"I misguessed a K-J combination today," Unlucky Louie told me, "but I guarantee that not you, not nobody, not nohow, would have gotten this one right more than half the time."

Louie had lost in his Chicago game again.

"Let's see the deal," I said.

Louie had been declarer at four spades. West led a trump.

"I drew trumps," Louie said, "and led a diamond to the queen and a diamond to my king. West took the ace - and led a heart. I had to guess what to play from dummy. Don't tell me there was some subtle clue."

UNDERLEAD

"An expert West would know he needed two heart tricks," I said. "He'd be as likely to underlead the ace as the queen."

"I played the king and went down," Louie said. "It was just a guess."

I didn't tell Louie that he should have made his game. After dummy's queen of diamonds wins, he should lead the king of clubs. When West takes the ace, Louie can place East with the ace of hearts. If West had three aces, he would have opened the bidding.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S K J 7 3 H K J 6 2 D Q 10 4 C K Q. Today's North opened one diamond on this balanced 15-point hand. If a 1NT opening bid promised 15 to 17 points, would you prefer that action?

ANSWER: This doesn't look like a 15-point hand to me. Many of the values are secondary - overvalued on the 4-3-2-1 scale. The K-Q of clubs are marooned in a short suit and won't carry their weight. I'd treat the hand as a minimum and open one diamond.