Bridge

“You shouldn’t be so hard on your partners,” I admonished Cy the Cynic, who has never been easy to play with. “People skills are important.”

“My people skills are fine,” Cy growled. “It’s my tolerance for dunderheads that needs work.”

Cy was today’s East, and at four hearts, South won the first diamond in dummy and led a trump: nine, ten, queen.

“My partner shifted to the queen of clubs,” the Cynic said. “Declarer won and took three more diamonds to discard a spade. He lost one spade and another trump but made his game.”

“I told my partner that a spade shift would beat the contract. He said he had no way of knowing that. I called on my people skills and observed that he was a dunderhead.”

Cy’s remark wasn’t going to help his partner play better, but West should beat four hearts. The bidding marks South with a sixcard heart suit, so after West takes the queen, he can cash the ace. Cy will discard the eight of spades, and West will know what to do next.