Unlucky Louie, my club member whose luck is (he asserts) uniformly bad, says he could reach down to pick a four-leaf clover — and catch poison ivy.
As today’s South, Louie held a hand unusually strong for him. He got to six hearts after North bid encouragingly. When West led the queen of clubs, Louie won and cashed the A-K of trumps. West threw a spade, and Louie grimaced.
Louie next took the ace of diamonds and led to dummy’s king. Alas, East ruffed — more bad luck. East then led his last trump, and Louie lost a diamond.
KEY SUITS
“So what else is new?” Louie groaned. “My key suits always break badly.”
Louie was unlucky but could still make the slam. After he sees the 4-1 trump break, he can lead a diamond to the king and return a diamond. If East discards (ruffing won’t help), Louie takes the ace, leads a spade to dummy and returns a third diamond. Again, East can’t gain by ruffing, so Louie wins and ruffs his last diamond in dummy, losing only one trump trick.
DAILY QUESTION
You hold: S K 9 6 H A K Q 5 3 D A Q 7 3 C A. The dealer, at your right, opens one club. You double, and your partner bids one spade. What do you say?
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ANSWER: A bid of two hearts would promise extra strength but not as much as you have. One possible action is a jump to three hearts, but that bid would crowd the auction. To suggest a hand with game or near-game values, many experts would mark time with a cue bid of two clubs.
South dealer
N-S vulnerable
NORTH
S A Q 4
H 8 6 2
D K 4 2
C 9 8 6 3
WEST
S 10 7 2
H 7
D J 9 8 6 5
C Q J 10 5
EAST
S J 8 5 3
H J 10 9 4
D 10
C K 7 4 2
SOUTH
S K 9 6
H A K Q 5 3
D A Q 7 3
C A
South West North East
1 H Pass 2 H Pass
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3 D Pass 3 S Pass
6 H All Pass
Opening lead — C Q