[the hog]

This came up last night; I made the cotract but think I can play it better. What line would you play?

Scoring: IMP

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You are in 6S with no opposition bidding. The 10 of Clubs is led.
(Thanks for the correction, Ben).

[inquiry]

I am not willing to give up if ♠ 4-1. My line of play begins with win ♣ACE and cash ♠AK. Now, 1) either both follow, 2) East shows out on second round, or 3) West shows out on the second round. If West has 1♠, I am going to be not real happy, as the ♣ lead makes him look short in ♣ so I find it hard to believe he is also short in ♠. So I will deal with the other two situations.

1) if both followed, to the ♠AK, I cash ♠Q, ruff a ♣, and play ♦Ace and low ♦ from dummy. If East wins ♦King, I think I got them, so worse case is EAST plays low and the ♦J loses to the KING with WEST and the ♦T has not shown. Now, if no ♦Tx anywhere or [DI[Kx with RHO, left hand opponent is likely out of ♣ (based upon the ♣T lead). So back comes say the [di]T pinning the ♦9. I win the ♦Q in dummy and East shows out, or no problem. Now, a ♣ ruff squeezes west. He can’t keep 4♥ and the 13th ♦ and EAST can’t keep four ♥ (couldn’t have them on this scenario anyway) and ♣K.

2) If East has only one ♠, I am going to need the ♦ hook to be on. So after taking the ♠A, I will finesse in ♦, ruff a ♣, ♠Q, ♥Q and hook the ♥J. The idea is to catch west in an endplay and force him to lead away from ♦K at trick 11. So I want to catch EAST with 3/4 ♥s to the JACk. After the ♥Ten wins, I play two top ♥s. If west doesn’t ruff in. I will lead my ♠x to his last ♠ in the following hoped for 3 card ending.

South lead ♠4 and throws ♣ from dummy

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[cnszsun]

I agree with Ben's analysis, but will play a bit differently.
Play ♣A and ♠QA, stop in hand.
1) if both followed, cash ♠K, play ♦J, if West overtake, i'm home, setup 4th ♦ and discard my possible ♥ loser. if East wins, he is endplayed (assuming he has ♣K),

2)if West has four turmps, i will finesee ♦ to Q, play ♥Q and A, dummy ruff small ♥, ruff ♣ back to hand, cash ♠K and ♥K, throw west in with last trump, the same endplay position with Ben's line, but i dont need to hook ♥J.

Will this be better or worse?

[the hog]

I must admit I took a far simpler line. I cashed Q and A of S - trumps break - and then played 3 rounds of H ruffing in dummy. Unfortunately this was overruffed; but now rho found herself in an unenviable position, ahving to lead away from the C K or the T of D. (D hook was working). She played a small C to dummy's Q on which I threw a D. I ruffed a C back to hand, took the D hook and claimed.

I am not sure whether this is a good line; I like Ben's better.

[inquiry]

Ruffing one ♥ sure is simple. I considered it, but with EAST having a presumed 6 or 7 ♣, the odds of him being short in ♥ are pretty darn good. EVEN if the ruff works, I may have no good way from dummy and they might manage to get a fourth round ruff. If EAST has SEVEN CLUBS, the odds are much better than even that EAST has only 2 or less hearts (but he may not have the third trump).

Maybe someone will figure out the odds for us.

[WGF_Flame]

cnszsun, on Mar 2 2004, 02:51 AM, said:

I agree with Ben's analysis, but will play a bit differently.
Play ♣A and ♠QA, stop in hand.
1) if both followed, cash ♠K, play ♦J, if West overtake, i'm home, setup 4th ♦ and discard my possible ♥ loser. if East wins, he is endplayed (assuming he has ♣K),

2)if West has four turmps, i will finesee ♦ to Q, play ♥Q and A, dummy ruff small ♥, ruff ♣ back to hand, cash ♠K and ♥K, throw west in with last trump, the same endplay position with Ben's line, but i dont need to hook ♥J.

Will this be better or worse?

i think ur line is the best.
ben's line is cool and complex, but on the 3-2 spade it depend on LHO having no more then 2 clubs while yours only depend on RHO to have the K of clubs.
on the 4-1 spade break again i think urs is better since u didnt need the finnese.
sometimes simpler is better.

[inquiry]

WGF_Flame, on Mar 2 2004, 06:19 PM, said:

i think ur line is the best.
ben's line is cool and complex, but on the 3-2 spade it depend on LHO having no more then 2 clubs while yours only depend on RHO to have the K of clubs.
on the 4-1 spade break again i think urs is better since u didnt need the finnese.
sometimes simpler is better.

Yes, Mike's line is nice. But I guess I will have to respond to this. First, my line does NOT require west to have only two clubs to work, but it helps. For instance, my line always makes if ♦s are 3-3 or if EAST has doubleton Ten or King... regardless of the where the club KING is. Also, if EAST has four ♦ to the [King], he can't afford to put up the king on the second round, so I also make if WEST has Tx and if EAST has KTxx, I get a chance consider how to play ♥s as I can always fall back on a simple ♥ hook.

Mike's line of leading pulling three rounds of trumps and leading the ♦J is nice due to the presenses of the ♦8 in dummy. But will you not have a pang of doubt when EAST wins the ♦K and returns a low ♣? Will you put all your eggs in the basket that EAST has the ♣K... even before testing for 3-3 ♦ or for the ♥J falling? You know, in a good game, some people are downright tricky when they make their opening leads against slams.. especially if the locaction of the ♣ honors are clear from the bidding.

Ben

[WGF_Flame]

inquiry, on Mar 2 2004, 07:25 PM, said:

WGF_Flame, on Mar 2 2004, 06:19 PM, said:

i think ur line is the best.
ben's line is cool and complex, but on the 3-2 spade it depend on LHO having no more then 2 clubs while yours only depend on RHO to have the K of clubs.
on the 4-1 spade break again i think urs is better since u didnt need the finnese.
sometimes simpler is better.

Yes, Mike's line is nice. But I guess I will have to respond to this. First, my line does NOT require west to have only two clubs to work, but it helps. For instance, my line always makes if ♦s are 3-3 or if EAST has doubleton Ten or King... regardless of the where the club KING is. Also, if EAST has four ♦ to the [King], he can't afford to put up the king on the second round, so I also make if WEST has Tx and if EAST has KTxx, I get a chance consider how to play ♥s as I can always fall back on a simple ♥ hook.

Mike's line of leading pulling three rounds of trumps and leading the ♦J is nice due to the presenses of the ♦8 in dummy. But will you not have a pang of doubt when EAST wins the ♦K and returns a low ♣? Will you put all your eggs in the basket that EAST has the ♣K... even before testing for 3-3 ♦ or for the ♥J falling? You know, in a good game, some people are downright tricky when they make their opening leads against slams.. especially if the locaction of the ♣ honors are clear from the bidding.

Ben

good points. you maybe right, those things cant really be mesure, cause no one can say what r the chances of leading 10 of clubs when u got the K but not the 9.