Daily Bridge Club

Simple Saturday

“Simple Saturday” columns are meant to help aspiring players improve technique and develop logical thinking.

As declarer at a suit contract, count your losers. Sometimes the job of attending to a loser must be handled quickly.

Against four hearts, West leads the ten of clubs: jack, queen. East shifts to the jack of diamonds. South has four possible losers. He can’t help losing a club, a spade and (as it happens) a trump. His best chance to avoid a diamond loser is to get a discard on dummy’s queen of spades. EARLY

South must try for that discard early. If he finesses in trumps at Trick Three, losing, West will lead another diamond, setting up a diamond trick while he has the king of spades. Instead, South immediately leads the ace and a low spade.

West takes the king and leads another diamond, but South wins and discards his last diamond on the queen of spades. Then he can lead trumps. If East had the king of spades, South would hope the trump finesse won. DAILY QUESTION You hold: J 10 6 3 2 5 J 10 9 A Q 5 3. Your partner opens one heart, you bid one spade

and he rebids two hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: To rebid the spades or try notrump may be tempting, but your only correct action is a pass. Your partner has minimum values with six or more hearts, and you are going nowhere (except down if you keep bidding). When the deal is a misfit and you lack the high-card strength to make up for your lack of a fit, stay low. North dealer Neither side vulnerable