[cargobeep]

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IMPS.

West leads the heart 6.

What's the best line of play here?

[Hanoi5]

♥A and ♦J for a finesse. It's a 33 HCP's 6NT but it looks ugly. Spade finesse (small to the J) will be next.

[CamHenry]

I need multiple finesses onside; the potential source of tricks that needs the least additional luck is ♦. I'm therefore with hanoi5, though the ♥ duplication is the real problem here.

Also, what was 5NT? Asking for kings? Why? Did N think that the perfect 19-count opposite (A, 4Ks, ♥QJ) was going to provide enough for 7?

[c_corgi]

Spade to the jack at trick two. How to play the minors will depend on how the spades behave.

[cargobeep]

 c_corgi, on 2013-June-17, 10:16, said:

Spade to the jack at trick two. How to play the minors will depend on how the spades behave.

Unfortunately that line is doomed to fail.

Full Layout:

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Main plays required are

1) Diamond Finesse
2) Playing spades by either playing low to the Queen or playing ace and then both low

If you play low to the Q♠ and East ducks, then you gotta Endplay East in clubs. If East rises, 12 tricks is easy.


If you play to the A♠ and then play both low, you will have to squeeze East in Clubs and Diamonds. The main layout you're going for here would be:

NORTH: J♠, T♦, J♣ (on lead)
EAST: Q♦, Q9♣
SOUTH: K75♣

[nige1]

 c_corgi, on 2013-June-17, 10:16, said:

Spade to the jack at trick two. How to play the minors will depend on how the spades behave.

 cargobeep, on 2013-June-17, 18:11, said:

Unfortunately that line is doomed to fail.
Full Layout:
Main plays required are
1) Diamond Finesse
2) Playing spades by either playing low to the Queen or playing ace and then both low
If you play low to the Q♠ and East ducks, then you gotta Endplay East in clubs. If East rises, 12 tricks is easy.
If you play to the A♠ and then play both low, you will have to squeeze East in Clubs and Diamonds. The main layout you're going for here would be:
NORTH: J♠, T♦, J♣ (on lead)
EAST: Q♦, Q9♣
SOUTH: K75♣

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Unless playing double-dummy, c_corgi's line seems better. For example, later, you may want four ♦ tricks and judge that your best chance is a doubleton queen.

[Zelandakh]

 nige1, on 2013-June-17, 21:04, said:

Unless playing double-dummy, c_corgi's line seems better.

Don't be silly now. The line that makes on the hand provided is always better. How else can posters show how clever they are?

[WellSpyder]

 cargobeep, on 2013-June-17, 18:11, said:

If you play low to the Q♠ and [....] East rises, 12 tricks is easy.

Provided you take the ♦ finesse and then play to squeeze East in the minors, rather than simply falling back on the ♣ finesse when ♦s fail to break. Does that really count as easy?