Defensive signals
#1
Posted 2010-April-06, 12:04
For instance, against a 4 spade contract, with two broken suits you elect to lay down the diamond ace, and find the dummy with K,Q, J.
Now, is an 8 from partner suit preference, or possibly start of a doubleton? (Attitude?)
Can we switch from showing doubletons or attitude in such an instance to showing suit preference?
I think I can make an argument for either.
Should I be able to tell which from length of my own suit and visualizing declarer's hand given the bidding?
#2
Posted 2010-April-06, 14:21
#3
Posted 2010-April-06, 14:44
In general, I'd say this is not a SP situation, because giving attitude accomplishes pretty much the same thing. Surely if you cashed the A in the middle of the hand looking at KQJ you had a reason. So you probably had something in mind and it was either to continue playing the suit hoping to give partner a ruff in that suit (in which case he encourages) or you need to play something else (in which case partner discourages) and it should be obvious to you what to play. If you're cashing aces because you don't know what else to do in the hand, I suggest worrying less about signals and more about defending in general.
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#4
Posted 2010-April-06, 20:36
AnJoe, on Apr 6 2010, 01:04 PM, said:
In this situation, I play high from a singleton (encouraging), low from length. Some people prefer upside attitude however and reverse these.
#5
Posted 2010-April-06, 20:54
I insisted that Ace asks for attitude and King asks for count.
This situation clearly is suit preference but anything that's solid can work since I was ignored on the above request.
What is baby oil made of?
#6
Posted 2010-April-07, 06:26
On the above post: A is led, QJxx hits the table. The A is usually from AKx(xx) and my view is that the only attitude that I can have is governed by my length. So I give count.
With regard to the original situation: A is led KQJ hits. I'm not so sure this is a SP situation. Presumably opening leader had a choice of bad leads or he would not have laid down the ace in the first place. It could well be the case, especially if dummy is really KQJ rather than KQJx, that the best move is to continue the suit and let declarer open up the side suits. When it is clear to everyone that you are in a cash out situation, then SP applies. But "clear to everyone" may be a bit ambiguous.
I also go with BobF's suggestion of playing high with a singleton, but I have one partner who insists I should play low. Really I think the best is to hold it in the air for an extra second or two before placing it on the table.
#7
Posted 2010-April-07, 12:40
Quote
I don't know about that. In some auctions you could have 82 as easily as 8752. If you are going to play the 8 (or 7) how is partner supposed to know the difference? I think it should simply be attitude, play high (low if UDCA) if you have the doubleton and want a ruff, OR you want partner to cash because the likely shift is probably worse. Count if it's 5 level+.
#8
Posted 2010-April-07, 14:04
Rob F, on Apr 6 2010, 07:36 PM, said:
I don't know if this was meant to be funny, but it was.
#9
Posted 2010-April-07, 22:35
Echognome, on Apr 7 2010, 03:04 PM, said:
Rob F, on Apr 6 2010, 07:36 PM, said:
I don't know if this was meant to be funny, but it was.
#10
Posted 2010-April-08, 08:26
Rob F, on Apr 6 2010, 09:36 PM, said:
AnJoe, on Apr 6 2010, 01:04 PM, said:
In this situation, I play high from a singleton (encouraging), low from length. Some people prefer upside attitude however and reverse these.
yes I only play UDCA when I have a singleton 2.
the Freman, Chani from the move "Dune"
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."
George Bernard Shaw
#11
Posted 2010-April-08, 08:53
jjbrr, on Apr 6 2010, 03:44 PM, said:
"Conveying the information that partner needs to know" is great in the post-mortem, but unfortunately it backfires fairly frequently at the table. The problem is that partner does not necessarily agree with you about "what he needs to know" or about the meaning of the signal.
A couple nights ago I was defending a 4♠ contract at IMPs. My partner is a Hall of Fame player, world champion, bbo star, etc.
Partner lead the ♦K and I played the ♦2. I was hoping that this would be suit preference for clubs (telling partner what he "needs to know"), but our agreement was just "we play UDCA." After some thought, partner switched to a small heart and the contract made.
One of partner's more regular partners was the dummy on this hand, and commented that "obviously the ♦2 was telling him what he needs to know" and he should switch to clubs.
But the point is, even among very good players, these signals are sometimes missed/misinterpreted.
A method I really like is obvious shift (described in the Granovetter's "switch in time" book). This method means that the trick one signal is a combination of attitude and suit preference, which removes most of the need for special agreements about particular dummy holdings, as well as removing the guess work of "is what you think I need to know actually what I think I need to know."
a.k.a. Appeal Without Merit
#12
Posted 2010-April-08, 09:18
Bramley gave us a similar anecdote about a time when he needed to know SP and partner gave it on opening lead instead of in trumps like would be standard now.
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