Cy the Cynic still buys spiffy clothes online, hoping to impress women he dates.
“I ordered two nice sweaters,” Cy told me, “but they seemed to pick up a lot of static electricity.”
“You returned them?”
“They shipped me two more,” the Cynic said, “free of charge.”
Cy was declarer at today’s slam, and when West led the six of diamonds, Cy must have thought finessing with dummy’s queen was cost-free. East took the king and led the queen of hearts.
Cy won, drew trumps and led a diamond to dummy’s ace. When East discarded, Cy had to find the queen of spades, and he went down when he played East for the queen.
NO HURRY
Cy’s diamond play at Trick One was costly. Cy had no hurry to finesse with the queen. He should take the ace; he has at least 12 tricks when the king falls.
If instead East played low, Cy could draw trumps and then lead a diamond toward the queen. He would have many chances even if East had the king, including setting up dummy’s fifth diamond.
DAILY QUESTION
You hold: S A 10 7 3 H A K 6 D A Q 9 5 3 C K. You open one diamond. Your partner bids one spade. What do you say?
ANSWER: You have enough strength to commit to game even if partner has a minimum response. You could bid four spades (not a “shutout” call but showing about 20 points; partner could bid again). A better call is a “splinter” bid of four clubs. A raise to four spades would suggest balanced pattern.
North dealer
N-S vulnerable
NORTH
S A 10 7 3
H A K 6
D A Q 9 5 3
C K
WEST
S Q 8 2
H 7 5 2
D J 10 7 6 4
C 5 4
EAST
S 9 6 4
H Q J 10 9 3
D K
C 7 6 3 2
SOUTH
S K J 5
H 8 4
D 8 2
C A Q J 10 9 8
North East South West
1 D Pass 2 C Pass
2 S Pass 3 C Pass
3 H Pass 3 S Pass
4 C Pass 6 C All Pass
Opening lead — D 6
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
