DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
“Do you rely on autocorrect when you write your columns?” a club player asked me.
“Certainly,” I replied. “I run them threw autocorrect to make sure they are perfect. Autocorrect tells me sew. Why do you ask?”
“I thought maybe you could tell me how to disable the autocorrect on my husband,” she said. “He makes a habit of pointing out my errors.”
My friend had been declarer at today’s six spades. Since North’s jump to four spades had suggested a weak, distributional hand, West led the deuce of trumps.
“I won with dummy’s four,” South said, “took the ace of hearts, ruffed a heart in dummy, came to my ace of clubs and ruffed my last heart. Next I led a diamond to my ace, but then I had to concede a diamond. West won and led a second trump, and I was a trick short. Dummy had one trump left, and I had two low diamonds, so I lost a second diamond at the end.
“My husband insisted that the slam was cold, but after West found that trump lead, it looks impossible to me.”
I guess South’s husband might have said “I tolled you sew.” When South leads dummy’s queen of hearts at Trick Two, and East plays the king, South must play low, trading one loser for another and making sure that West can’t get in to lead a second trump.
If East returns a diamond, South takes the ace, discards dummy’s last diamond on the ace of hearts and crossruffs. With good timing, she can ruff four red cards in dummy and two clubs in her hand to finish with 12 tricks: three trumps (one at the first trick and the A-K at the end), three side-suit aces and six ruffs. South dealer
N-S vulnerable