No excuses

With apologies to “Dilbert,” here’s another real-life memo from a harried project manager: “Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule.” Some players seem to think it’s not whether you make your contract or go down, it’s how much time you take to do it. In today’s deal, North’s response of two hearts was a “transfer” to spades, and South’s jump to three spades showed good spades and lively game interest. (I am not a fan of these “super accepts,” which sometimes convert a plus score into a minus, but if South was ever going to indulge in one, this was the hand for it.) Against four spades, West led a low club: four, jack, ace. South drew trumps and next led the ace and a second diamond. West won with the queen and shifted to the five of hearts. When South tried dummy’s ten, East’s jack covered. South took his queen and led another diamond, but West won and led a second heart through the king to East’s A-9 for down one. “At least you didn’t take all day to go down,” North observed gloomily. South could have survived by playing dummy’s king on the first heart lead, but he lost his contract through hasty play at Trick One. He can let East’s jack of clubs win, trading a diamond loser for a club loser. If East shifts to a diamond, South takes the ace, draws trumps, discards a diamond from dummy on the ace of clubs and concedes a diamond. West shifts to a heart: ten, jack, queen. South then ruffs a diamond and returns a trump to his hand to take the 13th diamond for his 10th trick.