DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

After the day’s penny game ended, some of us went to a Chinese restaurant for a bite to eat. Unlucky Louie savored his sweet and sour shrimp, but his fortune cookie contained this: “If you break open this cookie, you will have bad luck for the rest of your life.”

“Things can’t get any worse,” Louie shrugged.

When Louie was declarer at today’s four hearts, West led a spade: deuce, king, ace. Louie then led the ace and a low trump, and West took two trumps as East discarded. When West shifted to a club, Louie lost a finesse with dummy’s queen, and West got a spade and another trump for down two.

“Maybe things can get worse,” Louie sighed.

Louie misplayed: At Trick Two, he should return a spade. If West wins and shifts to a club, Louie can take the ace, ruff a spade, lead a diamond to dummy’s ace and ruff a spade.

Louie then cashes the ace of trumps and king of diamonds, ruffs a diamond in dummy and discards a club on the good fifth spade. The defense gets only two trumps and a spade. DAILY QUESTION You hold: S 7 6 5 3 2 H 10 7 6 4 D A J C A Q. Your partner opens one heart. The next player passes. What do you say?

ANSWER: In today’s deal, North judged to force to game; his response of 2NT was a conventional forcing heart raise. North’s evaluation looks accurate to me. The alternative, a “limit raise” to three hearts, would be timid. A temporizing response of one spade would be unnecessary and would misrepresent the location of your side strength.