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James Thurber, a wit best known for his cartoons and short stories, which were published primarily in “The New Yorker” magazine said, “One (martini) is all right, two is too many, three is not enough.” Does that apply to rounds of trumps in this deal?

South is in four hearts. The defenders begin with two rounds of diamonds. After ruffing, should declarer draw one, two or three rounds of trumps, given that they are splitting 3-2?

I agree with North’s raise to two hearts because it guarantees three-card support. Yes, the hand has 10 losers when the normal number is nine. If you use two-over-one game-force, you might respond one forcing no-trump, but when North rebids two hearts, South will assume his partner has only a doubleton and will undervalue his hand.

South has 10 winners: three spades, five hearts and two clubs. But he must be careful while driving out the club ace and king. Suppose declarer draws one round of trumps before attacking clubs. Then it might go: club to the king, club to the ace, club ruff by East for down one .

What if declarer draws all of the trumps, leaving himself with only one? Then the play goes: club to the king, diamond ruffed by South, club to the ace, cash two diamond tricks.

Two rounds of trumps are just right. Suppose East wins the first club and leads a diamond. South ruffs and drives out the club ace, but if West tries a fourth diamond, declarer ruffs on the board, crosses to his hand with a spade, draws the last trump, and claims.


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