DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

A prisoner is condemned and must choose one of three doors. Behind one are armed assassins. Behind the second is a ticking time bomb that can’t be disarmed. Behind the third are six lions that haven’t eaten in a year. Which door should he choose?

Logical thinking is vital to play and defense. How would you attack today’s slam when West leads a trump, East throwing a diamond?

The actual South adopted a simple line: He drew trumps and finessed with the queen of spades. West took the king and returned the jack, and South won, ruffed his last spade in dummy and tried a diamond finesse. Down one.

“I might have tried to set up the clubs,” South said, “but then I couldn’t draw trumps first, and that makes me nervous.”

South could reason logically. If West had a singleton club, he might have led it. Moreover, West’s trump lead suggests that he may have both missing kings. On the bidding, with North having shown a club suit and a good hand, West might have led a diamond or spade unless he was fearful of leading from a king.

After South wins the first trick in dummy, he can try a spade to his queen. If West wins and leads a second trump, declarer wins, cashes the top clubs and ruffs a club with the queen of trumps. He leads a trump to dummy, ruffs a club, takes the ace of spades, ruffs his last spade in dummy and discards the queen of diamonds on the good fifth club.

Answer to logic question: Lions that haven’t eaten in a year won’t pose a threat, being dead.