The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

- BY FRANK STEWART

A team led by Marty Fleisher won the Vanderbilt Teams at the Spring NABC. In the final, FLEISHER (Martel, Greco-Hampson, Grue-Moss) beat Nick NICKELL, 133 to 95.

FLEISHER won the first quarter 56 to 0, but the match was still in doubt in the third quarter until Joe Grue-Brad Moss bid and made two close vulnerable games for FLEISHER.

North-South for NICKELL stopped at one spade and made it, but Grue-Moss got to 3NT. (North’s bid of two diamonds was artificial.) West for NICKELL led an imaginativ­e queen of hearts.

Moss, South, found that he had five heart tricks. The chance of that had been below one in 100. He ran the hearts — West threw a club and a spade, East a diamond — then led a spade to his nine.

When West took the jack, he could have prevailed by leading a low diamond, provided East took the ace and led a club. But West led the queen, and when East won, Moss unblocked his king. He got to dummy with the jack to finesse again in spades and make 3NT.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ AQ95 ♥ 5 ◆ K 876 ♣ A Q 9 2. You open one diamond, your partner responds one heart, you bid one spade and he tries 1NT. What do you say?

ANSWER: To pass would be reasonable. It’s possible that you have no trump fit anywhere: Your partner is more likely than not to have club length, and a club contract may be playable even if he has only three. Bid two clubs.

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