[bill1157]

Scoring: MP

---

6NT East lead ♥K

♥K243
♥756A

now how do you proceed?

Bill

[plaur]

Cant handle 4-0 in clubs I think, so I run my minors ending with ♠AQ ♥T in dummy. If the ♥T is good, cool, else I flip a coin whether to finesse or drop in spades

[bill1157]

but what about the possible blockage in clubs?

[Echognome]

Blockage resolved with the diamonds.

[kenrexford]

If North has ♠xxxxx ♥KQJx ♦-- ♣J10xx, I think you could progressive squeeze him and pick up that 4-0 club split.

Win trick two on dummy. Immediately finesse spade.

Play A-K in diamonds. North cannot pitch a club and cannot pitch two hearts. Thus, he at this point has either ♠xx ♥QJ ♦-- ♣J10xx or ♠x10 xx ♥Q ♦-- ♣J10xx.

Now play the club Queen and a club to dummy. Play another diamond, ditching a club. North must still save at least one heart and at least two spades. So, he comes down to ♠xx ♥Q ♦-- ♣J10.

Play the last diamond, ditching a spade. Your last four cards in hand will be ♠Ax ♥10 ♦-- ♣x. If North saves two clubs, he either sets up a spade trick for you or a heart trick. You then cross to your spade Ace to play whichever is good and squeeze him again.

If he ditches a club, your clubs on dummy are good and you claim.

The question, then, is whether to finesse spades immediately or not. If you will finesse in the end, then you might as well finesse now, ignoring the multiple undertricks problem. In the end position, you won't finesse if you think that you caught North with stiff King initially, because no spade-heart squeeze works on North.

So, I suppose you finesse at trick 3 if you think the chance of North having specifically 5-4-0-4 shape, with all three top heart honors, and not the spade King, is higher than the chance of North having stiff King in spades and being able to work it out.

Of course, the undertrick threat is also relevant.

[pooltuna]

bill1157, on Sep 11 2009, 04:40 PM, said:

Scoring: MP

---

6NT East lead ♥K

♥K243
♥756A

now how do you proceed?

Bill

you win the first trick and play 9 minor suit cards and then either take the ♠ finesse or try to endplay East

[nigel_k]

Surely the play to the first two tricks means the remaining top hearts are split so there is no squeeze, and the heart menance is in the wrong hand anyway. You just need to unblock diamonds and discard one club on a diamond so the clubs run. Then take the spade finesse.

[kenrexford]

nigel_k, on Sep 11 2009, 07:20 PM, said:

Surely the play to the first two tricks means the remaining top hearts are split so there is no squeeze, and the heart menance is in the wrong hand anyway. You just need to unblock diamonds and discard one club on a diamond so the clubs run. Then take the spade finesse.

What about the play to the first two hearts means that the hearts are split?

The opening lead of the King could easily be from KQJx, right?

When dummy then has Ax and ducks the first time, the person with the KQJx would never play the Q or Jack, as there is no reason to do this. His partner, seeing a duck in dummy, won't give attitude here. Why would he?

Thus, if the opening lead was from KQJx, a squeeze does work, on one layout. If you will finesse spades in the end anyway, then the only reason to not finesse spades at trick 3 is because the remote chance of that squeeze developing does not gain enough to account for the undertrick problems when the spade finesse fails.

As you find yourself in a 29-HCP 6NT, which is rare enough, and as 6♣ has much better play (win the first heart, pull trumps, ditch both hearts on the QJ of diamonds, ruff a heart, finesse spade for overtrick), you are in a poor contract at MP. I think you probably should play for the maximum chance to make, giving up on undertrick issues.

So, I think a trick 3 spade hook is right, personally.

[quiddity]

kenrexford, on Sep 11 2009, 07:49 PM, said:

When dummy then has Ax and ducks the first time...

The layout is confusing, but I think ♥K243 implies the ace is in hand.

[kenrexford]

quiddity, on Sep 11 2009, 08:03 PM, said:

kenrexford, on Sep 11 2009, 07:49 PM, said:

When dummy then has Ax and ducks the first time...

The layout is confusing, but I think ♥K243 implies the ace is in hand.

Well, isn't that weird.

I suppose, then, that still makes a squeeze work against the other guy, along those lines, but then the spade-heart 10 squeeze works too.

What's weird is that the opening lead of the King is ducked, and then, with the Ax hidden, the seven continuation goes around to the Ace. Does orth then have J9864? Opening lead of K from KQ7, and then the 7 is played in response to the 4 play? 4 could be upside-down attitude.

If North has Jxxxx in hearts, then there is no squeeze anyway. If South has KQJ987, why would he be 100% that partner doesn't have the stiff?

Nothing makes sense any more...

[bill1157]

actually the hand was simple like echo said: I next played club K and saw T drop from north. I then finessed the ♣9 thereby resolving the blockage, but at the risk of going down!
I guess at least I saw the blockage, no one else in NT saw it!

Bill

[bill1157]

kenrexford, on Sep 11 2009, 11:05 PM, said:

quiddity, on Sep 11 2009, 08:03 PM, said:

kenrexford, on Sep 11 2009, 07:49 PM, said:

When dummy then has Ax and ducks the first time...

The layout is confusing, but I think ♥K243 implies the ace is in hand.

Well, isn't that weird.

I suppose, then, that still makes a squeeze work against the other guy, along those lines, but then the spade-heart 10 squeeze works too.

What's weird is that the opening lead of the King is ducked, and then, with the Ax hidden, the seven continuation goes around to the Ace. Does orth then have J9864? Opening lead of K from KQ7, and then the 7 is played in response to the 4 play? 4 could be upside-down attitude.

If North has Jxxxx in hearts, then there is no squeeze anyway. If South has KQJ987, why would he be 100% that partner doesn't have the stiff?

Nothing makes sense any more...

sorry for the confuson. I meant 6nt by east, so south led hK... also, yes he led low to the 2nd trick but had qj also: I think he assumed his parter had the ace.