[ralph23]

♣♦♥♠

Scoring: IMP

An imaginary game in the BIL...

---

South opens 1 diamond.

North bids 1 heart.

South now bids 3 clubs.

North bids 3 spades. Partner inquires, and you are told by South that this asks South to bid 3NT with a spade stopper.

South bids 3NT.

You lead the 4 of spades, dummy plays low and partner plays the 7. Declarer wins with the Jack.

Now declarer leads the 9 of diamonds from his hand, you play low, dummy plays low and partner plays the deuce. (You play standard count signals when following suit as second or fourth hand, with hi/lo=even and lo/hi=odd.)

Declarer leads the King of diamonds from his hand at trick three, and you win your Ace perforce. Partner follows suit with the 4.

Stop and think what you have learned about declarer’s hand (number of tricks, high cards & distribution), and determine how you might beat this contract. Explain that, and then state your lead at trick four.

Exp & adv, pls hide your answers.

[TylerE]

Hard to say, since I don't lead a spade on this auction.

[ralph23]

TylerE, on Jul 26 2007, 11:17 AM, said:

Hard to say, since I don't lead a spade on this auction.

Well, use your imagination and say that your partner did, since it was the only unbid suit.

What should HE lead at trick four?

PS What would YOU lead then on the opening lead ?

[jtfanclub]

ralph23, on Jul 26 2007, 11:27 AM, said:

PS What would YOU lead then on the opening lead ?

Heart. Declarer is almost certainly singleton in the suit, and it may not be safe to attack from partner's side.

Edited to add: It's not like the Kxx is going away, or there's two ways to finesse it. Even if declarer has two hearts, and the HK can be finessed, then it can be whether I lead it or not.

This post has been edited by jtfanclub: 2007-July-26, 10:59

[vuroth]

I don't see any reason to lead anything but a spade first round.

South is distributional (not balanced), and loves diamonds and clubs - say at least 5-4 in those suits. South also has 17 points.

North likes hearts.

Sure, south has A spade stopper, but it's the best first guess. Maybe once south's lone spade stopper is gone, you and partner can run spades. Maybe not, but it looks like the best guess prior to seeing dummy.

....

Now, though, I'm playing a heart. Declarer still has 2 stops in spades - the one on the board, and the one he bid. He still has enough points in the minors for them to be solid. He also started with at least 5 diamonds (partner has an odd number of diamonds, though I think at least 5 was indicated from the bidding anyways), 4 clubs, and 2 spades. That means declarer has AT MOST 2 hearts, and may have less.

Partner has 4 or 5 hearts. There's the source of tricks we need.

I'll lead a low heart, though I don't think it matters. What does matter is that I unblock hearts on the second round.

EDIT - changed my mind. I'll lead the king of hearts. If declarer as Qx of hearts, it doesn't matter. If declarer has singleton Q hearts, leading the king helps a lot. If declarer has nothing in hearts, showing the king makes partner's decision making process a little easier.

V

[ralph23]

vuroth, on Jul 26 2007, 12:20 PM, said:

EDIT - changed my mind.  I'll lead the king of hearts.  If declarer as Qx of hearts, it doesn't matter.  If declarer has singleton Q hearts, leading the king helps a lot.  If declarer has nothing in hearts, showing the king makes partner's decision making process a little easier.

V

Bravo, vuroth. And if you think about what you have learned from the auction, and from partner's plays and declarer's plays, you will know that declarer has a singleton heart ..(or is void). and the singleton may be the Queen !!

Your thought processes:

1. After the auction alone, you know that declarer has a 2-suited hand. Not much more than that.... let's just make a provisional assumption that "declarer has 4-4 or better in the minors."

2. Now the opening ♠ lead... maybe it is the best, maybe it is the worst, but it is an unbid suit and this is, after all, not a problem about the opening lead. . West reasonably chose to lead a low ♠ and we go from there.

Now partner plays the 7 and declarer wins the Jack.

So what does declarer have in ♠? Clearly, he also has the King and Queen. Partner would have played one of those cards had he had one. So now your picture becomes fuller: Declarer started with at least KQJ in ♠.

3. Now, the ♦ are led and you hold up the first round of this suit. Partner plays the 2, signalling an odd number.... which must be three. Can it be one? No. You know already that declarer has at least four clubs and at least 3 spades. He cannot therefore have 7 diamonds. So declarer has exactly 5 diamonds.

