Bridge

IT IS SO EASY TO BE DISTRACTED

R... Milholland, a webcomic author, wrote, “Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren.t distracted by the total lack of content in your writing.”

Was “it gives” instead of “they give” an intentional typo.

At the bridge table, one can sometimes be distracted, concentrating on one suit and not all four. In today.s deal, how should South play in four spades a.er West leads the club king, and East puts up the 10.

North used a Texas transfer to push his partner into four spades..This was a slight overbid, but if he had transferred at the two-level, then rebid three spades, game-invitational, South probably would have gone on because of his strong trumps and three aces..

South saw nine top tricks. six spades, two diamonds and one club.He thought he could gain at least one more winner from clubs. So, hoping that West would fall for the Bath Coup, declarer played his club seven at trick one.

The rest of the play took nary a second.West continued with a low club.East ru.ed and cashed his high hearts to defeat the contract.What did South overlook.

Any time the hand with the majority of the trumps is longer than his partner.s hand in a side suit, declarer should think “ru. losers in the short trump hand.” Here, South should have won with the club ace, cashed the spade ace and diamond ace, played a diamond to the king, ru.ed the last diamond in his hand, drawn trumps and claimed.He would have taken six spades, two diamonds, one club and the diamond ru. .