DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“We had the event sewed up,” Cy the Cynic all but sobbed to me in the club lounge. “Then came the end of the world.”

Cy’s team had reached the final of our quarterly knockout event (with a money prize at stake), and with one deal to go, they had a 15IMP lead.

“If it had been a partscore deal,” Cy said, “we would have been a lock.”

The card gods produced today’s deal. Cy was West at his table. East opened one diamond, and when South bid four spades, Cy doubled.

“All passed,” the Cynic told me, “and I led the king of diamonds and next the queen. My partner played low, and declarer discarded his heart loser. He ruffed my heart shift, led the king of trumps to my ace, ruffed the next heart, drew trumps and claimed. We were minus 790.”

At the other table, the auction began the same way, but East treated West’s double of four spades as “showing cards,” whatever that means. East took out to five diamonds, passed out.

South led the king of spades, and East threw a club on dummy’s ace, cashed the K-Q of trumps, ruffed a spade and drew trumps. He took the A-K-J of hearts and exited with a club, and after North took the A-K, he had to lead a heart, letting East pitch his last club on the queen. Making five, and East-West were plus 600. Cy’s team lost 16 IMPs — and the match by 1.

Five diamonds was cold, but Cy’s partner could have saved the match by beating four spades: He must overtake Cy’s queen of diamonds with the ace. Whatever South does, East gets to lead a third diamond to promote Cy’s 10 of trumps.

East dealer

Both sides vulnerable