On Valentine’s Day, guess the key card

On Valentine’s Day, it seems only right to have a deal featuring the queen of hearts, who ought to be a darling. But she certainly isn’t in “Alice in Wonderland,” where she keeps crying, “Off with her head!”

Still, what part should she play in this deal? South is in five clubs, and West leads the seven of hearts.

This deal is in “Right Through the Pack” by Robert Darvas and Norman de Villiers Hart, which was first published in 1948.

The bidding is weird, as was its wont in those days. East’s double with only one club is the most debatable call, and some other bids would not escape criticism.

Declarer, after winning the first trick with the ace of hearts, would have led a low club if he could have peeked into East’s hand. But not unnaturally, he crossed to the king of spades and ran the knave of clubs (as jacks were known back then) to East’s ace. What did he do now?

Had West led a singleton, and had South cleverly played the eight from 10-8-4? Should East switch to the two of diamonds, playing his partner for the knave?

The queen of hearts was also analyzing the position, and she spotted the decapitating defense — she leapt out of East’s hand and landed face upward on the table!

Declarer, after winning on the board, needed to get to his hand to take a second trump finesse. However, he could not. He tried a low diamond, but East won with his ace and led another heart, so that West could overruff with the queen of clubs.