DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“My husband went down at four hearts,” a fan writes, “and swore it was unmakeable.”

My fan says her husband ducked the first diamond, won East’s diamond return, drew trumps, took the ace of spades and finessed with dummy’s jack. East won and returned a diamond, and South ruffed in dummy and took the king of spades.

“West discarded,” my fan says, “so my husband ruffed dummy’s last spade and led a club. East had the A-Q, so my hubby lost two clubs and groaned that the cards lay badly. It’s the same way at home if I ask him to find a lost item: When he says he’s looked everywhere, it means he’s opened three cabinets and skimmed the floor.”

South can win the second diamond, draw trumps and ruff his last diamond in dummy. He leads a spade to his ace and returns a club to dummy’s jack.

When East wins, he must concede the 10th trick. If he leads a spade, South gets a free finesse. If he leads a club, dummy’s king scores. A diamond, if East had one, would yield a ruff-sluff.

Daily question

You hold: ♠ K J 6 5 ♥ Q 9 5 4

♦ 10 4 ♣ K J 6. The dealer, at your left, opens three diamonds. Your partner doubles, and the next player passes. What do you say?

Answer: Your partner’s double obliges you to respond at the three level, hence his hand should be worth 17 or more points. You should have game at a major suit. Since partner may have better support for one major than the other, cue-bid four diamonds to let him choose the trump suit.

South dealer

Both sides vulnerable