DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

“My cousin the Queen of Diamonds is such an idealist,” the Queen of Hearts told Alice. “She thinks it’s better to lose a trick than to win one. What nonsense.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Alice sighed.

“Deal and you’ll see.” So Alice became declarer at 3NT. West, the Mad Hatter, led a spade. Alice won and was about to lead the queen of diamonds.

But if a finesse lost, East would return a spade, setting up the suit, and then if the Hatter held the king of hearts as an entry, the defense might prevail.

So Alice instead led the queen of hearts!

“Good!” the Queen of Hearts roared. “No ace or king dares capture me.”

The Hatter played low; to take the king, leaving no entry to his hand, would be no better. Alice then finessed in diamonds and had four diamonds, two hearts, two spades and a club. She goes down if she finesses in diamonds at Trick Two or leads the ace of hearts, then the queen.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ AK6 ♥ AQ ◆ Q J52 ♣ A 6 3 2. Both sides vulnerable. The dealer, at your right, opens three hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: Drat those pre-empts! Bid 3NT. If your partner has nothing, you won’t make it. But the preempt has left you with no room for investigation, so you must take a chance. If partner has his fair share of the missing points, you should win nine tricks. An option is to double for takeout, but to aim at the ninetrick game is more realistic.