DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“My wife and I have an effective way of settling disagreements,” a club player told me. “We discuss the matter calmly and objectively until we conclude that she’s right.”

“That works at the bridge table?”

“As well as anywhere else,” was the reply. “Maybe better.”

My friend was West in a duplicate game, and NorthSouth got to four spades.

“Would you have used Stayman as North?” my friend asked. “It seems

North-South should have been at 3NT.”

“It’s a toss-up,” I shrugged. “The pattern is flat, but partner’s might not be. If you have a 4-4 spade fit, you might take an extra trick at spades. But to raise directly to 3NT would be reasonable.”

“I led the king of clubs,” West said, “and my wife played the deuce. I thought she wanted a shift, so I led the deuce of diamonds: four, queen, ace. Declarer drew trumps, forced out my ace of clubs and won my club return. Then he cashed the K-J of diamonds and led the queen of hearts. My wife’s king covered, and South took the ace, lost a heart to my jack and claimed. Even if I had held the K-J of hearts, I would have been end-played.

“My wife and I ‘discussed’ the defense. She said my diamond shift at Trick Two was hopeless. That ended the discussion.”

Depending on the situation, a discouraging signal may demand a shift or may say “I have no opinion.” Here, dummy was flat and weakish, and there was no urgency for West to do anything dynamic. West should continue with the ace and a third club and let South struggle. With routine defense, he will go down.