Bridge: June 2, 2023

“Grapefruit must be dog-tired every night,” a club player said to me. “After all, he spends the day growling.”

Grapefruit has a foul disposition and berates his partners mercilessly. He was West in a penny game, and North-South bid a slam that surely would have succeeded with any lead but a club.

Grapefruit led his singleton club, and East took the ace … and returned a club. South ruffed with a high trump, and when Grapefruit didn’t overruff with the king, South knew East had it. So South led a trump to dummy’s ace. The king fell, South claimed, and Grapefruit told East that if his brains were money, he couldn’t buy a pack of gum.

SILENT

“You have the right to remain silent even if you aren’t arrested,” East glared.

“Your development at bridge is arrested,” Grapefruit growled.

East’s play at Trick Two would have been right if West’s trumps had been J-x. As it was, East gave the show away. He needed to return a diamond, and then South would finesse in trumps.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S A 10 8 H A 8 7 D K 10 5 C Q 9 3 2. The dealer, at your right, opens one spade. What do you say?

ANSWER: This is a matter of personal style and temperament. You would have opened the bidding but are not compelled to act when your opponent opens. The hand has defensive values but might make a poor dummy if you doubled and obliged partner to bid. I would pass. Still, some good players would double.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

S A 10 8

H A 8 7

D K 10 5

C Q 9 3 2

WEST

S 7 5 4 3 2

H 5 2

D J 8 7 6 4

C 4

EAST

S J 9

H K

D 9 3 2

C A J 10 8 7 6 5

SOUTH

S K Q 6

H Q J 10 9 6 4 3

D A Q

C K

South West North East
1 H Pass 2 NT Pass
3 H Pass 3 S Pass
4 NT Pass 5 H Pass
6 H All Pass
Opening lead — C 4

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