[kgr]

Scoring: IMP

P-1NT
2C-2D
3NT

---

Lead ♣Q: Q-6-3-K
I now played:
♥ to the Q, ♥ back to my K (East playing 7 and 6, West 3 and 5, one of them not giving true count)
♦A (West the 3 and East the 5).
♥4 to dummy's A (East discarding ♣4).
♦ back to my K (both following and ♦Q not dropping)
Now ♠Q and the finesse succeeds, making 3NT+1.
- -
Dummy commented that I played this as a beginner because I should have taking the finesses in ♥ and ♦. Playing IMP's I'm almost sure that trying to drop the ♦Q is better, but is it usefull to play the ♥'s before finessing the ♠?

[Free]

Dummy is an idiot.

There are 3 suits to work with. All of them can be finessed, but 2 of your 3 suits have a chance to drop an important card.
- if ♦Q falls, you are home already.
- if ♥J falls or ♥ split 3-3, you're still one trick short.
So playing on the ♥s isn't really important. However, ♦Q is key, and if it doesn't drop you'll need the ♠ finesse to make your contract. This combines your chances.

Dummy is suggesting you take 2 finesses out of the blue. Why would you even take the ♥ finesse?? If the ♦ finesse wins, you have 5♦s, 3♥s, ♠A and ♣K = 10 tricks. If one of the finesses loses, you're down (unless you're very lucky and the ♣s block).
Sumarized: his line is 25%, yours is 50%+♦Qx, so more than double as efficient!

[NickRW]

Quite apart from the technicalities, I'd say get a new partner. You never, ever, ever knock partner at the table - it only makes them feel small - which will never help your cause.

Many years ago I was playing for the school team. The team the previous year had made the finals of a national competition so they weren't that shabby and we were under pressure already to be as good. As it turned out, in the regional heats and against the team that qualified we bid a perfectly reasonable 6N. My partner was playing it. It depended on a 33 break or a finesse. The finesse failed, but the break was good. But under the pressure of the event, my partner had failed to notice the 13th heart was good in dummy. So one down and the opponents made 3N+3 - bad board - had we made that slam we'd have made the finals. I commented at the table, "didn't you know the heart was good?". My partner never picked up a bridge hand from that day on. Partner's feelings can be delicate. They're always best dealt with away from the table. And if it is a pick up partnership you still aren't going to gain one solitary thing calling your partner a "beginner". It takes quite some discipline sometimes to just bite your lip instead.

Nick

[kenrexford]

You played it fine.

Does playing the hearts first make sense? Sure. It might.

If your opponents play the exact same way but does not play hearts first, he may lose one spade, one diamond, and five clubs, for -3, or possibly six clubs, for -4. If you win four hearts (because the heart drops out), one club, and two diamonds before trying the spade hook, you are down only two tricks.

Setting up that fourth heart might cause harm if clubs split 5-4, of course. That way, you would be -3 and the other guy -2.

So, playing the third top heart loses when the heart Jack is protected four deep and clubs split 5-4. It gains when the Jack is not protected or when clubs split 6-3 or 7-2. I think the odds support playing that third heart, myself.

[FrancesHinden]

It's certainly right to play for the DQ to drop before taking the spade finesse, however there's no real point in cashing the hearts first, because even four heart tricks does not give you enough for your contract. And there is a downside to cashing three rounds of hearts and two diamonds before touching spades: if West started with, say,

Kxxx
xx
xx
QJ10xx

then he can discard a club on the third heart, and when you come to take the spade finesse you can't actually run four spade tricks:

Queen of spades which holds
Spade to the 9 which holds

and you have no entry back to your hand to take the spade finesse again

So I would cash no more than two rounds of hearts (the AQ) before doing anything else, just in case (say) LHO has 5 of them in which case you will probably choose to take the diamond finesse.

But when everyone follows to two rounds of hearts, continue with the AK of diamonds and (when the Q doesn't drop) the spade finesse, but having retained the king of hearts as an entry to hand.

[gnasher]

FrancesHinden, on May 19 2008, 09:27 AM, said:

And there is a downside to cashing three rounds of hearts and two diamonds before touching spades ... when you come to take the spade finesse you can't actually run four spade tricks

But you need only three spade tricks for your contract, so you're only comparing gaining an overtrick in one layout with saving an undertrick in another.

[kgr]

Thanks all for the answers.
The really sad part of this is that I had add a comment to dummy before..."ok". It's not easy to play with pick up partners on BBO