DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

Cy the Cynic is a believer in expediency.

“Ever try to solve Rubik’s Cube?” I asked Cy, knowing that patience is no virtue of his.

“I had one of those,” Cy said. “I dropped it in a bucket of red paint, and I had no problem with it.”

Cy’s dummy play is expedient if not accurate: He seizes on the first line he sees. At today’s five hearts, Cy threw a club on dummy’s ace of spades and expedited by drawing trumps and leading a diamond from dummy to his jack. West won and led a club. The Cynic lost a finesse to East’s king and lost a second diamond to West later.

First spade: Cy played without a plan. He must let West’s king win the first spade, pitching a club, and win the next spade, pitching another club. He takes the ace of clubs, ruffs a club, leads a trump to dummy and ruffs the last club.

Cy then returns a trump to dummy and leads a diamond to his jack. When West wins, he must return a diamond, giving Cy a free finesse, or lead a black card, conceding a fatal ruff-sluff.

Daily question

You hold: ♠ A9 ♥ K10952 764 ♣ A Q 8. Your partner opens one club, you bid one heart and he rebids two clubs. What do you say?

Answer: You must commit to game, and 3NT may be best. You must give your side a chance to get there, but you can’t bid it yourself with weak diamonds. A raise to three clubs would be only invitational. Bid two spades, hoping partner will bid 2NT or three hearts next. Since he did not bid one spade at his second turn, he won’t raise the spades. South dealer

Both sides vulnerable