Bridge

THE PLAY THAT IS ONLY IN NEWSPAPERS

Bill Tammeus, a journalist, wrote, “Oil prices have fallen lately. We include this news for the benefit of gas stations, which otherwise wouldn’t learn of it for sixmonths.”

But by then, the price was no doubt back above where it was in 1991, when that was published.

All goodnewspapers carry a bridge column! That is the most likely place to find the defensive coup needed to defeat today’s three-no-trump contract. What happens after West leads his fourth-highest heart?

North’s game invitation showed a balanced 9-count, or8pointsandafive-cardminor. South, adding 1 point for his five-card suit, hadno hesitation in raising.

When this deal was played during an online duplicate, at all tables, theplaybeganwith a heart to the king, a heart to the ace and a third heart to declarer’s jack, East discarding a spade. Then the declarers, knowing that they could not afford to let West win a trick, played a spade to the board and returned a club to their king. When that held and the suit proved to be 2-2, the Souths claimed an overtrick. Whatwasmissedby the Easts?

They should have counted thepoints. Dummyhad9, they had 9, and South had 16 or 17. So, West had started with 5 or 6, and he had already produced the heart ace. If West had only one more jack, the contract was unbeatable. But if he had the club queen, there was a chance. At trick three, East should have discarded his club ace and, here, gotten herself or himself into multiple newspapers worldwide.