Bridge
Emo Phillips said, “At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass. The refill contained the antidote.”
If you bet five dollars that you can make this six-spade contract, you had better know which side suit to play on first.
West leads the heart queen.
You win with your ace and cash the two top spades, East discarding a club. How would you continue?
Partner’s three hearts was a transfer, promising five-plus spades and zero-plus points. You control-bid (cue-bid) four clubs to show a maximum with four-card spade support and the club ace.
When partner expressed slam interest by control-bidding in return, you bid what you hoped you could make.
A grand slam was unlikely facing a passed partner.
You have to discard your heart losers before West can ruff in. It looks obvious to cash your clubs first, but that is wrong.
You must find West with at least three diamonds, so you should play off dummy’s top diamonds.
When West shows up with four diamonds, cross to your hand in clubs, discard one heart on the diamond jack, then take the clubs, shaking the last heart as West ruffs in too late.
Phillip Alder is teaching during the American Contract Bridge League’s Sectional at Sea from July 19 to 26 aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth. The cruise starts and ends in Southampton, England, and goes to the Norwegian fjords and the North Cape.
Details are at www.phillipalderbridge.com.