[awm]

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You are North. Partner is on lead against 4♠, and leads the ♦J. You overtake and play a second high diamond, both partner and declarer following (partner had ♦J2 and declarer ♦T3 if it matters). What do you do at trick three? It's matchpoints, not a very strong field. For what it's worth, 3♠ is weak and opponents do not have detailed agreements about preempting style, but you suspect they will be conservative by modern standards.

[akwoo]

Sounds like a weak enough field that most tables will be at 3♠ E/W or even 2♦ N/S, so we'd better try to set the contract.

I voted K♥, but if declarer is a really weak player a top diamond will work better.

In a better field I'm leading a small heart, but here the small chance that declarer's hearts are exactly 432 (so partner has trouble reading my 6) is not worth it.

[apollo1201]

From the OP, AJ 7th S + CK is more likely than same trump suit + HA. So a low H should work fine?

[akwoo]

apollo1201, on 2024-December-01, 06:58, said:

From the OP, AJ 7th S + CK is more likely than same trump suit + HA. So a low H should work fine?

My point was that declarer makes 4S if they have AJ 7th + HA, and it seems in this field there might not be much of a difference between -620 and -650.

In theory, a low heart should work fine, but partner might think we have x xxx AKQxxx Kxx and return a club. Partner shouldn't return a club, because in that situation declarer will discard a club on a heart and we still won't get the CK, but I don't trust most of my partners to figure that out (nor would I always figure that out at the table).

[awm]

Perhaps the field is not as bad as some have suggested; I expect with ten spades a lot of people will be in game and they can manage a simple club finesse if that’s what it takes to make.

At the table I thought if declarer has club king I need to play a heart and if declarer has heart ace I need to NOT play a heart. If declarer has neither card it mostly won’t matter unless declarer has 7321 and takes a club hook for down one or 7123 and is able to establish a heart for a club pitch. In all I felt like this was pretty equal and eventually decided to play a third diamond in case partner has spade jack and declarer doesn’t ruff ace.

This did not turn out well when declarer was 8221 with no outside cards. She ruffed high, pulled trump, and took the club finesse to make.

[mikeh]

awm, on 2024-December-07, 07:40, said:

Perhaps the field is not as bad as some have suggested; I expect with ten spades a lot of people will be in game and they can manage a simple club finesse if that’s what it takes to make.

At the table I thought if declarer has club king I need to play a heart and if declarer has heart ace I need to NOT play a heart. If declarer has neither card it mostly won’t matter unless declarer has 7321 and takes a club hook for down one or 7123 and is able to establish a heart for a club pitch. In all I felt like this was pretty equal and eventually decided to play a third diamond in case partner has spade jack and declarer doesn’t ruff ace.

This did not turn out well when declarer was 8221 with no outside cards. She ruffed high, pulled trump, and took the club finesse to make.

Even in a bad field, I can’t imagine any but the worst declarer not ruffing high. Surely she knows that partner had Jx for the switch to the Jack? Plus the odds are very high that a vulnerable 3S bid owns the AJxxxxx of the suit, so I think, with all due respect to the fact that these are easier here than at the table, the diamond is simply refusing to make a decision.

Assuming 7 spades….declarer has 9 tricks for sure on the club hook, which is very much odds on since you’ve shown AKQ in diamonds and must have either but not both the heart A or King. Plus, usually, declarer has no option….say 7=2=2=2.

It’s legitimate to worry about the heart ace so I understand the fear involved, but if she has the club king with 7222 you are getting a zero or close to it by not cashing. I’d lead a ,ow heart just in case declarer is 7321. But I’d definitely lead a heart….of course, that’s easy for me to say after knowing the hand��