You have to do what you have to do

Francis Quarles, an English poet who died in 1644, said, “Necessity of action takes away the fear of the act, and makes bold resolution the favorite of fortune.”

That applies to South in today’s diagram. Look only at his hand. Partner opens one spade, he responds one no-trump (because three hearts would not be a weak jump), and partner rebids three clubs. What should South do now?

Once you have decided, then look also at the North hand and determine how South should play in six hearts after ruffing West’s diamond-ace lead on the board.

At the table, South passed, despite North’s rebid being in principle game-forcing. He should have fearlessly acted with three hearts, hoping that fortune favored the brave. Here, of course, North would have been off to the races. But if North were, say, 5=0=3=5, presumably he would have continued with three no-trump and maybe gotten lucky.

Three clubs played very nicely after a low-heart lead. Declarer won with dummy’s queen and led the club 10. When West covered, North played four rounds of the suit and claimed 12 tricks: two spades, six hearts and four clubs.

Six hearts is a tad more tricky — unless you peek at the EastWest hands. Leading dummy’s club jack at trick two appeals to me. Let’s assume West wins and plays another diamond. Declarer ruffs on the board, cashes the heart king, crosses to the club 10 (he hopes!), draws trumps and claims.

If West ducks his club queen, South can pull trumps and take two spades, six hearts, three clubs and the diamond ruff.

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