he is apt to seize on the first line of play he sees. When Cy played at today’s four spades, West led the ace of hearts and shifted to a club. The Cynic took dummy’s ace and let the jack of trumps ride, but West won, led a club to East and ruffed the heart return. Down one.

SINGLETON

Cy’s focus was unriveted. Since West’s ace of hearts was almost surely a singleton, Cy must not let East get in before trumps are drawn.

Cy can execute a “scissors coup.” When he takes the ace of clubs, he can lead dummy’s king of diamonds and pitch his last club as a loser-on-loser. West wins, but Cy loses only one more trick to the king of trumps.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S K 8 2 H A D A J 9 6 4 C Q 4 3 2. You open one diamond, and your partner responds one spade. What do you say?

ANSWER: With a slightly more attractive hand such as K82,2,AK974,AJ32, you could bid two clubs. Then if partner bid two diamonds or 2NT, you could act again and show the spade support. Since the actual hand is close to a minimum, use your second bid (and maybe your only chance) to support partner. Bid two spades.

North dealer

E-W vulnerable

NORTH

S J 4

H J 7 6

D K 10 8 3 2

C A 10 7

WEST

S K 8 2

H A

D A J 9 6 4

C Q 4 3 2

EAST

S 7

H 9 8 4 3 2

D Q 7 5

C K 9 8 6

SOUTH

S A Q 10 9 6 5 3

H K Q 10 5

D None

C J 5

North East South West
Pass Pass 1 S 2 D
Pass 3 D 3 S Pass
4 S All Pass
Opening lead — H A

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