[inquiry]

Playing with a pick up partner and no agreement, you are getting hammered board after board after board. You are downn maybe a 100 imps (well it's no quite that bad). You no longer have a chance to finish any better than last, but at least here you get a chance to play some cute bridge. Plan your play.

Scoring: IMP

West North East South
 -     -     2♥    Pass
 3♥    Dbl   Pass  4♠
 Pass  Pass  5♣    5♦
 Dbl   Pass  Pass  Pass
 

---

Two hearts is alerted as "weak" when you ask if it can be five cards, you get no reply. Seeing dummy and in light of the raise and you seeing two of the top three heart honors, you doubt EAST raised on doubleton honor, so you should suspect it is a five card suit. Still an answer to your INQUIRY would have been nice.

Trick one... SA S6 ST S3
Trick two, lead S5 --- plan your play.

[whereagles]

How about let it ride and Morton's fork on hearts, against East?

[luke warm]

almost agree.. win K, draw trumps, then lead heart toward Q (playing lho for spade doubleton)

[inquiry]

luke warm, on Aug 31 2004, 11:07 AM, said:

almost agree.. win K, draw trumps, then lead heart toward Q (playing lho for spade doubleton)

Nice start. One thought, of course, is duck the second spade, (turns out that would have won).. but if EAST can ruff the second spade, you are down anyway, and if he can't ruff, playing east for 2 spades is right... WEST was trying to hit his partners singleton spade.

So when the spade king wins, it takes three rounds of trumps (west with three). Now imagine their hands. You are playing west for AQxx of spades, if has the heart ACE, EASt has opened 2H on xx Jxxxx(x) void QJxxxx... and then bid 5cl. I don't know, maybe he might do that. But Whereagles line seems better. Win third trump in dummy and lead a low HEART. IF east jumps the ace, dummy's last spade will be thrown on your heart king. If east plays low, win the heart king, club to AK (throw a heart), ruff a club, and exit heart to the Queen-ACE to endplay EAST.

Just as whereagles said, but he left out how he was going to play spades... the possibility of EAST having Spade Qx or xx has to be taken into consideration (do you pop the king or not). Clearly going up with king seems right to me (and is clearly what whereagles means too, as if you hook the spade, no need for the morton fork coup).

Ben

[whereagles]

Actually, I was thinking of letting the spade run to the jack. This line loses to singleton queen but avoids going 2 down when East can ruff.

Still, probably better to go up with the king. West might have doubled 4S if he held 5 spades.

[inquiry]

whereagles, on Aug 31 2004, 11:48 AM, said:

Actually, I was thinking of letting the spade run to the jack. This line loses to singleton queen but avoids going 2 down when East can ruff.

Still, probably better to go up with the king. West might have doubled 4S if he held 5 spades.

I guess you mean doubleton Queen... since clearly no one had a singleton queen.

Let the spade ride no need for morton. You lose 1S and 1H..... and if you go up and EAST ruff, you are still only down one, assume EAST the heart ACE (they will get it), not two, on the same morton fork coup. Win the trump or club, pull trumps, lead low heart from dummy.

So as long as EAST has the Heart ACE, going up with spade king gives you maxium tricks, and avoids disaster if EAST is Qx.

Ben

[whereagles]

Ah yes, you're right. King it is then.