Bridge: March 24, 2022

Thursday, March 24. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the daywatch out of Bunco. The boss is Captain Stewart. My partner’s Bill Gannon. He’s a good player. My name’s Friday.

We got a call about a scam at a Glendale club. We checked it out. The suspect was still playing. One of his opponents spoke with us.

“It was terrible, officer.”

“Just the facts, ma’am.”

“That man sitting East conned us out of a game. Against my partner’s four spades, West led the king of clubs, dummy followed with the eight and East played … the jack. West continued with the ace — queen, deuce, four — and a third club.”

TWO TRICKS

“Partner ruffed with dummy’s jack; she thought East had no more clubs. But then East’s K-9-7-6 of trumps won two tricks. If he signals honestly, partner ruffs the third club with the four and makes four spades. East is a grifter!”

We took the suspect into custody on a charge of deceptive defense. At trial, the judge said he wished he defended as well. (Yes, South can always succeed.)

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S A Q 5 3 2 H K 8 D K 10 C 7 5 4 3. You open one spade, your partner bids two hearts, you rebid two spades and he tries three diamonds. What do you say?

ANSWER: You may wish you hadn’t opened, but you do have decent spades and kings in partner’s suits. To bid 3NT with weak clubs is unappealing. Bid three hearts. Since you often would have raised directly with three-card support, partner won’t expect better support than your K-8.

North dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

S J 10 4

H A Q J 4

D A Q 9 8

C Q 8

WEST

S 8

H 10 7 3 2

D 7 6 5 2

C A K 9 6

EAST

S K 9 7 6

H 9 6 5

D J 4 3

C J 10 2

SOUTH

S A Q 5 3 2

H K 8

D K 10

C 7 5 4 3

North East South West
1 NT Pass 3 S Pass
4 S All Pass

Opening lead — C K

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