[pclayton]

You play 4H at IMPs

North A96 KT62 AQ2 AQT

South Q853 A874 983 54

Scoring: IMPs

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LHO leads the [s2]2, 6, K, 3 and returns the ♠T which you won in dummy. The opps arent very good and their card isnt marked for spot leads.

Now what?

(sorry - handheld doesnt like the java)

[mikeh]

Early in the am, only 1/4 of my coffee onboard, and too busy to do much thinking.... ok...cash the top 2 trumps.. this isn't a layout on which to try to cater to 4-1 trumps...

If rho hi-lo's in trump (you did say they were not very good), I will cash the top spade... expecting the suit to be 4=2. If rho ruffs this, he has to lead a minor into dummy. How I play thereafter depends on how he (and LHO) defend..

If spades were 3-3, which I don't expect, then (again, if rho has signalled 3 trump) I exit a trump, endplaying rho... and, again, my exact line thereafter depends on his defence.

If lho signals 3 trump, then I have one less easy endplay...I need a lot.. I think a club to the 10 is best (after cashing the top spade), because it gains so much when lho has KJ(x)(x), and even if it loses to the J, I still have a play.. rho has to give me one hook and I have to hope for the other (assuming spades were not 3-3)

If neither opp gives count in trump, and my table presence doesn't tell me who (probably) has the last trump, I will cash the top spade and play a club to the 10 as above.

The various end positions are too complex for me to write down how I'd play in all scenarios.

[jtfanclub]

Ummm...A then K of trump, a third round of spades, and finesse the ten of clubs?

Y'all can laugh at me now.

[Cascade]

pclayton, on Mar 28 2008, 03:51 AM, said:

The opps arent very good and their card isnt marked for spot leads.

Did I ask what they lead?

[xcurt]

pclayton, on Mar 27 2008, 09:51 AM, said:

You play 4H at IMPs

North A96 KT62 AQ2 AQT

South Q853 A874 983 54

Scoring: IMPs

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It looks like we bid 1C-1H; 4H-Pass.


T1: S2-6-K-3 (by the way, we should have unblocked the S9 on this)
T2: ST-5-x-A

I will play a H to the A and a C to the Q. If that holds I will cash the CA. If the breaks now look reasonable I will try to eliminate the black suits ending in my hand and pass the D8 (not the 9, I don't want LHO to be tempted to cover).

[pclayton]

At the table I played a heart to the K. LHO plays the Jack. I played a heart back to my hand and RHO split with the 9. LHO pitches a low club.

Onward.

[ceeb]

pclayton, on Mar 27 2008, 10:26 PM, said:

At the table I played a heart to the K. LHO plays the Jack. I played a heart back to my hand and RHO split with the 9. LHO pitches a low club.

Onward.

I see nothing better than both kings onside: club to the queen and it better win. Then lead a spade from the dummy. If RHO discards, win, ruff with the 10 & weak defender overruffs. Now the winning diamond finesse sees us home.

The strong defense is to discard a second diamond from an original K10, Q9xx, xxx, Jxxx, which defeats the contract. Perhaps it would therefore be better for declarer to play the spade from dummy at trick 3 and continue with the 4th spade ruffing (with the 10??). In any case, spade at trick 3 seems to me a more natural approach.

Edit: If the club queen loses, still slight chance via ♠-♦ squeeze if LHO has Jxxx, x, Kxxxx, Jxx.