killer_

I think the South bidding is ok. This is probably more of partnership agreement issue i.e. how strong a hand is needed to bid 4c rather than 5c direct. North passing 5C is pretty weak. With AAAK he should be more than happy to put down his hand as dummy in slam. Even if there is a club loser, it will probably be the only one.

That's with highly double dummy defence..

Thanks for the replies! Seems like opinions are really divided on this one. Are there any opinions or advice in general in choosing to defend with 6-4 or 5-5 hands?

MPs, All Vul [hv=pc=n&s=s65hqj74daq5ckt62&w=sk74ht953dkj76c98&n=sj8hak82d4cqj7543&e=saqt932h6dt9832ca&d=n&v=b&b=13&a=1c1sdp2h3d4hpp4sdp]399|300[/hv] How do you rate North's hand in defense? What should North do? First X: 4+ hearts Second X: N/S play forcing pass in this situation, so x shows a minimum hand for the bidding.

For point 1, like I said, if E takes the T♥, it simply comes down to a finesse for the J trump. The club line requires the club finesse AND 3-2 trumps. Point 2 is true, I overlooked the repeat of the club finesse. It comes down to choosing between playing for a favorable distribution in one minor, and 3-2 trump break. The second fails once the bad break is revealed, but the first can have additional chances (for example if E shows out or drops the Ace on the second round of clubs, then the 3rd club ruff can be assumed to be safe)

[hv=pc=n&s=skqt832hat63d5c72&n=sa5h8dakq8ckjt943]133|200[/hv] Hi all, this is with reference to a friend's post about a week ago, planning the play in 6♠ with the K♥ lead. In the original problem he left out the T♥ in the South hand, which could be critical. There are 2 general lines of play, the first by guessing the clubs and ruffing a heart in dummy (seemed popular), the second by crossruffing after discarding 2 clubs. I was surprised to note that the second line seemed to be dismissed by many. Here's my explanation: The play goes: A♥, AKQ♦ discarding clubs, club ruff, heart ruff, club ruff, heart ruff. [hv=pc=n&s=skqt8htdc&n=shd8ckjt9]133|200[/hv] Now assuming declarer can ruff safely back into hand the 3rd time in one of the minors, he cashes the K♠ and exits the T♥; if W wins, declarer is home (probable from the lead?) and if E takes the trick, S can still "finesse" for the J♠ by ruffing with T♠ on the next-to-last trick. So if S is able to pull off the play without getting ruffed or overruffed, he can manage either an endplay or at worst a finesse. Note that this line doesn't rely on a favorable trump break (in reality, the trumps broke 4-1 with both AQ♣ offside :P) Is this line superior to simply playing a club at trick 2? Appreciate comments. PS Something to think about for line 1: If at trick 2 a club to the J forces the A♣, then on a diamond return declarer is forced to ruff back into hand TWICE (once to ruff the last heart and once to draw trumps) eventually - entailing substantially higher risks. This is assuming opps will rise with A♣ in a slam seeing AKQ♦ in dummy.