Bridge

THE POINTS POINT TO THE RIGHT PLAY

John Byrom, an English poet who coined the phrase Tweedledum and Tweedledee ( in connectionwithwhat?), wrote, “The point is plain as a pike- staff.”

In today’s deal, the points pointed plainly to the best play for both sides — how?

Against five diamonds, West led the heart nine. East overtook withhis 10 andcashedthe heart ace. What happened next?

In the auction, South’s jump to three diamonds promised 9- 11 points. North cue- bid three hearts in the hope that his partner could bid three no- trump with a heart stopper. When South could not, North went for game in the minor.

Suppose East shifts to a club at trick three. Declarer must find thediamondqueen tomake his contract. Whenever you buy the contract after an opponent opened the bidding, always count the high- card points. The dummy has 18 and declarer 10. That leaves only 12 for the opponents, but East opened the bidding; hemust have thediamond queen. South plays a diamond to the king, then runs the diamond jack through East.

Nowlet East count the points. There are 18 on the board, and he has 12. That leaves only 10 for

West and South. So, West has at most the useless club jack. But there is one chance. At trick three, East should lead the heart three. WhenWest ruffs with the diamond three, declarer must overruff with dummy’s 10, and now East gains a trump trick. It is a knockout uppercut.

Byrom was discussing the relative merits of composers George Handel and Giovanni Bononcini.