“He’s like all men,” Wendy, my club’s feminist, grumbled to me. “He won’t face facts. If the batteries in his remote are low, he’ll try pushing the buttons harder.”
Wendy was talking about Cy the Cynic, a shameless chauvinist. The two are adversaries even when they cut each other as partners in my club’s penny Chicago game.
“You and Cy are still having trouble on defense?” I asked.
“He’s having trouble,” Wendy bit out.
Against today’s 3NT, Wendy had led the ten of hearts. Cy, sitting East, captured dummy’s jack with the ace and returned a heart. South produced the queen, led a diamond to dummy and let the ten of clubs ride.
“I took the king,” Wendy told me, “but declarer lost only one more trick to the ace of spades, making four. I told the Cynic that he needed a dose of reality. He said he had no idea what I was talking about, and I said that was quite obvious.”
What did Wendy mean?
Cy should have faced the fact that a heart return at Trick Two was futile. South’s 1NT bid had promised at least 15 points, dummy held 13 and Cy had nine. If Wendy held the queen of hearts, having led from Q-10-9-7, she couldn’t have more than a jack on the side, so South could duck a heart return effectively.
Cy’s best chance is to switch to the four of spades, hoping Wendy has the ten (or that South has 10-8-x and misguesses) plus an entry. This defense succeeds as the cards lie: Wendy’s ten forces an honor from dummy, and when Wendy gets in with her king of clubs, her spade return gives the defense three more tricks.
South dealer
N-S vulnerable
NORTH
S K Q 3
H K J 4
D A 5 2
C 10 9 6 3
WEST
S 10 7 2
H 10 9 8 7 3
D 10 3
C K 5 4
EAST
S A J 6 4
H A 6 2
D 9 8 6 4
C 8 2
SOUTH
S 9 8 5
H Q 5
D K Q J 7
C A Q J 7
South West North East
1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass
Opening lead — H 10
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Originally published at Frank Stewart