DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

An expert declarer makes certain winning plays without knowing precisely why. His thinking moves into the realm of abstract analysis. Call it “expert’s intuition.”

In today’s deal, South’s jump to three spades was strong: There are no “preempts over preempts.” At six spades, South won the heart lead with the ace. Before you read on, decide how you would play.

Declarer discarded a club on the king of hearts and next ... ruffed dummy’s last heart. He took the A-K of trumps, and when East discarded, South cashed the ace of clubs, led a diamond to the queen, ruffed a club and exited with a trump.

West had no winning return. If he led a diamond, South’s jack would win. When West led a high club, South ruffed and ran the trumps. At the end, West was squeezed in the minors.

South fails unless he ruffs a heart at Trick Three, removing West’s last heart (a safe exit card otherwise). Why did South do that? He might say that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠9 8 ♥ A K 5 ◆ A Q 43 ♣ 10 7 6 4. Your partner opens one spade, you respond two diamonds and he bids two hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: A natural, forcing 2NT response would have described this hand, but most pairs use 2NT as an artificial spade raise. As it is, you have options. A raise to four hearts or a shot at 3NT is possible. Bid three clubs. If partner bids 3NT, pass. Otherwise, pursue a suit contract.