[pclayton]

---

IMP Pairs - OKB - Circa 2001

South.....North
1♦.....1♥
2♦.....3♦
3N.....All Pass

Opening Lead - club 3, 5, Q

Plan the play.

If you come up with the answer - please post it in hidden text please.

[inquiry]

Well, I guess I think I know... :-)

Spoiler

Routine Hideous Hog play.. on the Club Queen, play the club JACK.

Win the club continuation in dummy and lead diamonds.

[the hog]

My guess follows:

Spoiler

Duck the C. No doubt a C will be returned; now knock out DA and hopefully opps will continue a C. Note that this will not work if the opponents are playing Smith echoes.

Ron

[Gerben47]

Mine:

Spoiler

Spades are wide open so you have to fake a problem in ♣. Your only chance is to duck the club and take the second with the ace, then give up your diamond.

[pclayton]

Good job all; I've given this hand to a lot of players and only a few have seen the answer.

We have 5 diamonds and 2 hearts, so only need TWO club tricks; ergo duck the club. Both E and W will play their partner for the club King. It took the opponents about a nanosecond to continue clubs at T4.

The really sad thing about the hand is that BOTH spade honors were onside, so 10 tricks were routine in NT. As a matter of fact my partner (who I did not know), asked me why I only made 9 tricks when the field was making 10. Sigh.

I don't know about Mollo, but there is a hand in Right Through the Pack almost identical to this.

[inquiry]

pclayton, on Oct 1 2004, 12:45 PM, said:

Good job all; I've given this hand to a lot of players and only a few have seen the answer.

We have 5 diamonds and 2 hearts, so only need TWO club tricks; ergo duck the club. Both E and W will play their partner for the club King. It took the opponents about a nanosecond to continue clubs at T4.

The really sad thing about the hand is that BOTH spade honors were onside, so 10 tricks were routine in NT. As a matter of fact my partner (who I did not know), asked me why I only made 9 tricks when the field was making 10. Sigh.

I don't know about Mollo, but there is a hand in Right Through the Pack almost identical to this.

Alas, you were playing with a resulter... they look at the result to decide if you did you good or not. Ducking the club seems very clear to me...

Now if they play count signals or lead second best.. they will get a little curious in here perhaps...after the second round of clubs.. *your JT" will not quite add up.. but fortunatley most don't think this deep. Not sure smith echo will help here, as low diamond to the seven to show you got all those yummy diamonds, they will read their partners diamond as, well, their only diamond.

Ben

[luke warm]

i'd think phil's line is correct whether mps or imps, i can't understand his partner's remarks... i hate resulters with a passion

[sceptic]

Just curious I thought to take Ace club first then give away a diamond trick, why would they automatically switch to a spade from that?

[luke warm]

because you wouldn't play that way unless clubs held no fear for you..they should be able to guess that a switch is needed