When should you apply the brakes?

Bridge

Budd Schulberg, who won an Academy Award for his “On the Waterfront” screenplay, said, “Living with a conscience is like driving a car with the brakes on.”

Many bridge players seem to have no conscience because they drive with the accelerator pressed to the floor. This deal occurred during a social game. What do you think of the auction?

I would have opened one club with that West hand. It had an easy onespade rebid, two aces and a fivecard suit. After that, everything went smoothly through two no-trump (which this pair treated as natural, not an inquiry). Then there was a strong case for North’s passing, even though South would presumably have lost five clubs and one heart. Here, North judged well to sign off in three diamonds, but South could not resist bidding one more time, taking his partnership too high.

After North raised to four spades, West doubled — sensibly or unwisely, depending upon the result.

West led the heart ace and continued with his second heart to dummy’s king. (This was not best; a low-club shift was in theory needed.) South could have gotten home by crossing to his hand with a diamond and running the spade jack through West to pick up trumps without loss, taking four spades, one heart and five diamonds. But declarer, thinking West was being clever, cashed the spade king and played a spade to the jack. Now a low-club shift would have led to down two, but West cashed the club ace. Eventually, East took trick 13 with the heart queen for down one.