BRIDGE To find a queen

“I knew exactly where it was. I just couldn’t find it.” — Yogi Berra

Against four spades, East takes the ace of hearts and returns a heart to your king. West’s jump to three hearts was preemptive; he has a weak, shapely hand. So you lead a trump to the ace and finesse with the jack next.

Sure enough, West shows out, so you cash the king of trumps, lose a diamond to the ace, and later throw two clubs on dummy’s high diamonds. A club finesse with the queen loses, but you have 10 tricks.

You found the queen of trumps: well done! But did you play correctly?

NO NEED

I think not. You didn’t need to find the queen. Lead the queen of diamonds at Trick Three. Say East takes the ace and returns a diamond to dummy. Now you cash the K-A of trumps.

If the queen falls, fine. But when West discards, you take two more diamonds to discard clubs. If East doesn’t ruff, you exit with a trump, and he must lead from his king of clubs or give you a ruff-sluff, conceding the contract.

DAILY QUESTION You hold: ♠ Q95 ♥ A 10 8 7 5 ♦ A7 3 ♣ K 10. You open one heart, and your partner responds one spade. What do you say?

ANSWER: A bid of 1NT would show a balanced, minimum opening bid and so would be a reasonable description of your hand. My inclination would be to raise to two spades despite the lack of a fourth trump. The hand has prime values and a possible ruffing feature in clubs. Auctions are often easier when a trump suit is suggested quickly. North dealer Both sides vulnerable