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Bridge 7/25
Look at all of the options
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    Actress Candice Bergen said, "I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options, that you had to be someone less to live with someone else. When, of course, you have to be someone more."
    When you play bridge, whether or not with your spouse, do not reduce your options. Consider each of them, in the hope that the best will become apparent.
Look only at the North and South hands. You are South, in six spades. West leads the club queen, which you take with dummy's king. What now? Take your time. And after selecting your line, look at the full deal. Did West have a more effective opening lead?
    North's sequence, a two-club response followed by a jump to three spades, was game-forcing with exactly three-card spade support. South wondered about a grand slam, but settled for six spades.
    Perhaps you were tempted to establish the diamond suit by ruffing one or two rounds on the board. But that will not work here, because dummy's trumps are too weak. East will gain at least one overruff.
    There is another option that is not easy to spot. At trick two, cash the club ace and discard your heart ace! Then call for the heart queen. When East plays low, pitch a diamond. West wins with his king, but has no riposte. You will win the next trick, draw trumps ending on the board, and throw your last three low diamonds on the high hearts.
West would have defeated the contract with a diamond lead, which was "impossible" to find.
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