DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

This week’s deals have treated reading the cards: using clues from the bidding and defense to guide your play. Cover the East-West cards. You’re declarer at four hearts after West opened one spade.

West leads the king of diamonds: deuce, three, four. He shifts to a trump. You draw trumps, finding West with three, and next lead the deuce of clubs: seven, queen, four. How do you continue?

The spade finesse will win, but you have three diamond losers and the ace of clubs. You need three club tricks so you can get a diamond discard from dummy.

West had five spades and three hearts and surely had three diamonds. If he held the doubleton A-K, he would have led the ace (and then he might have continued with the king at Trick Two).

Lead a second club from dummy and play low from your hand, expecting West’s ace to fall. You win his spade shift with the queen and cash the K-J of clubs to pitch a diamond from dummy, holding your loss to two diamonds and a club.

Daily question

You hold: ♠ 73 ♥ KQJ3 ♦ Q84 ♣ K J 6 2. Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one heart and he bids one spade. What do you say?

Answer: You have almost enough strength to commit to game, especially if your partner is a sound opening bidder. Still, your lack of aces suggests caution whether you aim toward 3NT or a minor-suit game. Bid 2NT, invitational. If your hand were a bit stronger — Q 3, K Q 10 3, Q 8 4, K J 6 2 — you would bid 3NT. West dealer

Neither side vulnerable