“What do you think of the rule about ‘i before e except after c?” I asked my friend the English professor.

“I think it’s a weird society we live in,” he sighed.

In a penny game, the prof was East, and West led his singleton seven of spades against four hearts. Dummy played the jack from dummy, and the prof weighed his options leisurely — and followed with the deuce.

Declarer then took his three high trumps and conceded the fourth trump to West. South won a club shift with dummy's ace and led the ten of spades, but the prof feistily played the queen. He won the next spade with his nine and took the K-A of diamonds. Down one.

“I before e” is not an inviolable rule, nor is “cover an honor with an honor.” If East wrongly covers the jack of spades at Trick One, South later reaches dummy with the ten and leads the eight through East to pick up the suit.

The prof seized on an opponent’s mistake. South succeeds if he plays dummy’s eight on the first spade.

Daily question: You hold: ? J 10 8 ? 4 ? 7 6 5 3 ? A 7 6 5 2. The dealer, at your left, opens one spade. Your partner doubles, you respond ("advance") two clubs, and he next bids two diamonds. What do you say?

Answer: Since your partner doubled before bidding a suit, he promises a strong hand — worth at least 17 points. Bid three diamonds. With a conservative partner, you might raise to four diamonds. If partner’s hand is 6 2, A J 5 3, A K Q 9 2, K 4, you can make game easily.

North dealer

Both sides vulnerable

Tribune Content Agency