[shanbari]

this is one of interesting hand in pair IMPS game, hands are computer generated, very tricky hands.

Scoring: IMP

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E S W N
3D P P X
P 4H ------


west leads SA, then swithc to D4, e-w plays std carding and leads.

what's your reasonable plan ? it may not be too difficult, however easy to go wrong.

SHAN

[Walddk]

Win and lead a spade up.

By the way, it's a myth if you think that computer dealt hands are trickier than any other hands. If anything, they follow the average patterns much better than improperly shuffled cards at home or at the club.

Roland

[Chamaco]

Walddk, on Apr 18 2005, 01:51 PM, said:

Win and lead a spade up.

Roland

Roland, a question on timing here.

Leading a spade to dummy feels right, but on which basis you decide to do it right away rather than cashing at least 2 rounds of trumps ?

If the spade loses, we risk a diamond ruff

On the other hand, there may be a bad trump split (J9xx on the left), or, we mightneed a ruff in a minor suit.

How do you decide on the pros and cons ?

[Walddk]

Chamaco, on Apr 18 2005, 08:58 AM, said:

Walddk, on Apr 18 2005, 01:51 PM, said:

Win and lead a spade up.

Roland

Roland, a question on timing here.

Leading a spade to dummy feels right, but on which basis you decide to do it right away rather than cashing at least 2 rounds of trumps ?

If the spade loses, we risk a diamond ruff

On the other hand, there may be a bad trump split (J9xx on the left), or, we mightneed a ruff in a minor suit.

How do you decide on the pros and cons ?

If I cash 2 rounds of trumps first (KQ), I will end in dummy, and that is not where I want to be.

Secondly, I may never be able to ruff my diamond loser later. It is better timing if I lead a spade up first. LHO surely has the king. Why else would he lead the ace instead of his (likely) diamond singleton?

Roland

[Fluffy]

If you play ♥KQ and West has 4♥ you cannot ruff your ♦ in dummy. West is actually weelcome to ruff a ♦, as soon as ♠Q is good you will force him to do so.

[Walddk]

Another point is that, after winning his ♠K, LHO may try ♠J next. You should not play the queen from dummy now, since it is quite likely that RHO can ruff it. ♠Q must stand up as a trick later.

RHO could be something like

2272
2173
3172

If I must guess, I think 2173, but that will not jeopardise my 4♥. At this vulnerability he may not have more than 6 diamonds, which will make it all easier, but it's always a good thing if you picture the worst possible and see if you can make it from there.

Roland

[pclayton]

Chamaco, on Apr 18 2005, 05:58 AM, said:

Walddk, on Apr 18 2005, 01:51 PM, said:

Win and lead a spade up.

Roland

Roland, a question on timing here.

Leading a spade to dummy feels right, but on which basis you decide to do it right away rather than cashing at least 2 rounds of trumps ?

If the spade loses, we risk a diamond ruff

On the other hand, there may be a bad trump split (J9xx on the left), or, we mightneed a ruff in a minor suit.

How do you decide on the pros and cons ?

Mauro - if you look deep into this hand, 2 rounds of trump probably don't hurt, since you can recover with a black suit squeeze against LHO with most of the hands Roland mentions. Likewise, playing a spade early probably doesn't hurt either, since you can still recover from many of the problem hands, like spades 6-1 and diamonds 7-1.

But the overall principle of establishing your winners before drawing trump to keep control and communication is sound here.

[HeartA]

I will choose the same line as Roland does.

[shanbari]

sorry, guys, the west actually play 2 rounds spade AK, then switched the D4.

Scoring: IMP

---

E S W N
3D P P X
P 4H ------

what's your reasonable plan ? it may not be too difficult, however easy to go wrong.

SHAN

[HeartA]

OK. It looks like West has 4 trumps to the Jack.

I will test trumps first. If they are 3-2, I have a claim. If West indeed has ♥J(9)xx, I will give him the trump trick (pitch a ♣ on dummy).
1) If he returns ♠ and ♠ are 5-2, there would be a triple squeeze: Throw ♣ on ♠Q and ♦ to Q (assume DA played at trick 3). The ending is:

West: Sx, --, --, Cxxx. Dummy: Sx, --, --, CAxx, East: --, --, Dx, Cxxx, South: --, Hx, Dx, CKx. On last trump, West was forced to discard ♣, dummy discard ♠. East is squeezed.


2) If he returns ♠ and ♠ are 4-3. I get back to hand with DQ and draw last trump. West is squeezed on black suits.

3) If he returns ♣, I win in hand (what did East discard on first 2 ♠s?). And I think I have guess on West's distribution. Since West didn't continue ♠, I assume he has 4414, I will have a simple squeeze against him. I don't have the double squeeze anymore (I could be wrong).

[Walddk]

The best line after ♠AK and a diamond switch to the king and ace is actually a simple one, provided that hearts break no worse than 4-1.

Heart to dummy, and a diamond to the queen. Let West ruff if he wants/can. No return will prevent me from scoring a diamond ruff, and I will take 10 tricks as follows:

6 hearts (1 ruff), 1 spade, 1 diamond and 2 clubs. This line only requires that RHO has at least 1 club. This is much better than an automatic (against LHO) or double squeeze. If LHO is 5413, 4 rounds of hearts won't work as long as he exits with a club. I can't afford to win the return in either hand!

As I see it, only an initial club lead defeats the contract. After just one top spade there is no longer any defence.

Roland

[Fluffy]

Walddk, on Apr 18 2005, 09:50 PM, said:

As I see it, only an initial club lead defeats the contract. After just one top spade there is no longer any defence.

Do not forget that East may have ♥Jxx, it will make you go down on that line .

I need to improve my timing though, I was gonna play ♦Q before even drawing 1 round of trumps, I often lose cold contracts for this lazyness :-(.

[shanbari]

well done, roland and fluffy

Scoring: IMP

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play diamond to force west ruff would secure the 4h contract, as long as west was holding 3/4 hearts.

SHAN