“You can lead a human to knowledge, but you can’t make him think.” — attributed to a horse who thought himself a sage.

Winning bridge requires knowing play techniques such as trump control and managing entries, but the essence of the game is logical thinking and problem solving. In today’s deal, North’s bidding showed a huge two-suited hand. South’s jump to six clubs was speculative at best. West led the ace of diamonds — three, nine, deuce — and shifted to a heart.

South could have tried to take two high hearts and dummy’s two high diamonds to pitch both his spades. Then he could lead a trump to his queen, his best chance to pick up the trumps.

But East-West were experts, and South reflected that if East had K-x in trumps, West could have beaten the slam for sure by shifting to a spade at the second trick. But West apparently wanted South to have a chance to finesse in trumps.

South trusted his opponent: At Trick Three he led a trump to his ace. Making six!

Daily question >> You hold: ? Q J 9 8 5 ? J 9 8 ? A J 10 5 ? K. Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one spade and he bids two clubs. What do you say?

Answer >> Most players would commit to game. A jump to three diamonds would be correct if forcing, but many pairs treat a jump-preference by responder as invitational. (What if you held AJ98,765,AJ104,J5?) In that case, bid two hearts, a “fourth-suit” call that merely asks partner for a further description.

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