[Tramticket]

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Pairs

Not the greatest auction. It is not good practice to use RKCB and then sign-off when only missing one key card. But it is pairs and making 12 tricks would still be a top, so what line do you propose?

Edit: Lead 8 Diamonds

[Cyberyeti]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-26, 06:27, said:

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Pairs

Not the greatest auction. It is not good practice to use RKCB and then sign-off when only missing one key card. But it is pairs and making 12 tricks would still be a top, so what line do you propose?

What lead do I get ?

[Tramticket]

Cyberyeti, on 2019-March-26, 06:41, said:

What lead do I get ?

Oops, missed that: ♦8

[Cyberyeti]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-26, 06:43, said:

Oops, missed that: ♦8

OK, I enquire what intermediate means to them and most of the time it sounds like N has every other face card and I'm happy just to make 11.

[HardVector]

Well, south needs to have the A♣, otherwise, there are only 11 tricks max and you are going to have problems even doing that if you play it wrong. I'd play the K♣ immediately to drive out the A. The best defense should be to hold up one round unless south thinks that north has a stiff. Assuming that south makes a mistake and takes the first club, then you may have a diamond/spade squeeze if north has QJx♠...unless south switches to a spade at trick 3. So, I'd have to say that making 12 tricks requires either a defensive error, or the QJ♠ being doubleton.

[Tramticket]

HardVector, on 2019-March-26, 12:05, said:

So, I'd have to say that making 12 tricks requires either a defensive error, or the QJ♠ being doubleton.

Well, North probably needs both the q and j for the intermediate jump over-call ... and since he has six diamonds, a doubleton spade is certainly possible. If you play ace of spades the Jack drops and the queen drops when you play the king.

There is still another step ...

[mikeh]

You can't make 12 tricks if North has anything resembling an intermediate overcall, since he is light even if he has the club Ace and the spade Queen....arguably ok if he has QJx in spades as well.

In fact, if he has the club Ace, you are quite likely to fail in 5.

You also need misdefence and significant luck to make 12 tricks if South has the club Ace.

All lines of play are fraught with peril, and teasing out what happens if you pursue which option would take a long time both to write out and to read.

Probably the best line is to win the diamond and play the club K. South will have problems ducking because he hasn't seen a count card from North, and maybe you have 2=6=4=1 or, for your weird 4N, 2=7=3=1.

Even if he ducks, you have to read whether North is the one ducking (it would be relatively easy to duck as north since south will play a count card, and we'd not be playing on clubs if we felt that we could pull trump and run the spades).

If we think South ducked, we pull two rounds of trump, ending in dummy if north fails on the 2nd round, and overtaking if he follows, playing trump to be 3-2. In that case we pull trump and exit a club...South probably wins, though he probably shouldn't, and now we have 4 black winners in dummy for 12 tricks (2 spades, a total of 3 clubs, 6 hearts and a diamond).

Note that this requires a misbid/misexplanation by North, South to have the club Ace, and to take it at the wrong time, and trump to be 3-2

Put the club Ace with north, and the play becomes truly intricate.

This is not, in my view, an intermediate/advanced play problem, fwiw.

[Tramticket]

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I sat dummy and watched partner win the ♦8 lead with the ace, then play two top spades, dropping the queen and jack and throwing a club from her hand. She then continued with a third spade (the two) and when north declined to ruff (it doesn't seem to help him to ruff) she pitched the king of clubs - leaving South on lead, but with no entry to the North hand. South exited with a trump, but partner was able to take the marked ruffing finesse and collect the remaining tricks.

I was certainly impressed!

[HardVector]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-26, 16:34, said:

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I sat dummy and watched partner win the ♦8 lead with the ace, then play two top spades, dropping the queen and jack and throwing a club from her hand. She then continued with a third spade (the two) and when north declined to ruff (it doesn't seem to help him to ruff) she pitched the king of clubs - leaving South on lead, but with no entry to the North hand. South exited with a trump, but partner was able to take the marked ruffing finesse and collect the remaining tricks.

I was certainly impressed!

Ok, a ruffing finesse gets rid of 2 diamond losers, how did they dodge the 3rd? 6 hearts+2 spades+2 clubs+1 daimond = 11 tricks. Looks like you got a defensive error.

[smerriman]

HardVector, on 2019-March-26, 19:49, said:

Ok, a ruffing finesse gets rid of 2 diamond losers, how did they dodge the 3rd? 6 hearts+2 spades+2 clubs+1 daimond = 11 tricks.

The ten of spades.

[mikeh]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-26, 16:34, said:

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I sat dummy and watched partner win the ♦8 lead with the ace, then play two top spades, dropping the queen and jack and throwing a club from her hand. She then continued with a third spade (the two) and when north declined to ruff (it doesn't seem to help him to ruff) she pitched the king of clubs - leaving South on lead, but with no entry to the North hand. South exited with a trump, but partner was able to take the marked ruffing finesse and collect the remaining tricks.

