DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

“Using a lot of Latin phrases to sound smart is my modus operandi.” — graffiti

Some players “talk a good game,” but their results don’t back them up. At today’s 3NT, South took the ace of clubs and led the A-K and a third spade, hoping for a 3-3 break. Instead, East took the 10 and queen and led another club.

South next led a diamond to dummy’s ace. East’s queen fell, but South still had only eight tricks in toto: two spades, three diamonds, two clubs and a heart.

In the postmortem, South asserted that his approach was bona fide; he went on ad nauseam about being unlucky, et cetera.

“The status quo applies,” North grumbled.

South should have been saying “mea culpa”; his play in diamonds was wrong per se. South needs four diamond tricks and will finesse with the jack. But to take the ace first is wrong, costing if East has the singleton queen. Ergo, South should lead a heart to dummy and return a low diamond.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ Q1087 ♥ KJ107 ◆ Q ♣ K 10 8 4. Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one heart and he bids 1NT. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: You have only 11 high-card points, but your hand is worth much more because of your three 10s and other high spots. Especially if your side is vulnerable, bid 3NT. It’s hard to see what suit the defenders will be able to use to beat that contract.