“I know you think I need all the help I can get as declarer,” Unlucky Louie said to me.

“I didn’t say that,” I replied, not mentioning what I thought.

Louie is apt to play too fast, but his technique isn’t so bad. He is capable of good play. At today’s slam, Louie ruffed West’s queen of spades and led ... a low diamond. West took the queen.

“If he had shifted to a trump,” Louie told me, “I would have taken the A-K, then tried to run the clubs to pitch a diamond from dummy so I could ruff my third diamond. As the cards lay, I would have failed.”

“You went down?”

“I gave myself an extra chance by getting West to help me,” Louie said. “When he took the queen of diamonds, he led another spade — what I hoped for. I ruffed and got to dummy with the 10-Q of clubs to ruff two more spades. Then I drew trumps with the ace, king and ten and won the last three tricks with the ace of diamonds and A-K of clubs. Making six on a dummy reversal.”

Well done, Louie.

Daily question: You hold: ? A 8 7 3 ? 5 ? K 9 8 5 ? 8 6 4 3. Your partner opens one heart, you respond one spade and he bids two diamonds. What do you say?

Answer: Partner has no more that 18 high-card points; with more, he would have chosen a stronger second bid. Game is barely possible but not likely enough to pursue. Pass. A bid of a new suit by responder (unless he is a passed hand) is forcing, but a non-jump change of suit by the opening bidder is not.

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