Play bridge like you eat — carefully

Let’s start today with a tough question. Who wrote this? “Although I have been prevented by outward circumstances from observing a strictly vegetarian diet, I have long been an adherent to the cause in principle. Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” Now for a slightly easier bridge problem. South is in four spades. What should he do after West leads the club king? In an echo of yesterday’s column, yes, South could have opened two no-trump. His hand does contain 7 ace-king points (2 for an ace and 1 for a king). Kaplan and Rubens deem this hand worth 20.1 points -- just enough. If South had opened two no-trump, he would have been in three no-trump and would have had to play the spade suit with the same care as our declarer in four spades. South is certain to lose one trick in each minor suit, so he can afford only one trump loser. When the spade ace drops the queen from West, declarer must avoid the temptation to play for the doubleton queenjack. Instead, he should continue with a low spade to dummy’s 10. In a moment, when on the board with the diamond ace, South will play a spade to his eight, draw

East’s last trump and claim. His probability of success is nearly 82%. The quote above was written in a letter in 1930 by Albert Einstein.