[jdonn]

This was played in a BBO team match.

Scoring: IMP

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You get to 4S as south with no opposing bidding and you get the DJ lead. Plan the play.

[bhall]

Looks like you will need to ruff a ♥ in hand and take two ♣ hooks before touching trump.

Maybe ♦A, ♥ to K, continuing with ♥Q if the K holds, win ♦ return (clear ♥Q if they won the K), ♣ to 9 and Q or K. Now we can ruff a ♥ and play ♠A and K, ending in hand for the third high ♦ and the second ♣ play.

[jdonn]

bhall, on Jan 14 2008, 05:12 PM, said:

Looks like you will need to ruff a ♥ in hand and take two ♣ hooks before touching trump.

Maybe ♦A, ♥ to K, continuing with ♥Q if the K holds, win ♦ return (clear ♥Q if they won the K), ♣ to 9 and Q or K. Now we can ruff a ♥ and play ♠A and K, ending in hand for the third high ♦ and the second ♣ play.

when you play a club to the 9 it loses to the 10.

[655321]

Since this is a neat hand, perhaps there is a trump coup.

Initially we hope for HTx of clubs onside, if the club goes low, 9 (case for the J instead), 10 and we have 2 club losers we can try for a trump position.

So, win ♦K, play ♥, they win and return a diamond, come back to hand with a heart and play the club. If they win the club such that we have 2 club losers, play the ♣A, ruff the 3rd ♥, play the last 2 diamonds, hoping East has the 4th diamond. Ruff the diamond and exit the club at trick 10, and hopefully have no trump losers.

[bhall]

Presuming that they return a ♦, my entry for the minor squeeze is gone, so it looks like I have to pick up trump with no loss. Stiff ♠ quack on my right will work, provided LHO has a third card in each red suit. Or doubleton ♠QJ on my left.

I'll bet I'm missing something. I don't see that making the ♣ play earlier would help.

[pclayton]

I smell devil's food here.

[dake50]

Can I eliminate reds then S8 finesse? Looks a plan I'll try.

[miguelm]

655321, on Jan 14 2008, 05:27 PM, said:

So, win ♦K, play ♥, they win and return a diamond, come back to hand with a heart and play the club. If they win the club such that we have 2 club losers, play the ♣A, ruff the 3rd ♥, play the last 2 diamonds, hoping East has the 4th diamond. Ruff the diamond and exit the club at trick 10, and hopefully have no trump losers.

I like that

[bhall]

As a matter of percentages, the line suggested by 655321 is better than trying for no trump losers by playing trumps yourself. It's about 17%, compared to 14.5% of the remaining hands at the point where the ♣9 loses to the 10. Immediate trump plays don't risk ♦ being 5-2 on either side or RHO holding only 3. But if you can pass those hurdles successfully, your odds of no trump loser rise to even money.

Wish I'd thought of it.

[jdonn]

655321, on Jan 14 2008, 05:27 PM, said:

Since this is a neat hand, perhaps there is a trump coup.

Initially we hope for HTx of clubs onside, if the club goes low, 9 (case for the J instead), 10 and we have 2 club losers we can try for a trump position.

So, win ♦K, play ♥, they win and return a diamond, come back to hand with a heart and play the club.  If they win the club such that we have 2 club losers, play the ♣A, ruff the 3rd ♥, play the last 2 diamonds, hoping East has the 4th diamond.  Ruff the diamond and exit the club at trick 10, and hopefully have no trump losers.

Yep, this is exactly how Justin played it at the table. For those who don't see it the ending is:

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When you lead a club the opps are endplayed. If they exit with a trump honor don't be fooled; play for split honors.

Pretty cool to lose no trumps.

[gnasher]

jdonn, on Jan 15 2008, 03:48 AM, said:

When you lead a club the opps are endplayed. If they exit with a trump honor don't be fooled; play for split honors.

Interestingly, you might be able to avoid a trump loser even with A98x opposite K7xx. After the same line of play, if the player on lead in the ending has Jxx or Qxx, he will presumably switch to his honour, colliding rather nastily with his partner's H10. Now that's what I call a trump coup.