[Trumpace]

You are South and are in 3NT after 1NT - 3NT. Assume E-W are vul. Rubber bridge.

West leads the ♣J and you see...

Lead ♣J

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What is the best line for 9 tricks?

[Echognome]

I win the club (either hand really) and duck a diamond. I win the return and then lay down the ♦A and then I go to dummy and lead towards the Q. I haven't considered any squeeze possibilities, but there don't seem to be any at first glance.

[Trumpace]

I mistakenly wrote 2005 instead of 2006. Source is Frank Stewart Column Jan 17, 2006.

[000002]

i assume west doesn't have a 4card major suiter, so i take ♣ Q then duck a major,try to duck another major, then throw in ♣ if it isn't 6-0 distribution.

[Rebound]

How about finessing in diamonds and then ducking a round. This gives time to find whether either clubs or diamonds is 4-triple-3.

[Trumpace]

000002, on Jan 17 2006, 07:51 AM, said:

i assume west doesn't have a 4card major suiter, so i take ♣ Q then duck a major,try to duck another major, then throw in ♣ if it isn't 6-0 distribution.

Problem with this line is that, when you duck the second major, East could win and shift to a diamond.

[000002]

Trumpace, on Jan 17 2006, 01:43 PM, said:

000002, on Jan 17 2006, 07:51 AM, said:

i assume west doesn't  have a 4card major suiter, so i take ♣ Q then duck a major,try to duck another major, then throw in ♣ if it isn't 6-0 distribution.

Problem with this line is that, when you duck the second major, East could win and shift to a diamond.

yes ,so i use the word "try to",remain the playing of ♦ suit

[whereagles]

Well, technically, there seems to be a good line:

1. Duck a diamond.
2. Cash diamond ace.
3. Lead diamond towards the queen.
4. If all this fails, clubs can still be 3-3

[Trumpace]

According the Frank stewart the line that should be taken is:

Cash ♦A and then duck a diamond (planning to lead toward the ♦Q later).
This works when ever West does not have Kxxx, Kxxxx or Kxxxxx in diamonds and is better than a simple finesse.


I think ducking a round of diamonds first and then leading toward the ♦A on the second round is better than the suggested line. This way, we will know if diamonds split 5-1 (Kxxxx with West) and we can then try for 3-3 clubs or a major suit squeeze on East in case West holds 4 clubs (haven't worked out in detail, so could be wrong) by playing a low diamond instead of the A on the second round of diamonds and keeping diamond control (we need to duck 3 diamonds and a club for the squeeze to operate).

[cherdano]

Well, you are guarding against West specifically 5+=4+ in the minors. In that case, I you can almost certainly endplay him in clubs after stripping his major cards and finally score your ♦Q.

Arend

[Trumpace]

You are right!