When a player has a bidding problem — say he has a toss-up guess between bidding a game and stopping at a safe partscore — he may bid game because he has more to gain. In the play, when you have a choice of finesses but can try only one conveniently, choose the one that has more to gain.

At today’s 3NT, South wins the first heart with his ace and leads a spade to the king. Since he is in dummy for the first and only time, he must choose whether to finesse in clubs or diamonds.

If declarer leads a diamond to his queen, he may gain nothing. If East has K-x-x, declarer will take three diamond tricks whether he finesses or leads the ace and then the queen from his hand.

A winning finesse with the queen of clubs will surely gain a second trick, and South can’t be sure of winning two club tricks otherwise. So South should lead a club to his queen at Trick Three. He continues with the A-Q of diamonds and ends with three diamonds, two clubs, a heart and three spades.

Daily question >> You hold: ? K 10 9 ? 9 8 7 3 ? 7 6 5 3 ? 9 5. Your partner opens two clubs (strong, artificial), you respond two diamonds (negative or waiting), he bids two spades and you bid 2NT (still negative). Partner then bids three diamonds. What do you say?

Answer >> Partner has at least nine winners in his own hand. Since you have one useful card — the king of spades — when you might have had none, bid four spades. A bid of three spades would suggest a hopeless hand.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

Tribune Content Agency