Unlucky Louie has seven children at home, and his house is in a perpetual state of disarray.

“The place is a Bermuda Triangle” Louie told me. "Things just vanish. My kids lose everything from their glasses to their cellphone chargers. The easiest way to find something that’s lost is to go out and buy a new one.”

You would think that with all the experience Louie has at locating missing items, he would be adept at finding missing queens. Much of the time, though, Louie is victimized by his constant “bad luck.” He was declarer at today’s four spades, and West led the deuce of clubs. East took the king and ace and led a third club, and Louie ruffed and swiftly cashed the A-K of trumps. When East discarded, Louie tried a diamond finesse with dummy’s queen. East produced the king, and West’s queen of trumps won the setting trick.

“I relied on eight ‘ever, nine never,” Louie shrugged. “I had no reason not to.”

How would you play at four spades?

Louie should make his game. If West has the king of diamonds, Louie is safe, so he should assume that East has it. But East passed in third position and has shown the A-K of clubs, so if he holds an additional king, he won’t have the queen of trumps as well.

After Louie ruffs the third club, he could take the king of trumps and lead to dummy’s ten. If East won, Louie could be sure that the diamond finesse would win. This is an example of a “second-degree assumption”You assume the location of a certain card and see where that assumption leads. (As good or better, Louie could finesse in diamonds at Trick Four.)

West dealer

N-S vulnerable

Tribune Content Agency