Hot air rising

bridge

“Men are like hot- air balloons,” Wendy, my club’s feminist, remarked to me. “You have to light a fire under them to get them to do anything — and then, of course, there’s the hot- air part.”

“You and Cy are still having difficulties,” I suggested.

“In the penny game,” Wendy said, “the man went down at a cold vulnerable game with unlucky me as his partner.”

I listened to the facts. Cy had been South. His balancing jump to three hearts was “intermediate,” showing a good suit and the values for an opening bid.

“Two hearts would have been plenty,” Wendy told me. “His king of spades was probably worthless. I thought I had just enough to raise. With the Cynic as declarer, I should have passed.”

West led the ace and a second trump, and Cy counted five trump tricks, two clubs, a diamond and one ruff in dummy. He tried for his 10th trick by leading a club to dummy’s king and returning a club to his jack, but West produced the queen and exited with a club.

Cy then lost two spades.

“Overbid and underplayed,” Wendy growled. “And then Cy asserted that the contract was unmakable. What a bunch of hot air.”

After Cy wins the second trump, he can take the ace of diamonds, ruff a diamond, go to the king of clubs and ruff a diamond. He takes the ace of clubs and leads the jack, discarding a spade from dummy when West’s queen covers.

West can lead a fourth club, but instead of ruffing in dummy, Cy discards the last spade from dummy and also a spade from his hand. Then West must lead a spade, and Cy is sure to score his 10th trick with the king.