The Washington Post - 19.09.2019

C6 EZRE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 , 2019

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

NORTH (D)

♠ K 6 4

♥ A Q

♦ K 4 3

♣ A Q 9 8 5

WEST

♠ Q J 10

♥ J 9 5 4 3 2

♦ 10 8 7

♣ 6

EAST

♠ 5

♥ K 10 7 6

♦ Q 9 6

♣ J 10 7 3 2

SOUTH

♠ A 9 8 7 3 2

♥ 8

♦ A J 5 2

♣ K 4

The bidding:

C

y the Cynic says that if at

first you don’t succeed,

there’s always next year.

When you are declarer at

a slam, give yourself every

chance to succeed.

Against today’s six spades,

West led the queen of

trumps, and when declarer

took the A-K, one of his

chances vanished when East

discarded a heart. South

next led the king and a low

club. West threw a heart —

another chance gone — and

dummy won.

South had 11 tricks and

could get another with a

winning red-suit finesse. He

went for a parlay by taking

the K-A of diamonds. When

East-West played low, South

led a heart to the queen.

Down two!

Did South play to best

advantage?

Declarer was unlucky to

fail but overlooked his best

chance. At Tr ick Five he

should lead the queen of

clubs and discard his eight of

hearts. South then exits with

a trump.

When West wins, he can

lead a heart, but South can

finesse at no cost. When

East’s king covers, South

ruffs and falls back on find-

ing East with the queen of

diamonds.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold:

♠ A 9 8 7 3 2 ♥ 8

♦ A J 5 2 ♣ K 4

Your partner opens one

club, you bid one spade and

he raises to three spades.

What do you say?

ANSWER: An average

three-spade raise for partner

such as K 10 5 4, A J 6, 3, A

Q J 9 3 will give a contract of

seven spades a 78 % chance,

so you can’t settle for less

than a small slam. To jump

to six spades would be rea-

sonable. If you judge to look

for a grand slam, as I would,

start by cue-bidding four

diamonds.

N-S VULNERABLE

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1 ♣ Pass 1 ♠ Pass

2 NT Pass 3 ♦ Pass

3 ♠ Pass 6 ♠ All Pass

Opening lead — ♠ Q

BRIDGE

©2019, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.

— Frank Stewart

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