The Washington Post - 07.09.2019

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE C5

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY! TIM RICKARD

CURTIS RAY BILLINGSLEY

SHERMAN’S LAGOON JIM TOOMEY

RED AND ROVER BRIAN BASSET

FRANK AND ERNEST TOM THAVES

RHYMES WITH ORANGE HILARY PRICE

LIO MARK TATULLI

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE CHRIS BROWNE

BLONDIE DEAN YOUNG & JOHN MARSHALL

MIKE DU JOUR MIKE LESTER

AGNES TONY COCHRAN

WUMO MIKAEL WULFF & ANDERS MORGENTHALER

MARK TRAIL JAMES ALLEN

MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM MIKE PETERS

BALDO HECTOR CANTU & CARLOS CASTELLANOS

SALLY FORTH FRANCESCO MARCIULIANO & JIM KEEFE

CLASSIC PEANUTS CHARLES SCHULZ

CLASSIC DOONESBURY GARRY TRUDEAU PICKLES BRIAN CRANE

SUDOKU

NO RTH

♠ J 9 2

♥ Q 10 3

♦ A Q 4

! Q 7 6 3

WEST

♠ A Q 7 6 3

♥ K 2

♦ 8 7

! J 8 4 2

EAST

♠ 8 4

♥ 9 8 7 6 4

♦ 10 9 3

! A 10 9

SOUTH (D)

♠ K 10 5

♥ A J 5

♦ K J 6 5 2

! K 5

The bidding:

“S

imple Saturday” col-

umns are meant to

help aspiring players improve

technique and develop logical

thinking.

West leads a spade

against 3NT. Declarer puts

up dummy’s jack and follows

with a sneaky 10 from his

hand. Dummy leads a heart:

four, jack, king. What should

West do next?

If South has the bare king

of spades left, West can lay

down his ace. Otherwise, he

must hope East can get in for

a spade return.

West must rely on defen-

sive signals. On the first

spade East plays the eight,

a “count” signal to show

an even number of spades.

Defenders normally signal

“attitude” first — they encour-

age or discourage — but here

East’s “attitude” is evident

when he can’t beat the jack,

so “count” applies. (Also,

East’s four of hearts at Tr ick

Two showed an odd number:

five, presumably.)

West can see that South is

short of nine tricks unless he

has the ace of clubs. If West

returns a safe heart, East will

get in with the ace of clubs

later and lead a spade for

down at least one.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold:

♠ A Q 7 6 3 ♥ K 2

♦ 8 7! J 8 4 2

Your partner opens one

heart, you respond one

spade and he bids two dia-

monds. The opponents pass.

What do you say?

ANSWER: This case is

close. If your jack of clubs

were the queen, you would

definitely have enough

strength to invite game and

would try 2NT. If partner had

anything extra, he would bid

again. As it is, your hand is

borderline for a game invi-

tation. I would settle for a

conservative return to two

hearts.

BOTH SIDES VULNERABLE

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass

Opening lead — ♠ 6

BRIDGE

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— Frank Stewart