Bridge

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice ... to weave.

One player at my club, Tom Webb, is known as "Tangle" because he is always having entry problems. As declarer at 3NT, Tangle captured East's queen of diamonds with the ace, led a spade to the ace, took the A-K of clubs and led a third club to West's queen.

Tangle hoped for a spade return, but West led a heart. South cashed the top hearts and ran the clubs, but when East won the next heart, he led a diamond, and West took three diamonds. Down one.

TRICK TWO

To get untangled, South takes the ace of clubs at Trick Two, leads a spade to the ace and plays a low club from both hands. The king of clubs is an entry to the king of spades, and South can return to dummy with a high heart for the good clubs.

North's bid of two clubs was an "inverted raise," a treatment popular among tournament players. A raise to two clubs is strong and leaves room to look for game or slam; a raise to three clubs is weak.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S A H A K 4 D 6 5 4 3 C J 7 5 4 2. You are the dealer. What is your opening call?

ANSWER: A case exists for passing since the high-card values are borderline, the long suits are poor and there are rebid issues, but few experts would pass with three defensive tricks. Open one club. If your partner responds one heart, you'll raise to two hearts. If he responds one spade, you'll bid 1NT, treating your distribution as balanced.

South dealer

Both sides vulnerable

NORTH