I was certainly impressed!

Seriously? In 5 H? I can see the desperation if in slam but this line is, I think, nuts in 5H.

[nige1]

Tramticket wrote 'Pairs. Not the greatest auction. It is not good practice to use RKCB and then sign-off when only missing one key card. But it is pairs and making 12 tricks would still be a top, so what line do you propose?
Edit: Lead 8 Diamonds'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To make 12 tricks, your best hope seems that North holds 6 ♦s and South to hold ♣A. Then...
♦A, ♥QJ, ♠A, ♠ ruff, ♥AK, ♣K and claim.

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[cherdano]

mikeh, on 2019-March-26, 21:56, said:

Seriously? In 5 H? I can see the desperation if in slam but this line is, I think, nuts in 5H.

It's matchpoints.

[nige1]

TramTicket writes 'I sat dummy and watched partner win the ♦8 lead with the ace, then play two top spades, dropping the queen and jack and throwing a club from her hand. She then continued with a third spade (the two) and when north declined to ruff (it doesn't seem to help him to ruff) she pitched the king of clubs - leaving South on lead, but with no entry to the North hand. South exited with a trump, but partner was able to take the marked ruffing finesse and collect the remaining tricks. I was certainly impressed!'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you TramTicket. Dummy's losing ♠ seems to operate a frontwash squeeze on North.
- A minor discard allows declarer to throw a 2nd ♣
- If North ruffs, declarer over-ruffs, enters dummy with ♥J, discards ♣K on ♠T, ruffs out North's ♣A, crosses to ♥J and discards 2 ♦s on ♣QJ.
Really pretty and unusual! Your partner played brilliantly!

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c

[HardVector]

So, I was thinking about this hand last night, and the play of the hand was basically an all-or-nothing play. Give north this hand;
QJ♠ T64♥ KQT932♦ A2♣. Now playing 2 top spades and a low one could lead to 5h -2 when north discards the 2♣. If you continue with the idea of pitching the K♣, south plays as before with a trump, you ruff out the A♣ and play a trump to the board, but now north can ruff whatever winner you want to go for and still has 3 diamonds coming. If you abandon the club elimination and ruff the 3rd spade, you will play the K♣ to the now bare A and I think north does best by cashing a diamond and playing another for you to ruff. I think from there you can get home with 11 tricks by cross ruff (I haven't thought it out completely, you may have to lose a heart still).

So, what did north pitch in reality? If it was a club, your partner should have been worrying.

[mikeh]

cherdano, on 2019-March-28, 11:00, said:

It's matchpoints.

I don’t like zeros. 5H looks to be an unpopular contract, with most playing in 4. Since the field rates to be taking 10 or 11 tricks, I will score ok making 11 and abysmally making 10. So I play to maximize taking 11.

In most mp fields, if one plays competently, one has a chance to win so long as one doesn’t throw boards away. Trying for 12 here seems low percentage:I.e. seems like it will usually throw mps away. At least, that’s how I see it, but maybe I’m not a good enough mp player😊

[Tramticket]

HardVector, on 2019-March-28, 18:40, said:

So, what did north pitch in reality? If it was a club, your partner should have been worrying.

Interesting analysis. Sorry, I was following the play, but I can't remember the discard!

nige1, on 2019-March-28, 12:37, said:

Thank you TramTicket. Dummy's losing ♠ seems to operate a frontwash squeeze on North.

Thank you Nigel. A Frontwash Squeeze is a new term to add to the vocabulary! (I was thinking it was some combination of Scissor Coup and Morton's Fork?).

[nige1]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-29, 06:22, said:

Thank you Nigel. A Frontwash Squeeze is a new term to add to the vocabulary! (I was thinking it was some combination of Scissor Coup and Morton's Fork?).

By analogy with the term backwash that Géza Ottlik coined to describe a squeeze, where a defender, who plays the last card to a trick, is squeezed in 3 suits, including trumps.

[Lovera]

Tramticket, on 2019-March-26, 16:34, said:

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I sat dummy and watched partner win the ♦8 lead with the ace, then play two top spades, dropping the queen and jack and throwing a club from her hand. She then continued with a third spade (the two) and when north declined to ruff (it doesn't seem to help him to ruff) she pitched the king of clubs - leaving South on lead, but with no entry to the North hand. South exited with a trump, but partner was able to take the marked ruffing finesse and collect the remaining tricks.

I was certainly impressed!

It seems that your good partner has managed to visualize the hands of the defense and has therefore consistently played in this brilliant way. Here S can never ruff and E manages to get the two remaining tricks before to draw trumps.(Lovera)