DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

To start the week, test your defense as West. Cover the East and South cards. You wouldn’t have preempted with three clubs in first or second seat, but because your partner was a passed hand, you could take liberties.

Against South’s three diamonds, you cash the king and queen of clubs, and East follows with the three and ten. How do you continue?

You need five tricks to beat the contract. If East has, say, two trump tricks and the ace of hearts, you have no worries. But you may need a spade trick — and you may need to establish it quickly, before declarer can draw trumps and set up dummy’s heart suit for a spade discard.

In real life, West did shift to a spade at the third trick, but to the jack. That wasn’t good enough. South won and led the ace and low trump to East’s king. South won the spade return with the ten and lost only a heart to East’s ace.

At Trick Three, West must shift to the three of spades, a counterintuitive play. South must go down. DAILY QUESTION You hold: opens one diamond, you respond one heart and he bids two clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: A small slam is likely, and a grand slam is possible. You need to create a forcing auction. If a jump to three diamonds now would be forcing, fine. But many pairs treat such a jump- preference as invitational. In that case, bid two spades, planning to support the diamonds next. East dealer Neither side vulnerable