4. Now you know declarer has 5 diamonds, 4 (or more) clubs, and 3 (or more) spades. He therefore has a singleton ♥ (or is void). So yes, lead a heart but lead the King ! If you think about it, this is without risk; and declarer might have the Queen for his singleton.

Scoring: IMP

---

You see what a disaster it is for you to lead a low heart. Declarer will just play low from dummy and win the Queen .... giving him his ninth trick (3♠, 2♥ and 4♦).

If you thoughtfully lead the King of ♥, he must develop a ♣ trick to make his contract, and once your partner wins the first round of clubs, he will cash his good ♥ tricks. EW will win 3♥s and the two minor-suit Aces, for down one.

[vuroth]

Out of curiosity, how many seconds does and advanced/expert player take at the table to figure this kind of thing out?

It feels good that I'm sort of getting the point of some of these puzzles, but I spent like 5 minutes thinking about it, and didn't fully get it until I walked away from my post.

I'd like to think that with hard work I could become an expert, but 5 minutes to 5 seconds is a daunting prospect.

V

[jtfanclub]

vuroth, on Jul 26 2007, 02:37 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, how many seconds does and advanced/expert player take at the table to figure this kind of thing out?

An expert would do it by reflex. After the opening lead, it's obvious that South has at most one heart, and it can't hurt to lead the king, just in case.

Took me, an Intermediate, 15, 20 seconds. I'd hope that it would take me less at the table, but who really knows.

If you understand why some people would prefer to lead a heart for starters (i'm torn, myself), it helps for figuring out what you're going to lead when you get in.

[ArcLight]

vuroth, on Jul 26 2007, 02:37 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, how many seconds does and advanced/expert player take at the table to figure this kind of thing out?

It feels good that I'm sort of getting the point of some of these puzzles, but I spent like 5 minutes thinking about it, and didn't fully get it until I walked away from my post.

I'd like to think that with hard work I could become an expert, but 5 minutes to 5 seconds is a daunting prospect.

V

Its easier to concentrate on a problem presented in a book/post because you KNOW there is a point of interest. At the table its much harder to keep up that level of focus.

It gets easier over time - meaning instead of 5 minutes it takes 4


BTW - Declarer should not attack diamonds first, he needs a club trick. Go after 1 club trick. Lead the Q from hand. Then diamonds.

Declarer can also win the first trick with teh spade ace and lead a club.

Going after diamonds just gave away distributional information.

[FrancesHinden]

ArcLight, on Jul 27 2007, 03:56 PM, said:

Declarer can also win the first trick with teh spade ace and lead a club.

Going after diamonds just gave away distributional information.

Correct.
Slipping 1 diamond trick through (which he did) was no help.
Getting 1 club trick in the back is enough for the contract.

But just because declarer could have played the hand better doesn't mean we should not beat it when he goes wrong...

[TimG]

ralph23, on Jul 26 2007, 10:01 AM, said:

♣♦♥♠

Scoring: IMP

An imaginary game in the BIL...

---

South opens 1 diamond.

North bids 1 heart.

South now bids 3 clubs.

North bids 3 spades. Partner inquires, and you are told by South that this asks South to bid 3NT with a spade stopper.

South bids 3NT.

You lead the 4 of spades,

Why did partner ask about the 3♠ bid? It was entirely unnecessary. And, I think, it has put me in a bit of an ethical dilemma. Surely, it suggests leading spades; if I can find another logical alternative, I shouldn't lead a spade.

I realize this is just setting up the conditions to figure out the answer to the problem. But, I don't think it should go without mention that the question was ill-advised.

[ralph23]

Declarer alerted 3♠ and East said "Yes?". Was informed it was artificial and asked for a stopper.

[cherdano]

vuroth, on Jul 26 2007, 01:37 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, how many seconds does and advanced/expert player take at the table to figure this kind of thing out?

It feels good that I'm sort of getting the point of some of these puzzles, but I spent like 5 minutes thinking about it, and didn't fully get it until I walked away from my post.

I'd like to think that with hard work I could become an expert, but 5 minutes to 5 seconds is a daunting prospect.

Once you have seen this idea a two or three times it is an instant reaction after you have counted out the hand. That's why it is so useful to read books or think through play/defense problems posted here (esp. if they are good ones, such as every single one I have seen by Ralph123).

[kgr]

cherdano, on Jul 28 2007, 12:44 AM, said:

(esp. if they are good ones, such as every single one I have seen by Ralph123).

Right! I don't think I'm a beginner , but find them very interesting

[ralph23]

Thanks guys !!