PHILIP ALDER

You must have noticed that tolerance for cold weather is inversely proportional to age. The older you get, the more you seek warmth. Showing my age, anything below 70 degrees is freezing, according to my internal thermometer. (Skiers are the exception to the rule.)

In England some 30 years ago, there was a trickle of bridge-playing retirees to Spain’s Costa del Sol. They usually did well at a big tournament that used to be held there each November. In today’s deal, from the 1993 event, declarer spotted a safe line. How did he play in six hearts after West led a spade?

North responded with the Jacoby Forcing Raise. South’s rebid of three spades showed at most one spade. After that, some control-bidding led to the small slam.

Declarer discarded a diamond from his hand,

drew trumps, cashed the spade ace, throwing another diamond, and took three rounds of clubs ending on the board.

If they had broken 3-3, South would have pitched his last low diamond on the 13th club and tried the diamond finesse for an overtrick.

If West had started with four clubs, declarer would have led dummy’s last club and discarded his diamond nine. West would have had to lead into declarer’s diamond ace-queen or to concede a ruff-and-sluff in spades.

However, when East turned up with four clubs, declarer led a low diamond from the dummy, covering East’s card. West won the trick but was endplayed, as already mentioned.

TODAY’S SUDOKU SOLUTION

TODAY’S CELEBRITY CIPHER SOLUTION