DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“I’ll tell you what annoys me most,” Unlucky Louie said to me in the club lounge.

“I’m sure you will,” I sighed. Louie is always assaulting us with complaints about his luck.

“It’s frustrating enough that bad luck trails me around like a puppy dog,” Louie said, “but I’m the only unlucky player in the club. My opponents get an occasional break, but not me.”

“Does that suggest anything to you?” I asked gently.

“Look at this deal,” Louie said. “I was West, and North-South got to 3NT. North’s jump to three clubs was invitational to game. South was supposed to bid 3NT with some useful help for clubs. Why he did so with J-x is a mystery.”

Louie led 10 of spades, and South won and led the jack of clubs to Louie’s king. South won the next spade, led a club to the ace and won the third spade. He went to the ace of hearts and ran the clubs, winning four clubs, three spades, a heart and two diamonds.

“He was lucky,” Louie said. “If the clubs lie differently — say I have A-3 and East has K-8-4 — we can both duck the first club. Then declarer lacks the entries to set up and cash the long clubs and goes down at least one.”

South was doubly lucky, both to find the clubs sitting well and to have Louie defending. When Louie wins the first club, he must try to kill dummy’s heart entry to the clubs. To lead a low heart isn’t good enough; dummy will play low, and after East takes the queen, declarer has two heart entries.

To beat 3NT, Louie must lead the king of hearts at Trick Three.