FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 , 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
NORTH
A J 10 7 4
J 6
6 2
K J 8 2
WEST
Q
A K Q 10 5 4
J 8 7 3
7 3
EAST
K 9 8 5 2
9 8 3 2
5
6 5 4
SOUTH (D)
6 3
7
A K Q 10 9 4
A Q 10 9
The bidding:
“Y
ou’ve written that
making mistakes isn’t
shameful if you learn from
them,” a club player told me
ruefully. “If I’m learning from
my mistakes, pretty soon I’ll
be a genius.”
My friend was declarer at
five clubs in a penny game.
He ruffed the second heart,
drew trumps and started the
diamonds by taking the A-K.
“If diamonds had split
3-2,” he said, “I would have
made an overtrick. But East
showed out, and I went
down. I guess I did some-
thing wrong. That wouldn’t be
unusual.”
I told my friend that he
and North had done well to
reach five clubs. They would
have had no chance at five
diamonds. Five clubs was
so good, in fact, that South
could and should have
played safe for 11 tricks.
After he draws trumps, he
leads a diamond to his 10.
West wins and leads
another heart, but South
ruffs with dummy’s last
trump and runs the dia-
monds. He wins four trumps
in dummy, a heart ruff, a
spade and five diamonds.
I hope he learned some-
thing from this deal.
DAILY QUESTION
You hold:
A J 10 7 4 J 6
6 2 K J 8 2
Both sides vulnerable. The
dealer, at your left, opens
three diamonds. Your partner
bids three hearts. The next
player passes. What do you
say?
ANSWER: To act at the
three level, partner should
have a decent suit — likely a
six-carder — and opening-bid
strength or more. Raise to
four hearts. You have little
to gain by mentioning your
spades. Partner may hold
K 3, A K 10 8 5 4, 8 7, A 6 3.
E-W VULNERABLE
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 1 1 Pass
2 Pass 3 Pass
3 Pass 3 Pass
5 All Pass
Opening lead — K
BRIDGE
©2019, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
— Frank Stewart