DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?” Cy the Cynic asked me in the club lounge.

“I suppose so,” I replied. “So do I,” said the Cynic. “And sometimes the reason is that somebody makes a dumb decision.”

Cy showed me today’s deal. He had been North.

“When my partner balanced with one spade,” Cy told me, “I knew he might have a light hand. But a vulnerable game was at stake, and I figured the club finesse through the opening bidder would win. So I bid game. Do you blame me?”

“Your bidding looks reasonable to me,” I shrugged.

West led the 10 of diamonds against four spades, and Cy’s partner won with the king, led a trump to the king and returned a trump. East followed with the deuce and 10, and declarer ... finessed with the jack. West took the queen and led a low diamond, and South eventually lost a diamond and two hearts. Down one.

“I told my partner he should have played to drop West’s queen of trumps,” Cy said. “He insisted that West could have opened without the queen, and to finesse was correct. Dumb.”

East didn’t respond to the opening bid, hence he had at most five points. But if West’s hearts had been A-K-x-x-x or K-Q-10-x-x, his opening lead would have been a high heart, so East was almost certain to have the king.

Since the opening lead also marked East with the jack of diamonds, he couldn’t have the queen of trumps. South should have taken the king and ace.