[eyhung]

Scoring: IMP

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I was given this hand by a friend. You reach the contract of 6♣ with no opposing bidding, and apparently the declarer never supported spades. The lead is ♠J (standard leads). How would you play this at teams?

[maggieb]

At first glance it looks like I can't deal with 4-1 breaks in both black suits (without taking some double dummy views) and that any reasonable line works if both black suits break.

If spades are 3-2 and clubs are 4-1 I can ruff a heart in dummy, but I can't ruff two hearts in dummy.

If spades are 4-1 but clubs are 3-2, then I can play to ruff two hearts in dummy.

A small advantage of the second line is that if both black suits break 3-2 I'll make 7 for an extra IMP.

If spades are 4-1 then the opening leader led from JTxx or J.
If spades are 3-2 then the opening leader led from JTx, JT, or maybe Jx.

So I think spades 4-1 is more likely from the lead, since JTxx or J is just a more attractive lead, so I'll try to ruff two hearts in dummy.

[dellache]

Hi Eugene !

For a start, I think it would be much better to post this kind of problem with important extraneous facts like :
- the full sequence (how do we interpret the lead ?) ;
- the strength of oppos (is LHO a LOL or LOM who would lead a very dangerous Jack from JTx in spite of dummy's known spades ?)
- the speed of the lead : did West lead a very quick ♠J, or did he consider another lead ?

Let's suppose that North just bid spades on 1♥, then gave fit in Clubs, and they went on a quick slam. I would expect a trump or a Diamond lead then, and never a ♠J lead from JTx+.

If West led it quickly, it's odds on that he has J or JT bare, and I would play accordingly.

We can make even if both suits are 4-1, if we play like this :
[1] Take ♠K, [2] Ruff a Heart, [3] Cash ♦A, [4] ruff a diamond.
It looks like you have shortened both hands now, but it doesn't really matter.
[5] Play a spade toward dummy.

Case a. West discards a diamond.
We have to hope that he had at least 4 diamonds. We cash [6] ♦K discarding a spade, and if we have survived, we can cross-ruff the reminder and make 12 tricks.

Case b. West plays the Spade Ten.
We take [6]♠Ace, and [7] Cash the ♦K discarding a spade. Then we finish on cross-ruff lines. We don't care about trumps being also 4-1.

Case c. West plays a small Spade.
What a JOKE !
We have no choice but to play [6] the Ace, and if East ruffs this, too bad.
If we make the trick, we can still manage 12 tricks if Trumps are 4-1. We continue with [7] ♦K, and discard a Spade. Now we play [8] ♠Q. If East has 4 trumps we don't care if he ruffs this : we overruff and finish the hand on cross ruff. If he discards a Heart, threatening an Overruf, we do the same, and we always make 12 tricks.
(If West has led the ♠J in Jx, we also finish on a cross ruff).

Actually, there seems to be NO line at the start which allows you to cater for both 4-1 splits, both ways. The above line succeeds almost always when West has short spades. Even with 3-2 spades, it seems to succeed most of the time.

What did I miss ?

[eyhung]

Unfortunately, I didn't witness the hand in question, so I couldn't provide any of the three factors that you are asking for, but I thought the problem was interesting enough to relate. The "obvious" line of ruffing 2 hearts in dummy is indicated, but fails with 4-1 trump. I think your line, leaving open the possibility of a cross-ruff, is superior, because it can even pick up some hands where both suits break 4-1, but I was wondering if there was an even better line that I was missing.