“Do you think card-reading skill is inherited?” Unlucky Louie asked me in the club lounge.

“Not sure about that,” Cy the Cynic piped up, “but I can tell you that sex isn’t hereditary: If your parents didn’t have it, you probably won’t either.”

Louie was declarer at today’s 3NT, and West led the deuce of spades: jack, king, ace. Louie next took the A-K of diamonds. When West threw a heart, Louie led the ten of clubs to finesse. East won, and the defense cashed four spades for down one.

“Maybe if I had better genes,” Louie said, “I would have made that contract.”

Louie’s fault lay in himself, not in his DNA. West’s lead of the deuce of spades indicated a four-card holding, and he had one diamond. If West had a five-card suit, he would have led that suit against 3NT, so West’s shape was 4-4-1-4.

Louie needs four club tricks to make game, but if West has, say, K-9-8-7, Louie can take only three clubs. His only chance is to play East for the singleton king.

Daily question: You hold: ? J 4 ? A 9 3 ? 7 6 5 4 ? A J 4 3. Your partner opens one spade, you respond 1NT, he bids two hearts and you return to two spades. Partner then bid three clubs. What do you say?

Answer: Partner’s three clubs says he is still interested in game despite your weak two-spade preference. Moreover, his third bid mightily improves your hand — all of your honors are working — so you should make an aggressive move. Bid four clubs, five clubs or four spades.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

Tribune Content Agency