Cy the Cynic says that you shouldn't believe everything you think.

In today's deal, dummy's jack of hearts won, and declarer led a club. East took his ace to return a heart, and West captured South's queen and led a third heart.

South won and had eight tricks: four clubs, a spade, two hearts and a diamond. When he led a club to dummy and returned a diamond to his queen, West produced the king and cashed two more hearts. Down one.

"I thought it was right to attack my best suit early," South alibied.

"That's what you get for thinking," North said. "The contract was cold with correct play."

SECOND TRICK

South should lead a diamond to his queen at Trick Two. He doesn't want East to get in early and return a heart through the A-Q, but South doesn't care if West gets in since he can't continue hearts effectively. If West takes the king of diamonds and leads a spade, South wins and forces out the ace of clubs for at least nine tricks.

This week: "avoidance" play.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S A 7 5 2 H A Q 6 D A Q C K 10 8 3. Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one spade and he bids 1NT.

The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: Not so long ago, you could have raised to 6NT with supreme confidence. If I were your partner, you could now. But with many players opening light nowadays, it's wise, with most partners, to use discretion and raise to 4NT, giving partner a chance to stop if he opened a skinny hand.