[FrancesHinden]

So you are playing a KO match at your house, it's over 35 degrees inside (95 F) and about 1130 at night after a full day at work and the first 25 boards of the match.

Aggregate (total points) 30 boards teams-of-four, your team are all playing badly and you were about 1400 points up before the last set but you have so far let through a NV game and conceded a stripe-tailed ape 5Hx+1 (teammates might bid slam).

You have a slightly bizarre uncontested auction to 6D in which dummy opened the bidding and showed a 2425 minimum with no spade honour (he lied); you showed a huge hand with diamonds and drove slam opposite repeated sign-offs.

---

LHO leads a trump from what turns out to be a low doubleton.
Plan the play.


p.s. the good news is that there's a big thunderstorm soon afterwards

[Sambolino]

smells like a double squeeze or simple against 4h and cK left

[Sambolino]

on the conditions above, i'd surely finesse, afraid that i may screw up something that tired.

however playing on dbl sq is somewhat attractive - requires a careful small spade from the hand at trick 2. if they return a spade they break dbl squeeze

[gnasher]

Sambolino, on Jul 29 2008, 11:08 AM, said:

however playing on dbl sq is somewhat attractive - requires a careful small spade from the hand at trick 2. if they return a spade they break dbl squeeze

What if you're not the only player at the table who knows what a double squeeze is?

If East has K10xx xxx xxx Kxx he plays back a spade; with K10x xxx xxx Jxxx he plays back a trump.

[OleBerg]

After having drawn thrumps, I run the ♣10 at trick four. Seems obvious to me. No return can hurt me, and I get a lot of ekstra chances.

Had the hand occured on the net, this plan would be slightly less attractive, as it is harder to read your opponents squirming, when you run the diamonds.

[catatonic]

depends what you know of your opps to a degree, sounds like a flat board should be enough ; if there isn't going to be a double dummy expert at the helm at the other table the simple line suggests itself , draw trumps , club finesse , win return in hand, ruff club and see what develops ...a pretty picture one hopes

[OleBerg]

catatonic, on Jul 29 2008, 02:18 PM, said:

depends what you know of your opps to a degree, sounds like a flat board should be enough ; if there isn't going to be a double dummy expert at the helm at the other table the simple line suggests itself , draw trumps , club finesse , win return in hand, ruff club and see what develops ...a pretty picture one hopes

A plan with a lot of appeal, maybe even better. Hard, for me at least, to say whats best.

[y66]

I'll try the straightforward approach mentioned above: draw trumps then run CT.

[ASkolnick]

I'll be dumb. I have no problem with the finesse, but shouldn't I play on hearts first, pitching a spade. If an opponent happens to have JTx of hearts, I need 0 finesses.

[pclayton]

I will draw the 3rd round of trump pitching a spade.

What is odd to me is that LHO didn't lead a spade on this sequence. I don't have the entries to double hook spades, and a lot of the endgame positions (for instance a squeeze without the count) where I play RHO for ♠KQ will work in some other squeeze positions (but not all).

I admit its a little early, but someone is going to have to convince me why taking a club finesse, winning the spade return, and playing ♣A, ruff club and trumps is inferior to anything else.

I make this hand with:

1. The ♣K onside.
2. ♣J9/J9x coming down.
3. ♥JT/JTx coming down.
4. A simple ♣/♥ squeeze against LHO
5. A simple ♠/♥ squeeze against RHO (4 and 5 together are an either-or sqz)

If RHO doesn't return a spade, I'm going to have to go deeper into this hand. RHO has given me other options, but there may be a double-cross at work.

[bid_em_up]

Sambolino, on Jul 29 2008, 05:08 AM, said:

on the conditions above, i'd....

buy an air-conditioner.

[catch22]

pclayton, on Jul 29 2008, 10:30 AM, said:

I admit its a little early, but someone is going to have to convince me why taking a club finesse, winning the spade return, and playing ♣A, ruff club and trumps is inferior to anything else.

I make this hand with:

1. The ♣K onside.
2. ♣J9/J9x coming down.
3. ♥JT/JTx coming down.
4. A simple ♣/♥ squeeze against LHO
5. A simple ♠/♥ squeeze against RHO (4 and 5 together are an either-or sqz)

If you run the T

1 and 2 become

1. The ♣J onside
2. ♣Kx/Kxx coming down

Which has to be better as you are no longer reliant on the 9 falling

I think it is clear to run the ♣T, but I assume we will be told that this loses to the J

[mikeh]

I haven't given this hand the time I usually (have to) give Frances' hands, but that makes up for the fact that I am writing this in an air-conditioned office early in the day.

I draw trump, pitching a spade and advance the club 10.

Now, something depends on my table presence (not my strongest quality).

If I perceive LHO as the type who would cover the 10 with the Jack, I hook the Queen if he doesn't cover, and end up playing for a squeeze or a fortuitous beak in either round suit.

If I perceive LHO as the type who would cover more often with J9 than with J alone, I might decide, should he cover, to hook him for the 9.

If he is the type who, given the playing conditions, either would duck the 10 smoothly or I simply don't know (my usual state of mind) then I run the 10, and when it loses to the Jack, win the major suit return (probably a spade) and then A and ruff a club and then diamonds, playing for one of several simple squeezes or a luck lie in either round suit (I will know by now if the clubs came home).

[SoTired]

The trouble with running the ♣10 is that you might go down when a simple club finesse makes, so I would want my full 50% club chance. Plus, I might get lucky and the ♣J is singleton on the left.

[FrancesHinden]

catch22, on Jul 29 2008, 05:03 PM, said:

pclayton, on Jul 29 2008, 10:30 AM, said:

I admit its a little early, but someone is going to have to convince me why taking a club finesse, winning the spade return, and playing ♣A, ruff club and trumps is inferior to anything else.

I make this hand with:

1. The ♣K onside.
2. ♣J9/J9x coming down.
3. ♥JT/JTx coming down.
4. A simple ♣/♥ squeeze against LHO
5. A simple ♠/♥ squeeze against RHO (4 and 5 together are an either-or sqz)

If you run the T

1 and 2 become

1. The ♣J onside
2. ♣Kx/Kxx coming down

Which has to be better as you are no longer reliant on the 9 falling

I think it is clear to run the ♣T, but I assume we will be told that this loses to the J

What are you doing if the 10 is covered?
What are you doing after the 10 has lost to the Jack?

I don't understand why running the 10 always makes if the J is onside; surely that's only true if they never cover?