[pclayton]

hotShot, on Apr 20 2006, 07:58 AM, said:

Echognome, on Apr 20 2006, 01:38 PM, said:

Here the diamond slam is off on a heart lead, but cold on any other lead.  We lucked out on it, although I do not think the heart (as opposed to a club or spade) is obvious.

Double dummy, you can take the ♥A, drop the 2nd ♥ on ♣ and the 3rd on ♠. So 6♦ can be made, in theory.

Doesn't work; Defenders win the A♦ and lead the 4th spade for an uppercut.

[han]

Echognome, on Apr 20 2006, 06:38 AM, said:

At the other table, the auction went 3♦ - 3NT.  West found the great lead of the ♥K and was able to play K, Q, and another heart clearing the suit.  A diamond was lead and East has a tough diamond guess, which unfortunately he got wrong.

Thanks for the compliment, but west actually lead the ♥Q. We lead Rusinow, but with a very strong holding (e.g. KQJ10x) I would lead the king and partner would give count or unblock.

Partner unfortunately ducked the diamond, but I think that he got it wrong for the right reason. My ♦3 could just as well be low from a doubleton or a singleton. If it is a doubleton then you HAVE to duck to set it (surely I don't have an ace), while if it is a singleton then ducking may not give away the contract (in fact, it seems rather unlikely that south has 8 side tricks).

Now, let's rewind a bit. 3NT is cold on any lead double dummy. Can you see how?

Yes, nice Matt!

[bid_em_up]

hotShot, on Apr 20 2006, 10:58 AM, said:

Echognome, on Apr 20 2006, 01:38 PM, said:

Here the diamond slam is off on a heart lead, but cold on any other lead.  We lucked out on it, although I do not think the heart (as opposed to a club or spade) is obvious.

Double dummy, you can take the ♥A, drop the 2nd ♥ on ♣ and the 3rd on ♠. So 6♦ can be made, in theory.

Huh?

Opp ruffs third round of clubs and cash diamond A, down 1. No?

[HeartA]

Free, on Apr 19 2006, 11:20 AM, said:

I'm in for 6♦. The only losers we have are in ♦, and V vs NV I expect very few losers, more like 'exactly 1'...

I am 6D bidder, too, assuming he opens 3NT with solid Ds (I meant AKQxxxx or better). 3NT? noway.

[HeartA]

Echognome, on Apr 20 2006, 06:38 AM, said:

Scoring: IMP

1♦ - 4NT
5♣ - 6♦
All Pass

---

I pretty much drove to the slam. I thought it possible for partner to hold:

♠x ♥KQx ♦QJT9xxx ♣xx

But, that is a very specific hand and we can ask for keycards. It is also possible for him to hold hand with a diamond loser. I figured he opened 3♦ red versus white so it was worth the risk. I don't know if that was the correct thinking with an unknown partnership, but it happened to work this time.

Here the diamond slam is off on a heart lead, but cold on any other lead. We lucked out on it, although I do not think the heart (as opposed to a club or spade) is obvious.

At the other table, the auction went 3♦ - 3NT. West found the great lead of the ♥K and was able to play K, Q, and another heart clearing the suit. A diamond was lead and East has a tough diamond guess, which unfortunately he got wrong. Now, let's rewind a bit. 3NT is cold on any lead double dummy. Can you see how?

great 6D bid. I would NEVER bid NT with big hand opposite unfit of pd's decent suit. That was a lesson I learned 20 years ago.

[matmat]

Not sure what I would do with the good hand, but I 100% agree with the 3♦ preempt.