January Problem

	Q J 7 4 3 J 8 3 Q 7 6 K 3
Both Vul	A K K 10 9 7 4 J 10 8 3 A Q

West Pass Pass

North 2 3 NT

East Pass All Pass

South 1 NT 2

West leads the jack of clubs to your three notrump contract, reached after your dubious 1 NT opening and partner’s transfer to spades. Plan the play.

As is our custom, the free play will go to the correct answer from the player with the fewest masterpoints. “Correct” is a relative term; just saying “I lead X,” even if X is the winning play, will probably not qualify unless nobody else finds the play. You need to furnish some justification for your play. (On the other hand, a briefly or poorly stated but correct justification will fully qualify, if I can figure it out. This is not an essay contest.) I am the sole judge of what constitutes “correct.” Send answers to JohnCTorrey@aol.com.

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December Problem

This teaser is a true tease: there were several thoughtful answers that, though not wrong, were not winners. So I’m keeping the teaser open for another month, and adding two clues.

The first clue is the following hand diagram. This is not a double-dummy problem so the full hand is only of limited value, but it does help to focus on the relevant situation.

	K 7 6 3 A 4 K J 10 6 6 5 4
J 5 10 9 6 5 9 8 7 2 K Q J		Q 10 2 K J 3 2 4 3 10 9 3 2
Both Vul	A 9 8 4 Q 8 7 A Q 5 A 8 7

West Pass Pass

North 2 4

East Pass All Pass

South 1 NT 2

(The problem is to plan the play after West’s king of clubs lead.)

The second clue is that Chicago’s Billy Flynn (the lawyer, not the bluesman) would have the right approach.