[Fluffy]

Scoring: MP

1♦-1♥
2♠-3♥
3NT-4♦
4♠-6♦
pass

---

The bidding is somehow irrelevant, I am sure looking at both hands most of us will find a good way to reach 6♥, specially when I tell you that in 6♦ whenever you play 2 rounds of ♥ East will drop ♥J on second round of the suit.

The lead is small ♠ to the ♠J.

Plan your play.

[Fluffy]

Not much answers :-(

This hand happened during our national pairs championship, 2 low level pairs played against on this board, and there was some missinfo during the bidding, and in the end (I´ll explain why and how later) director settled contract to 6♦ -1 since on normal defence the contract won´t be made, that isn´t true, the contract is makeable on any defence*, just that the line is maybe not very clear.

I myself played in 3NT so didn´t face the real problem untill I knew how the hand was distributed, after that I found wich the winning line to 6♦ was. The more I though of it, the more I though it was the BEST line to play on the contract, but of course I highly suspected my decision was biased for knowing the exact location of all cards, so I wanted to see if normally anyone would suggest the winning line.

So far only 1 answer :-(, would any one else try?.

*: on any defence but a real double dummy one actually.

[pclayton]

Well its a tough hand. And now that we know its matchpoints, the hands even tougher

If diamonds are 3-2; I have 11 off the top after forcing out the K♣. A spade ruff gets me to 12. even if the K♣ is offside, it will create an entry to dummy.

If diamonds are 4-1, I can still make the hand, but I absolutely need the club hook.

If hearts are 3-3, and diamonds 3-2, I can play the hand in my sleep.

So, ......I'm playing:

1. A♠
2. ruff spade (what are the spots?) - can I tell if they are 4-4? 5-3?
3. Club hook.....

4A. If the hook wins, I'll continue A♣, ruff club, AK♥ pitching my 2 black suit losers, Q♦ and try to ruff a heart back to hand. I may get uppercutted, but it will only cost me my 13th if the uppercut comes from the short hand. There are too many possibilities here to calculate, like what happens if RHO drops the K♣ at T2, or if the 2nd ♥ gets ruffed, etc.. I'd like to be at the table.

4B. If the club hook loses, the hand actually gets easier. Their best return is a trump. I win the Q, trump back to hand, draw trump, club back to J, cash hearts and claim.

Yeah, I realy like the club hook at T3 the more I think about it.

[luke warm]

Fluffy, on Nov 12 2004, 03:51 AM, said:

Dealer: South Vul: None Scoring: MP

♠ 3 ♥ AK109872 ♦ Q73 ♣ J2 ♠ AK106 ♥   ♦ AK852 ♣ AQ75

1♦-1♥ 2♠-3♥ 3NT-4♦ 4♠-6♦ pass

i saw someone do this once so i'll try it... take the ♠A, lead the ♣Q (in case i need the entry)... if the return is a club, win the J and play A, K♥, then A, K, Q♦ in that order.. if return is a heart, take the top two then play Q, A, K♦ w/ J♣ the entry... if a spade, trump it and play off top hearts, then Q and low ♦

finally, if a trump is returned, take the Q and lead the top hearts, go to hand and draw trumps, with ♣J as entry... this all depends on 3/2 diamond break, and it's a bottom if the club hook wins all along...

[Free]

Small ♣ to the J. If it holds we're home, if it doesn't hold we're also home... Unless trumps are 4-1 and I have a bad day I can't cope with that

[Fluffy]

Ok, it seems clear that my picture of the winning line was completelly biased for knowing all the hands, nobody has suggested anything even near to it :-(.

Here the full hand:

---

Supose you start with ♠A+♠ruff, and cash top ♥s discardin 1 ♠ and 1♣.
You see ♥J dropping at east, and you might consider rather safe returning to hand with a ♥ ruff (it actually is not really safe, but it isn´t really dangerous even).

When ♥come to be 3-3 you are nearly home, cash ♠K discarding a ♣ from dummy, ♣A, ♣ ruff, ♦Q and a top ♥ will force the long ♦ (if any) to ruff while you dscard your last ♣.

So was these a science fiction line actually?.

(at double dummy there is only 1 line that defeats the contract: low ♦ lead )

[EarlPurple]

Well I can see how to make it double-dummy. Ruff a spade, 2 rounds of hearts and ruff a heart, then try to draw trumps and when they are 4-1 you throw in West on the 4th round to lead a club. You have Qx in dummy and AJx in hand so you need West to have the king and dummy's hearts are high because they broke 3-3.

Double-dummy though (and that line works on a trump lead too).