Bridge Play

A newspaper item reported that a man who sued a grocery store after he slipped and fell on a banana in the produce section won a judgment, but the verdict was overturned ... on appeal.

Players at my club often appeal to me to settle disputes. Two players brought me today’s deal from a duplicate game. South had gone down one at five hearts. (West led the king of spades, and

South took the ace, drew trumps and attacked the diamonds by leading to dummy’s king. East took the ace and returned a diamond, and West got the ten and queen.)

The dispute was rancorous. North insisted that his bid of five hearts was automatic.

“To do anything else never occurred to me,” he asserted. “I thought we would surely be safe at the five level, and we might have had a slam.”

“You had only 13 high-card points,” South retorted, “and you were looking at two possible spade losers. You were lucky I didn’t bid six. Just double four spades and take your safe 300 points.”

South’s argument didn’t appeal to me. Sometimes an opposing preempt will force you to stretch your values slightly to support your partner. If South had held a different hand, North-South might have been cold for six hearts, and West might even have made four spades.

Moreover, South easily could have made five hearts. After he draws trumps, he leads a club to dummy, ruffs a spade and takes two more high clubs, pitching a diamond. South then leads dummy’s last club, and when East follows, South pitches a diamond. East must then take his ace of diamonds, letting dummy’s king score, or concede a fatal ruff-sluff.