“Man steals clock, faces time.” — Newspaper headline

It’s said that procrastination is the thief of time, and the loot can’t be recovered. When you’re declarer, a failure to commit to a line of play may be fatal.

Against today’s four hearts, West led the king of diamonds, and declarer delayed taking his ace. Maybe he thought West would foolishly lead a second diamond, but East signaled with the four, and West shifted to the jack of clubs.

South won with dummy’s ace, drew trumps and led a spade to his king. West took the ace and led another club to dummy, and when he got back in with the queen of spades, he led a third club to East’s queen. Down one.

South picked the wrong time to delay. He can win the first trick, draw trumps and lead a spade from his hand. If West takes the queen and shifts to clubs, South wins and leads a second spade to West’s ace. South wins the next club and throws his last club on the jack of spades, losing two spades and one diamond.

Daily question >> You hold: ? J 5 3 2 ? K Q 6 2 ? 5 2 ? A K 4. The dealer, at your left, opens one diamond. After two passes, you double, and your partner bids one spade. The opponents pass. What do you say?

Answer >> If you had doubled a one-diamond opening bid at your right, you would pass partner’s one spade in a flash. But you might have “balanced” with a double on a weaker hand. Raise to two spades to say that you have a sound double, not a shaded reopening double.

West dealer

Both sides vulnerable

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