Daily Bridge Club

Cy the money-maker

Cy the Cynic’s former occupation, if ever he had one, is the subject of much speculation at my club. Cy won’t talk about it, except to favor us with gag answers to our questions.

“Cy, were you a cowboy?”

“I tried, but it was herd work. I got deranged.”

“Did you work in a recycling center?”

“I crushed soft-drink cans. It was soda pressing.”

“Cy, did you make money at home in your spare time?”

“For a while, but counterfeiting isn’t as easy as you think.”

Cy would make money at the club, but he is apt to adopt the first line of play he sees. When Cy was declarer at today’s slam, he won the first diamond with the king, led a heart to the ace and ruffed a heart. He hoped a defender might hold K-Q-x, but EastWest followed low.

So the Cynic shrugged, drew trumps and led a club to finesse with dummy’s queen. East took the king and got another club for down one. How would you play six spades? South can take the king of diamonds, cash the ace of trumps, lead a diamond to the ace and ruff a diamond high. He gets back to dummy with the ten of trumps and ruffs the last diamond. South then draws trumps and leads a heart to dummy’s jack.

When East takes the king, he is end-played. Whether he leads a club or returns a heart, South gets a free finesse and his 12th trick.

The correct play would also succeed if West had the K-Q of hearts. If he played an honor on the first heart, South could take the ace and discard a club on the jack, setting up a second heart trick. South dealer N-S vulnerable