Daily Bridge Club

All the information

Suppose I offer you $10,000 to jump out of an airplane without a parachute. Would you accept? Think about it.

Today’s South roars into a grand slam that depends on avoiding a club loser. If he takes the ace of spades, draws trumps and goes looking for the queen of clubs, he may misguess. West’s preemptive weak two-bid may lead him astray.

After South draws trumps, he should dig for information. He takes the A-K of hearts, ruffs a heart (West discards), ruffs a spade in dummy and ruffs a heart.

DISTRIBUTION

Then South has a reliable count of the defenders’ distribution. West had six spades, two hearts and two trumps, hence three clubs. So South cashes his king of clubs, and when East follows low, South leads a club to dummy’s jack.

Before you make a decision, get all the pertinent information. That is what South must do at his slam. And before you accept my offer to jump without a chute, you might ask whether the plane is 10,000 feet in the air or sitting in a hangar.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: 2 A K 6 4 Q J 3 A J 10 9 8. You open one club, and your partner bids one spade. What do you say?

ANSWER: This problem is difficult. A rebid of two clubs would suggest a six-card suit. A bid of two hearts would be a strengthshowing reverse, and 1NT would be a slight underbid and would distort your pattern. I would try 1NT with feelings of guilt. A few players might have opened one heart, but that bid might lead to other problems. West dealer Both sides vulnerable