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...With Q♣ not falling, the plan now requires reasonably balanced distribution. South cashed A♦ and K♠ and went over to dummy with A♠ to play K♦, throwing a spade from hand....
...When this loses, East can cash K♠ and lead Q♦, but declarer has time to win A♦, cash J♣, cross to dummy with J♥, and then play A♣ on which he can discard a diamond loser....
...However, West hopped up with Q♥, led 7♣ to East’s Q♣ and then received a third club. Whether declarer trumps high or low, a second trump trick is promoted for West....
...He crosses to dummy’s Q♥ and ruffs a second low spade, noting that the suit is dividing 4-3. He pulls the final trump, crosses to J♦, and ruffs a third spade with his last trump....
...J Paul Horne Alexandria, VA, US...
...Over the past year the FTSE 100 has gained 1.23 per cent, while the S&P 500 has risen by 31.3 per cent....
...BiddingDealer South E/W Game West leads A♥ and, assuming a heart ruff in dummy, if West holds K♣ or Q♦, all should be easy. Leading a low club towards dummy’s Q♣ seems the best move....
...BiddingDealer: EastN/S Game West led 10♥, which ran to East’s J♥. East cashed A♥ and led K♥, which declarer ruffed. What is the best line now? Only one successful minor suit finesse is required....
...A straightforward hand: simple bidding, clear plan, plenty of entries. Why did so many declarers fail? BiddingDealer: EastN/S Game West led J♥, and declarer assessed one likely loser in each suit....
...BiddingDealer: NorthLove All West led J♣ instantly; South indentified five losers: two diamonds, two low hearts and A♠....
...Even metrics with better track records, such as cyclically adjusted PEs, or Q-ratios that focus instead on balance sheets, show the S&P to be hugely overvalued....
...M&S’s contract with HSBC, which owns M&S Bank, is up for renewal. M&S is likely to push for more control and a bigger cut of the spoils....
...Fearing a diamond ruff now, declarer cashes ♥KQ and pitches a diamond from dummy. This achieved, he led a low club, West rose with A♣ and led his 6♦, which East won with Q♦....
...The deduction makes sense: if East leads a heart, West will surely be unable to ruff high ahead of dummy’s J♠ and this will indicate that East holds Q♠....
...Dummy’s 10♠ is still a live card, especially if East is on lead. At trick three, South cashes his other heart — eliminating the suit from both hands. Now, he plays Q♦....
...Even if West could win Q♦, he is still struggling to avoid helping declarer. With J♦ winning, declarer next tried Q♥, also ducked by East, also winning....
...The Throne of Glass series was followed by a second, beginning with A Court of Thorns and Roses, a book she had begun writing while a jobless recent graduate about a huntress who lives in a snowy wood, looking...
...At trick two, South ducks East’s Q♣; West does not ruff. East continues with J♣; South plays K♣ perforce, West will ruff and switch to a spade....
...Despite Greenspan’s intervention, the S&P 500 went on to more than double, destroying the careers of any money managers who shared the professors’ conviction....
...Robert A J MatthewsDidcot, Oxfordshire, UK...
...To succeed wherever Q♠ and K♦ lie, West must be stripped of a safe way of getting off lead once he wins the first finesse....
...“M&S has a history of overpromising and underdelivering.” The strong performance from Tesco and M&S comes a day after rival J Sainsbury disappointed investors with weak general merchandise sales....
...Luca J Uberti Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy...
...In fact, the generative AI productivity curve may turn out to be more “S” than “J”. Neil McPhaterCambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK...
...East might have kept open his options by discarding Q♦ under the first round of the suit and then, when West led 10♦ subsequently, discarding J♦ under dummy’s second top honour....
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