[Rossoneri]

Scoring: IMP

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At one table, West did not open and North opened 1♥.

3♣ was declared by East and play goes ♥8 by South. If you play the K, North covers with the A, if not, North plays the J and continues with a trump.

At the other, West opened 1♣ and North overcalled 1♥. Now 3♣ is declared by West and the lead is a trump.

How would you play the diamonds in each of the two scenarios?

(Note that the players are relatively new and some of them still pass 12 counts.)

[kenrexford]

My first thought is that North should be staring at the three small spades in dummy and concerned about possibly losing a trick there if he screws around and does not switch to a spade. If North reacts to your heart play and switches to a trump, he seems to have a feeling that diamonds are not that problematic.

Of course, he might also be concerned, in theory, that spades may produce a diamond pitch, also.

I think, therefore, that I need a little bit more information about the auction and about what South could have, both from my perspective and from North's.

[Hanoi5]

I'd go for the finesse; of course, after playing one top honour from West's hand.

[rogerclee]

In the first situation, I would definitely lead a spade off dummy to see what card north plays.

But I think if you are going to ask questions as subtle as "play for the drop or finesse" when in a vacuum the finesse is obviously better, you are going to have to provide a little more information (the auctions and club split should be enough).

[Codo]

I won`T play diamonds at all, why should I?
I play on hearts and spades till they are history and get at least a little count from the hand to decide which line is superior.

[ArtK78]

I try to eliminate the spades. If trump are 2-2 and the defense messes up to end play North when the spades are cashed, my problems will be over.

Otherwise, we will see how things come down in hearts and spades before deciding where to place the ♦Q.

[inquiry]

Too early to tell...

Surely north lacks AKQ of spades for the trump switch or the trump lead. So of the missing 18 hcp, we know some of that is in the South hand. How much of that is a key point. If South has two of the top three spade honors, then i will play for the drop. (I am assuming here South never bid, or you would have told us).. I also wonder on the hand where north opened 1♥ did partner overcall 2♣ or did I have to balance back in. Did north rebid 2♥ in here somewhere unsupported? The bidding details are a little lacking.

I win the club in dummy and lead a low spade as part of a discovery play. What did North play. If he ducked, I will play him for only one of the missing two spade honors. If he won, I will continue to explore spades before I make a decision.

[andy_h]

yes, let's gather some information on the major suits first.