DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

I was having a sandwich in the club lounge when a kibitzer came in from the penny game.

“Ed made another unlikely game,” he said, “and all he used was basic technique: He led toward a high card.”

Ed, my club’s best player, is a consistent winner. I heard the details. Against Ed’s four spades, West led the three of hearts. Ed took dummy’s ace and led the deuce of clubs: four, king, three. He led a trump to dummy’s nine and returned ... the six of clubs.

East had an uncomfortable guess: If declarer had the jack left, East probably needed to grab his ace. So East put up his ace of clubs — and found himself swindled. He led a heart to West’s king, but Ed ruffed the next heart in dummy, drew trumps and threw a diamond on the queen of clubs. He lost a diamond, a club and a heart.

“You said that Ed led toward a high card,” I reminded my kibitzer friend.

“Ed said that ‘high’ is in the mind of the beholder,” he replied. “And the nine is pretty high anyway.”

Daily question

You hold: ♠ A1097 ♥ A8 ♦ J54 ♣ Q 7 6 2. Your partner opens one heart, you respond one spade, he bids two diamonds and you try 2NT. Partner then bids three hearts. What do you say?

Answer: Partner has six hearts (when you didn’t support his hearts at your second turn, he would rarely want to rebid a five-card suit), four diamonds and extra values. With a minimum 6-4 hand, he would have rebid two hearts to suggest a minimum. You should raise to four hearts.

South dealer

Both sides vulnerable