DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

Every month or so, I go to Birmingham, Alabama, for dinner and a bridge game with old friends and former teammates. We have interesting deals.

Cover today’s West/ South cards and defend as East. Over your 1NT bid, South’s “Unusual”

2NT showed a huge hand, almost surely a two-suiter. Against four hearts, West leads a club, you win, and South plays the jack.

What do you lead at Trick Two?

East worked out that South had hearts and diamonds, so East led the ace and deuce of diamonds. West ruffed, but South ruffed the club return, drew trumps and ran the diamonds to pitch his spade loser, making four.

East must lead the deuce of diamonds without taking the ace. If West ruffs and leads a spade, East can cash a spade when he takes the ace of diamonds. Moreover, East could win the first club with the ace, ostensibly denying that he had the king, to help West find the winning spade shift.

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ A9 ♥ AK1063

◆ KJ1094 ♣ J. You open one heart, your partner responds one spade, you bid two diamonds and he tries 2NT. What do you say?

ANSWER: You have plenty of strength to accept your partner’s invitation to game. You mustn’t bid three diamonds, which would show a minimum hand and would attempt to sign off at three of a red suit. Jump to four diamonds or take a chance and raise to 3NT and try for the nine-trick game.