[doumee13]

Hello,

I would like to ask your opinion on the following hand, I have included all my cards and the cards from dummy:

Scoring: IMP

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South opened 1H. I overcalled 2C, is this a good bid at these vulnerabilities? I wasn't sure.

North doubled (negative) and my partner bid 2S.

South doubled (this was not a penalty double but was explained as "a good hand"). North bid 3H and south bid the 4H game.

I led the spade ace, my partner played the 10 and declarer played the 7. How should I interpret my partner's 10, and what should I play now?

Thank you,
doumee

[olliebol]

South looks like 5 hearts and no good sp stop something like Qx AQ98x KQJx Ax. Partner seems to signalling neutral if he is lavinthaling at all. I guess a diamond though this could easily give the contract but so can a heart or a club. This hand gives me a headache.

[gwnn]

Why are you giving declarer 5 hearts? That never even occurred to me. It is more likely that he has a second diamond jack than only 5 hearts.

[olliebol]

Because with 6 hearts i guess he would have bid some number of hearts on 2 spades.

[hanp]

It seems to me that partner is very likely to have 6 spades. He did bid 2S vulnerable against not after all, and with 2 spades declarer might not have bid 4S. The spade 10 is then sort of the middle card from KQJ1095. Partner knows we'll have to figure out what to switch to and is giving suit preference. The 10 therefore tells us that partner has neither the diamond king or the club ace.

The best thing to do is to mentally construct a few hands for declarer that are consistent with all this information.

Let's start with the likely 1633 shape:

I) x AKJxxx K109 Axx

II) x AJxxxx KQx Axx

III) x KQJxxx KQx Axx

With III it doesn't matter what we play, declarer will always go down. With I it also doesn't matter what we play, declarer will always make. For example, if we play a heart, declarer can play 6 rounds and we have to come down to 3 clubs and 3 diamonds. Declarer can then exit with a small club and we are endplayed into either giving up a club trick or breaking diamonds.

On hand 2 declarer makes if we play clubs. If we play hearts or diamonds though, declarer won't make it if partner plays a club as soon as he wins the heart trick.

It's very hard to construct a hand where playing a heart is wrong. In fact, I couldn't think of any.

[hanp]

olliebol, with 5 hearts and no spade stop declarer can bdi 3S. It didn't occur to me for one moment that declarer might have only 5 hearts.

[olliebol]

If declarer has six hearts then a heart is best. cant wait to see the real hand.

[doumee13]

Well I can help with that ollibol!

This was the full hand:

Scoring: IMP

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At trick 2 I played a diamond, I could not see any layout in which this would lose. Declarer won the ace in dummy and played a heart to his king, which won. Then declarer played a small heart from his hand and partner was forced to win his ace.

Partner thought that declarer played as if I had Jxx in hearts and decided to play the king of spades, hoping to promote a trump trick for me. Thank you partner!

Declarer ruffed high and played all his trumps. In the end he had only clubs and diamonds in each of his hands. I had to keep 3 clubs so I discarded a diamond. Declarer now cashed the king-queen of diamonds and exited with a club. I was forced to win and play another club, which gave away the contract.

I thought declarer played well, but we had so many chances to beat the contract that I felt very bad about it. Should I have switched to a heart instead as hanp says? Even a club would have been better on this layout. Or should partner have foreseen this ending and played a club?

Thank you for your comments!
doumee

[Jlall]

I mean w/e, partner messed up. If you played a heart back thinking "this will force partner to play a club and not try to give me a trump promotion!" then that's pretty amazing heh. I wouldn't really worry about stuff like that, just try to make good plays.

As hanp says I can't see any layouts where a diamond is better than a trump, and obviously a diamond risks blowing a trick, so that's why I'd play a heart...not really to avoid something like this.

Declarer's play was superb btw, definitely excellent (not just the obv squeeze endplay, but winning the DA and playing heart to the king and small heart to give off this illusion). Still your partner messed up badly when he never should have.

[olliebol]

Tx for hand. I didnt know this double from south ,usefull stuff and as justin said declarer played excellent. Maybe you should post this hand again later as an defensive problem for east the moment he or she tried the trump promotion. Anyway good problem!

Oh and 2 clubs looks not pretty but i guess we all do, nice shape, 10 9 of clubs ,short spades, but hearts are blaah, well he who is without sin casts the first stone

[gwnn]

2♣ was very bad (sorry OP) at unfavourable vulnerability, maybe once in a while if you are white/red but I wouldn't even do it then.

[Phil]

Agree with Justin - Declarer did a fine job of making your pard think you had ♥Jxx. However, if this was the case, declarer's heart play makes no sense from a technical standpoint, although its quite good from a psychological one, even if he did have KQ9xxx. Once East doesn't play the club, the hand sort of plays itself, although declarer needs to work out your minor suit shape.

What diamond spot did you lead? I would think the 7 would say you are interested in a trump promotion but the 4 would say you aren't.

By the way, I have to confess I thought declarer has 5 hearts (or maybe six bad ones) with the initial double.

[olliebol]

This is a very interesting situation. The reason south cant have five hearts is i think the 4 heart bid on 3 hearts.

Basically the double is take out with 1 or 2 spades and extras right? North can pass it with reasonable spades or better ones, that was the extra oppurtunity south got for the double. In my opinion double by south would even be clearer on say: x AKxxx HQxx Axx or would you bid 3 diammonds with this? Or double and on three hearts from partner 3 spades as a last attempt to reach 3nt.

After this bidding i also think 2nt by north on the double is natural of course.

[olliebol]

But i must add for my example hand that in the hand in question the south hand would be x KQJxx KQx Axxx and maybe this is not a defensive good enough hand for double.

[lmilne]

gwnn, on May 2 2010, 10:33 AM, said:

2♣ was very bad (sorry OP) at unfavourable vulnerability, maybe once in a while if you are white/red but I wouldn't even do it then.

cmon, white/red its way too tempting to throw in a cheeky 2♣... might even be tempted all white. i went through the old-man phase of passing everything for a while, but i'm starting to bid a lot more on these things...

[hanp]

I think 2C is automatic white against red. Wouldn't do it red against white though.

[Jlall]

hanp, on May 3 2010, 07:18 AM, said:

I think 2C is automatic white against red.

The dutch have officially corrupted hanp!

[hanp]

You forners can continue to lose if you prefer.