A senior player at my club was lamenting his infirmities.

“I’ve quit working out,” he told me. “My mind makes contracts my body can’t keep. And at bridge, I reach contracts my mind can’t make.”

My friend played at six hearts, and West led the jack of clubs. East won and returned a club.

“I drew trumps,” my friend said, “took the A-K of spades and ruffed a spade. When East discarded, I lacked the dummy entries to set up and cash the fifth spade, so I finessed with the jack of diamonds. Down one. I make the slam if I start the spades before I use dummy’s ace of trumps.”

It’s unclear that South should try to set up the spades early. But after East showed out on the third spade, South certainly could have run all his trumps.

West must save a high spade, so only two diamonds. When South leads the king and a low diamond at the end, and West follows low, South knows West’s last card is the queen of spades. So South puts up the ace of diamonds to drop East’s queen.

Daily question: You hold: ? A 4 ? K Q 8 6 5 2 ? K 4 3 ? 7 2. You open one heart, your partner bids one spade, you rebid two hearts and he tries three diamonds. What do you say?

Answer: It’s a choice of evils. Your two hearts showed six hearts (with a five-card suit, you would have a more descriptive call), and you lack four-card support for diamonds, partner’s second suit, or three-card spade support. I would bid three spades but wouldn’t be proud of it.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

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