“I’m starting to think you may be right,” Alice told the Queen of Diamonds as the players at the Mad Hatter’s had tea.

“Certainly I am,” the Queen replied. “Winning tricks is the goal — my cousin the Queen of Hearts can’t abide her card being captured — but losing a trick can be beneficial.”

In today’s deal, the Hatter and the March Hare reached 3NT as North-South. The Dormouse led the four of hearts, and Alice, East, put up her king. The Hare took his ace, pondered and led a diamond. The Dormouse followed with the eight, and dummy played the ten.

Alice was about to win and return a heart, but West’s eight of diamonds looked ominous. Declarer’s play suggested that he had long diamonds but lacked the jack. So Alice let the ten of diamonds win.

The contract was doomed. The Hare set up a third spade trick but had only two diamonds, a heart and two clubs besides. If Alice takes her queen of diamonds, South overtakes dummy’s king later and makes an overtrick.

Daily question >> You hold: ? A K 5 4 3 ? 7 3 ? K 10 ? A K 6 5. You open one spade, your partner responds 1NT, you bid two clubs and he raises to three clubs. What do you say?

Answer >> Partner has maximum values for a 1NT response: a hand worth about nine points with at least four cards in clubs. Since you have 17 points, keep going. To bid five clubs will work if partner has 6,9642,AQ5,Q10872. You might try three diamonds; he will bid 3NT with 72,AQ5,J75,Q10872.

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