The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
ONE CHANCE IS BETTER THAN NONE
Jay Leno quipped, “The reason there are two senators for each state is so that one can be the designated driver.”
That is particularly funny if you remember that Leno is fascinated by cars and owns many of them.
At the bridge table, sometimes you are faced with two possible plays — usually, low or high. Often one sees you home safely, while the other causes you to swerve into a ditch.
In today’s deal, South is in three no-trump. What should he do after West leads a fourthhighest club seven?
If South had opened one heart, and North had responded one spade, South would have had no good rebid. Hence his choice of one no-trump, which also described his hand type and strength accurately. North couldn’t respond two no-trump, because that would have been a transfer to diamonds. So he invited game via Stayman, despite the lack of a four-card major. (Yes, four hearts would have been easy to make.)
There is only one correct play at trick one: the jack from the board, hoping that West has underled the king and queen. If declarer plays dummy’s two, and East has to put up a royal, it does not help South. But when the jack holds, he drives out the heart ace and, here, ends with 12 tricks.
Surprisingly, at Bridge Base Online 15 robots went down, and only one played correctly. Why is that so hard for a computer program?
What happens if West leads the club king? Here, South must take the trick, blocking the club suit (otherwise, West can shift to a spade). But that isn’t clearcut.
POOCH CAFE: By Paul Gilligan
By Steve Moore