DO YOU PREFER CATS OR DOGS?

People tend to be in one of four categories: those who prefer cats to dogs, those who prefer dogs to cats, and those who like or dislike both. However, few are as funny about it as August Strindberg, a Swedish dramatist, who said, “I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven’t got the guts to bite people themselves.”

Bridge is a dogfight for every trick. Look upon defeat in a contract as a catastrophe. Against South’s fourheart contract, West led the spade king and switched accurately to a trump. How should declarer have continued?

That trump switch was annoying because the defenders were threatening to take three spades and one heart. After, say, a club shift, declarer could have ruffed a spade in the dummy.

South’s first thought was to take his two top trumps and start on the diamonds. If the defender with the last trump had at least three diamonds, declarer could have discarded a spade loser and made it home.

However, there was a much safer play available. South let West win the second trick! In this way, the defenders got their heart winner while there was still a trump on the board to ruff the third spade if the defenders went back to that suit.

If you didn’t spot that play, your partner would catapult you to the doghouse. He might also start doggedly to catalog your errors, and, without fear of catcalls from my readers, I can dogmatically state that that duck is the cat’s meow, doggone it!