DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

Unlucky Louie insists that his losses stem from "bad luck." Sometimes he actually has a case.

In a team match, both NorthSouths got to six spades. West led the queen of clubs, and both declarers took the king and lost a heart finesse. At one table, East returned a diamond. South took the ace, cashed the ace of hearts, ruffed a heart high, took the K-A of trumps and ruffed a heart. He went to the ace of clubs and threw his queen of diamonds on the good heart.

When Louie was South, East returned a club at Trick Three, killing a vital entry to dummy. Louie took the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart high, but West discarded. Louie then tried the diamond finesse for his 12th trick. Down one.

After Louie ruffs the third heart, he can lead a trump to dummy's eight(!), ruff a heart and go to the ace of trumps to cash the good heart. A minorsuit squeeze on West would also work, but neither of the winning plays was clearly better than Louie's. DAILY QUESTION You hold: S A8 H A Q5 3 2 DJ 10 C A 7 6 2. You open one heart, your partner responds one spade, you bid two clubs and he rebids two spades. What do you say?

ANSWER: Your partner's bidding suggests six or perhaps seven spades but fewer than 10 high-card points. If his values are a minimum, two spades may be your last makable contract. Still, game is possible if he has a sound hand. Raise to three spades, especially if you're vulnerable.