Bridge in the Tri-Cities: Punishment

Opening Lead: Ace of diamonds

My bridge teacher of long ago was Dixon Shively. One of his favorite quotes was, “Bad bids must be punished.” The double in this auction was one of the bids he was referring to.

The Bidding: I held the North hand and opened 1NT, which would not be everyone’s bid with a doubleton in both majors. My partner bid 2C (Stayman) and West put her neck in the noose with a lead directing double. I redoubled, ending the auction.

The Play: How would you play? Declarer had a lot of work to do looking at five sure tricks after the opening lead. He needed only three more. He should have taken his king of diamonds, led to his ace of hearts and lay down the queen of clubs, playing the ace when West covers. Then play the king of hearts and the ace and five of spades. East would win and play two diamonds while declarer tosses a heart and West tosses two spades. The end position is for West and North to have four clubs. West can only score one club trick and the contract comes home.

What Happened? Declarer somehow got himself end-played in the trump suit on a different line of play. Another bad call went unpunished.

Bridge Futures: The Richland Duplicate Bridge Club (RDBC) has a game at the Richland Community Center (RCC) at 5:30 p.m. every Monday except holidays. RDBC also plays on the first, third and fifth Friday at 12:30 p.m. at the RCC in the lounge. Call Tom Edwards at 946-1824 for details.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 6:12 AM with the headline "Bridge in the Tri-Cities: Punishment."