If you bid up, play ’em up too

Gallagher, a comedian who is known for smashing watermelons, said, “Don’t you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There’s one marked ‘ Brightness,’ but it doesn’t work.”

If you turn up the bidding, you had better turn up the play as well. How did South try to make his ambitious four-heart contract after West led the diamond four, and East put up his queen?

North had a minimum raise to two hearts. (Those employ- ing two-over-one game-forcing could start with one forcing no-trump, planning to rebid two hearts over a two-club or two-diamond rebid. Yes, that would promise only two-card heart support, but North would like to cool South’s ardor a tad. Here, over one no-trump, South would probably rebid three hearts, and North could pass.) South’s actual jump to four hearts was a bit aggressive, but when you smell game, you bid game.

There seem to be four unavoidable losers: one heart and three spades. (West cannot have the spade ace and king, because he would have led the ace at trick one.)

The original declarer found a very bright play that would have occurred to few players. He took the first trick with his diamond ace, then immediately returned the diamond 10!

West, assuming his partner had the diamond king, played low. South gratefully cashed the diamond king and discarded a spade from the board. Then he led a spade. Given that trumps were 2-2, the defenders could not stop declarer from taking five hearts, three diamonds, one club and a spade ruff in the dummy.

Look for the Saturday Bridge and Chess and local Bridge results in the new Saturday Fun & Games section