Bridge

Robert Fulghum, an author who came to prominence after writing All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, pointed out: “The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.”

Yesterday, we saw that if this deal is played in three no-trump by North, the opening lead of the club 10 is lethal. Would things be greener in four hearts? What happens after West leads the club king?

This deal occurred in a social game. Strangely, South did not open two hearts. If you play weak two-bids, why would you not open, despite the unfavorable vulnerability?

South sees at least two black-suit losers, so can afford only one trump loser. In isolation, what is the best play in the heart suit?

South takes the first trick and leads a spade to his queen. When the queen wins, declarer plays another spade. East wins and returns a club. West takes South's nine with his queen and leads another round. Declarer wins, plays a diamond to dummy, and leads a heart to his queen (or king). West's only chance is to play low smoothly.

Then South will presumably return to dummy with a diamond, lead another trump, and have a nasty guess. Mathematically, it is better to put up the king (or queen), which fails here. But maybe South would be inspired and cover East's nine with his 10.