Daily Bridge Club

Contracted defense

“Do you know what heteronyms are?” my friend the English professor asked me in the club lounge.

“Words that are spelled the same,” I replied, “but have different meanings and pronunciations, such as ‘contract’ and ‘contract.’”

“An apt example,” the prof growled. “In a penny game today, we had five defensive tricks against a game contract, and we managed to contract them into three.”

The prof was East, and West led a club against four hearts. THIRD CLUB

“I took the K-A,” the prof said, “and led a third club, hoping to promote an extra trump trick for my partner. That would have been a winning defense if South held K J 3, A Q J 9 7 4 2, A, 10 4. As it was, he pitched his diamond loser ... and my partner petulantly ruffed with the nine of trumps. Dummy threw a spade loser, and South took the rest.”

West contracted a bad case of frustration. He beats four hearts if he discards instead of ruffing at Trick Three. Declarer ruffs in dummy, but the defense still gets a spade and a trump.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: A 6 4 8 6 3 J 9 7 6 2 Q J. Your partner opens one diamond, you raise to two diamonds and he bids three clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER:

Partner’s three clubs is a try for game (at the least) and asks you to rate your prospects with a particular emphasis on your holding in his second suit. Since your club honors appear to be valuable and you have a side ace, you can make an encouraging call. Bid three spades. South dealer N-S vulnerable