[dcrc2]

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You get the lead of a small diamond; you play small from dummy and RHO plays the 8 which you duck. RHO continues with a top diamond and you win the ace with LHO discarding a small spade. (If the signal means anything it is suit preference.) How do you continue from here?

If it makes any difference, oppo are non-experts, and RHO did not have a weak 2♦ opening available.

[Zelandakh]

I take it there is a better line than simply banging down black suit winners and hoping something drops? How long did LHO take before throwing the spade? Can we get a read on whether it was likely to be from 4 or 5? Similarly for their bidding - how light do they respond with shortage in partner's minor and a 5 card major? with one or both 4 card majors?

[dcrc2]

Zelandakh, on 2012-December-10, 03:31, said:

I take it there is a better line than simply banging down black suit winners and hoping something drops? How long did LHO take before throwing the spade? Can we get a read on whether it was likely to be from 4 or 5? Similarly for their bidding - how light do they respond with shortage in partner's minor and a 5 card major? with one or both 4 card majors?

I didn't ask these questions as I wouldn't expect this pair to have agreed a style of responses. But I suspect that West will pass regardless of shape on a hand of 3 HCP or less.

The discard was not particularly slow.

[mikeh]

I could write a long post catering to various club breaks. But if clubs are good for 5 tricks, we're laughing and if the J drops stiff, we are again in wonderful shape and will easily create the desired throw in for RHO...we will have played 2 diamonds, 2 spades, 4 clubs and rho is forced to either stiff the heart K or keep Kx and 3 good diamonds (I am ignoring xxx Kx KQJ108x xx since we are cold on that lie).

So assume clubs break badly. I discount the notion that RHO has 6=4 minors, so we'll go with LHO holding that Jack.

Unblock the clubs and advance the spade J.

Assume RHO covers. Cash the club Q. Assume the J hasn't appeared. Cash the A10 of spades.

We have played 2 rounds of diamonds and 3 each in the blacks, so RHO is reduced to the desired 5 card ending. Since we know his exact shape, he can't fool us by stiffing the heart K. Exit in diamonds.

Obviously we fail if the spade Q is with the length, and the clubs don't run. LHO wins the spade and leads a heart and down we go.

Edit. I can't imagine RHO not covering with the spade Q, but if he doesn't (but has it) then we are cold no matter how the cards lie so long as he has the heart K, and he can't do anything to fool us...details are left to the reader.

[PhilKing]

Just hammer a few plus ones to the post above ...

[rmnka447]

Add another plus 1 for mikeh's post.

Sometimes it pays to take a little time and work out what honors are missing. From what you hold in your two hands, the missing honors are ♠ Q ♥ K ♦ KQJ ♣ J. It looks like East definitely has to have the ♥ K to be anywhere near an opening bid. So you know, there's no hope for a ♥ finesse. West might have a stray J, but it looks like everything else has to be in East's hand.

Proceed as mikeh outlines.

[dcrc2]

OK, I was hoping someone would suggest that! So you cash ♣AK (both following small) and lead the ♠J. Everything is easy if East covers, but today he doesn't. Are you letting the J run?

[gnasher]

dcrc2, on 2012-December-11, 02:55, said:

OK, I was hoping someone would suggest that! So you cash ♣AK (both following small) and lead the ♠J. Everything is easy if East covers, but today he doesn't. Are you letting the J run?

It's right to finesse if the opponents' hands are something like

xxxx 10xxx x Jxxx opposite Qxx Kx KQJ10xx xx

but wrong if they're

Qxxxx xxx x xxx opposite xx Kxx KQJ10xx Jxx
Qxxxxx xx x xxxx opposite x K10xx KQJ10xx Jx

That last hand for opener looks more like a 2♦ bid than any of the others, but many people would have responded with the West hand. You might have to use your knowledge of the opponents to guide you.

[rhm]

dcrc2, on 2012-December-11, 02:55, said:

OK, I was hoping someone would suggest that! So you cash ♣AK (both following small) and lead the ♠J. Everything is easy if East covers, but today he doesn't. Are you letting the J run?

Give West ♣Jxxx to create a challenge for the contract.
If West is ♠xxxx,♥xxxx,♦x,♣Jxxx you must run the ♠J.
If West is ♠Qxxxx,♥xxx,♦x,♣Jxxx you must put up the ♠king.

On this alone I would play for the first layout, partly because on the second hand East has not much of an opening bid not to mention his diamond rebid and an initial Pass or 3♦ preempt might have appealed to him instead and partly West might have scraped up a 1♠ response with the second hand and also might have discarded a heart in preference to a spade.

Running the ♠J risks down three, while putting up the ♠K risks only down one.
Also the second hand is a priory roughly twice as likely as the first one.

However there is a further consideration:
If clubs are 3-3 and you run the jack you are risking your contract declarer being
♠xx, ♥Kx, ♦KQJTxx, ♣Jxx or ♠x, ♥KTx, ♦KQJTxx, ♣Jxx

This last consideration tilts the balance. Because of this you should probably put up the ♠king

Rainer Herrmann

[rhm]

gnasher, on 2012-December-11, 04:12, said:

It's right to finesse if the opponents' hands are something like

xxxx 10xxx x Jxxx opposite Qxx Kx KQJ10xx xx

but wrong if they're

Qxxxx xxx x xxx opposite xx Kxx KQJ10xx Jxx
Qxxxxx xx x xxxx opposite x K10xx KQJ10xx Jx

That last hand for opener looks more like a 2♦ bid than any of the others, but many people would have responded with the West hand. You might have to use your knowledge of the opponents to guide you.

The last hand is not possible since East followed small to the top clubs.

Rainer Herrmann

[dcrc2]

So I ran the J and found myself down three:

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I really didn't think RHO would open that hand. But I have to confess I didn't give it much thought when he failed to cover the ♠J. I was wondering in hindsight whether LHO's spade pitch or RHO's failure to cover should have been a red flag in some way.

I'm not sure I would ever guess the actual layout but could certainly have avoided three down, and I'd have looked very silly if clubs were breaking.

They made 4♥ at the other table. (It was one of those days!)