A sign standing guard beside a church in my town: “If you have problems, come in and tell us about them. If you have none, come in and tell us how you do it.”

A defender can’t see his partner’s hand. To overcome that problem, defenders signal by means of the cards they play. They may signal “attitude”to suggest a line of defense or “count” to show how many cards they hold in a suit.

At today’s four spades, South ruffs the third heart and takes the three top trumps. When East discards, declarer can’t afford to concede a trump to West, who would cash more hearts.

South instead starts the diamonds. If West ruffs the second diamond, South ruffs the heart return and finishes the diamonds, discarding his club loser, and makes his game.

When declarer leads a diamond to dummy’s ace at Trick Seven, East signals with the ten, showing an even number. Then West waits to ruff the third diamond. He exits with a heart, and South loses a club at the end for down one.

Daily question: You hold: ? A K Q 10 9 ? 10 7 ? 8 7 2 ? A K 10. The dealer, at your right, opens one heart. What do you say?

Answer:; Some players would double for takeout, planning to bid spades next, but a simple overcall does not deny a good hand; the upper limit is about 17 points. Bid one spade. If the next player raises to two hearts, and two passes follow, you can reopen with a double to show your extra strength.

West dealer

N-S vulnerable

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