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The bidding was 1D by north, 1S by south, 2S by north, 3S by south, 4S by north.
I led the ten of hearts and it went low 7 low (UDCA).
Your play!
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Defense wins championships!
#1
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Posted 2015-March-07, 01:07
Playing with a world class partner against inexperienced opps, I held the following defensive problem today:
The bidding was 1D by north, 1S by south, 2S by north, 3S by south, 4S by north.
I led the ten of hearts and it went low 7 low (UDCA).
Your play!
The bidding was 1D by north, 1S by south, 2S by north, 3S by south, 4S by north.
I led the ten of hearts and it went low 7 low (UDCA).
Your play!
The artist formerly known as jlall
#2
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Posted 2015-March-07, 01:44
I can't figure out any plausible scenario where declarer would duck if he has an honor, seems to me like partner has ♥AJ87 (on a really good day he might have ♥AJ7). So I'm thinking I continue the ♥5, hoping this suggests a club card, and planning to beat this contract via 2 hearts and 2 minor suit tricks.
"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision"
-- Bertrand Russell
-- Bertrand Russell
#4
- mmm Duvel
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Posted 2015-March-07, 05:08
I don't think we'll get to 4 tricks by just continuing ♥ until declarer ruffs. ♣A and 2 ♥ tricks seem more reasonable. An extra ♣ or trump trick will be difficult unless partner has a sure trick there. Partner could have ♦K in which case we might need to switch to ♦ now (for example declarer having AQxx-xx-xx-KJxxx), but nothing is for certain. We might as well blow a few tricks if partner has ♦Q instead (an extra ♦ + a ♥ discard).
So I guess there are 2 choices:
- continue ♥ and hope we manage 4 tricks from the top
- take a risk and switch to ♦
♥7 doesn't give us much information, except that partner might want a switch. Restricted choice tells us partner is twice as likely to ask for a switch, so I'll go for the ♦.
So I guess there are 2 choices:
- continue ♥ and hope we manage 4 tricks from the top
- take a risk and switch to ♦
♥7 doesn't give us much information, except that partner might want a switch. Restricted choice tells us partner is twice as likely to ask for a switch, so I'll go for the ♦.
"It may be rude to leave to go to the bathroom, but it's downright stupid to sit there and piss yourself" - blackshoe
#5
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Posted 2015-March-09, 00:13
IMO the clearly best defense is to play the ace of clubs and the 5 of hearts.
Partner (who has AJ87 or AJ7 of hearts based on trick 1), will know the count and about the CA. We risk nothing, the diamonds in dummy are not going away on the clubs because we played the CA. The risk is if declarer has 6 spades and 4 diamonds and the clubs go away if partner does not play a club. This is the clearest and most risk free way to enable yourself to cash out.
At the table I did not see the danger of the clubs going away (requires declarer to have 6 spades and 4 diamond tricks...) so I lazily continued hearts and my partner did not know to play a club.
Partner (who has AJ87 or AJ7 of hearts based on trick 1), will know the count and about the CA. We risk nothing, the diamonds in dummy are not going away on the clubs because we played the CA. The risk is if declarer has 6 spades and 4 diamonds and the clubs go away if partner does not play a club. This is the clearest and most risk free way to enable yourself to cash out.
At the table I did not see the danger of the clubs going away (requires declarer to have 6 spades and 4 diamond tricks...) so I lazily continued hearts and my partner did not know to play a club.
The artist formerly known as jlall
#6
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Posted 2015-March-09, 21:22
Taking a little time to work out the missing honors might help.
You're looking ♥ Q and ♣ A. Dummy has ♠ K ♥ K ♦ AJ ♣ Q. If you believe partner has ♥ AJ from the play, that accounts for 24 HCP leaving 16 HCP points remaining. Partner should have something like 4 of these points else responder would probably have bid game directly. The remaining honors are ♠ AQJ ♦ KQ ♣ KJ.
If partner has the ♦ K, it will probably come home. Declarer would need to have something like ♣ KJ10xx to pitch enough ♦s from dummy in order to ruff any ♦ losers in dummy.
If partner has the ♣ K, partner may have a tough time switching to a ♣ because of the uncertainty of the location of the ♣ A. Partner's lead of a ♣ may give away the contract if Declarer holds it. If partner holds the ♣ K, declarer almost has to have the ♦ K and may be able to set up a pitch or pitches on the ♦ for any ♣ loser.
So, leading the ♣ A is one of those clarification plays that helps partner from going wrong. You might even set the contract if declarer has rounded suit doubletons.
You're looking ♥ Q and ♣ A. Dummy has ♠ K ♥ K ♦ AJ ♣ Q. If you believe partner has ♥ AJ from the play, that accounts for 24 HCP leaving 16 HCP points remaining. Partner should have something like 4 of these points else responder would probably have bid game directly. The remaining honors are ♠ AQJ ♦ KQ ♣ KJ.
If partner has the ♦ K, it will probably come home. Declarer would need to have something like ♣ KJ10xx to pitch enough ♦s from dummy in order to ruff any ♦ losers in dummy.
If partner has the ♣ K, partner may have a tough time switching to a ♣ because of the uncertainty of the location of the ♣ A. Partner's lead of a ♣ may give away the contract if Declarer holds it. If partner holds the ♣ K, declarer almost has to have the ♦ K and may be able to set up a pitch or pitches on the ♦ for any ♣ loser.
So, leading the ♣ A is one of those clarification plays that helps partner from going wrong. You might even set the contract if declarer has rounded suit doubletons.
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