DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“Wendy accused me of being condescending,” Cy the Cynic told me in the club lounge. “In case you don’t know, that means I talk down to people.”

Wendy, our feminist, and Cy, a shameless chauvinist, are always at odds.

“What brought this on?” I asked “She went down at four spades in a penny game,” Cy said, displaying today’s deal. “West led a trump at the second trick. Wendy won in dummy and led a heart, playing low from her hand. She won the trump return and led a second heart to her king, but when West won and produced a third trump, Wendy lost another heart.”

“I told her not to worry: The deal was just too hard for someone at her skill level. That’s when the trouble began.”

Cy was absent when they passed out humility, but Wendy can make four spades. When West leads a trump at Trick Two, Wendy draws trumps and takes the A-Q-J of clubs. She then leads dummy’s queen of diamonds and discards a heart. When West wins, he must concede the 10th trick one way or another.

Daily question

You hold: ♠ 732 ♥ AQ6

♦ AKJ8 ♣ 8 5 4. You open one diamond, your partner responds one spade, you bid 1NT and he jumps to three hearts. What do you say?

Answer: Partner’s jump is forcing. You can’t bid 3NT after you bid 1NT with no club strength and should not raise the hearts with only three-card support (even with A-Q-6). Bid three spades. Partner has five or more spades and would like to know about your three cards in the suit. West dealer

N-S vulnerable