PFormaini

Partner may be short anywhere (though since we know that RHO has all the remaining cards in ONE of our suits, partner MUST be void somewhere - so since they will not have a 5 card major, they must be 0-4-4-5, 0,4-5-4, 4-0-5-4, 4-0-4-5, 4-4-0-5, or 4-4-5-0. In other words, they can be void in ANY suit, but hold 5 cards only in a minor. Otherwise they would open 1 of a major.

But if he has those clubs then he must have one loser in the other suits. Ax unless partner opened with less than 11 HCP. That is true. So we have arguments that tend to negate each other. If we trust partner not to violate system requirements, then a club lead looks best, since RHO is LESS likely to hold 9 clubs and 4 side suit winners than the 10 card suit and three Aces. Even though the odds are much higher that the 9 card suit to the AKQ will run than the 10 card suit to the AK will run....... Which is why the hand is such a......nightmare. :D

Really? I'm not sure why - since AKQ10xxxxx is far MORE likely to run than AKJxxxxxxx - the odds being nearly 22% for a 3-0 break missing 3 cards - as opposed to only about 8.5% for a 4-0 break missing 4. So an expert would be MORE likely to assume that the 9 card club suit would run (making a club lead LESS attractive against an expert) than the 10 card suit (making one of those a MORE attractive lead), since the expert would assume from the odds that there was less chance of one of the 10-card suits running than the 9 card suit running. (Just go to this site that gives the odds and compare "Qxx" to "Jxxx".) http://www.automaton.gr/tt/en/OddsTbl.htm So the odds would seem to favor the expert having the 9-card club suit rather than one of the 3 10-card suits - making the club lead LESS attractive than any of the others. Right?

I suspect you are correct in that. (It is being used as the basis for a humorous article for BRIDGE WORLD magazine. I believe, however, that ONE of the 10 strategies above will, on average, lead to a higher probability of gain than any of the others. I just want to see if any of the mathematical mavens here can come up with reasoning for one choice over the others. (Of course, at the table, you just KNOW that whichever suit you choose will be right into the jaws of declarer's concealed 10-card )or, if a club, 9-card) 'running' suit - and it will take several bystanders to drag partner off of you. :rolleyes:

[hv=s=sq32hq32dq32cj432]133|100|[/hv] Sorry - THIS is the hand you hold for the abovepoll.

PARTNER opens a PRECISION 2♦ (showing a 4-4-4-1 or 4-4-0-5 hand, any shortness, probably no 5-card MAJOR, 11-15 HCP.) RHO overcalls 7NT. RHO is an expert and highly knowledgeable about the odds in bridge and And you are gazing at the given hand. What is your plan?

Excellent job! :(

Very nice. Now - try this one: ONLY ONE condition: NORTH/SOUTH are cold for 3NT holding a COMBINED 6 HCP between the two hands. Either direction - any lead or defense.

Here is this week's 2nd challenge. (Those of you who communicate with me via e-mail will receive feedback more quickly than those who post here.) Construct a full deal that satisfies all three of the following conditions simultaneously: 1. EAST-WEST are cold for 7♥ AND 7♠ - played by either player - and cold against any lead or defense. AND 2. NORTH-SOUTH are cold for 3NT - played by either player - and cold against any lead or defense. AND 3. NORTH-SOUTH posses NO ACES whatsoever. Good luck!

Looks godd. Now - give Both Sides Now II a spin........

Here is this week's challenge. (Those of you who communicate with me via e-mail will receive feedback more quickly than those who post here.) Construct a full deal that satisfies both of the following conditions simultaneously: 1. EAST-WEST are cold for 7♥ AND 7♠ - played by either player - and cold against any lead or defense. AND 2. NORTH-SOUTH are cold for 3NT - played by either player - and cold against any lead or defense. I will check in every 7-8 hours to see how those who submit solutions online do. (And ignore all non-solution posts). And Yes, it is possible.

No surprises. Just the occasional good catch amid the usual neophyte blather. But, in all fairness, I took the time to consult the original article author and find out whether or not there had been any revisions or corrections (none of us being gifted with the ability to consult sources we do not possess.) :P Which is something I am sure that 90% of those who posted - relying on Deep Finesse rather than any actual bridge ability or analytical skill, would not have taken the time and effort to do. :) Again - if you found the error in Nick's original article on your own, you deserve a slap on the shoulder and a "Well done!". After all - fair is fair.

"If declarer is 6241 with ♠K.......... To beat it, I have to play ♥♥♣. Declarer can't get all three clubs as well as a diamond ruff. If he tries for two clubs and two diamond ruffs, ♠9 in partner's hand will be sufficient. " Why can't declarer merely win the club J in dummy, ruff a small club in hand (establishing dummy's suit), the pull trumps in 3 rounds ending in dummy, and claim?

A lot depends on WHICH HEART partner led to us. And whether his diamond lead CONFIRMED A-K or DENIED the Ace. If partner wants to ruff a club, they should have led a diamond that DENIED the other honor - and then led a fairly HIGH heart (to discourage a heart return). That pretty much shrieks for a club ruff. But we really don;t have enough information to know how partner wants to direct the defense. (If he has 4 spades, we definitely want to continue the forcing game.)

Partner would undoubtedly have led a singleton Club if he has Diamonds under control AND thought he might use my Heart as an entry. Since I control the 4th round of clubs under almost any scenario, I force DUMMY with another round of Diamonds. As little s K-x-x of Spades will rule out declarer's being able to utilize his club suit for discards. And if partner has K-J-x, it leads to an automatic set no matter what.

Kudos and congrats to Fluffy - who found and posted a line in answer to the 8-7-9 hand that I posted last week - in which he found a line the original author of the article from which the hand was taken had not considered! :) I wrote to several people - and eventually Jeff Rubens, editor of Bridge World magazine forwarded my e-mail to Nick Straguzzi (the original author) while I also wrote to Danny Kleinman (co-writer now with Straguzzi of several bridge books). I wanted to wait until Nick himself answered - out of respect and just in case we were all missing something in Fluffy's proposed better answer. Here is Nick Straguzzi's e-mail - verbatim: "Jeff, thanks for forwarding the message. Peter, thanks for writing -- and yes, you are correct. My sincere apologies for driving you crazy. :-) The deal is from one of the early Chthonic stories, before I began collaborating with Danny Kleinman, and before the era of Deep Finesse. A reader noticed the alternative line you spotted (a superior line, in fact, because it provides a greater chance for an overtrick) and his letter was published in TBW's Bits and Pieces about six months after the original article ran. When it came time to publish "The Principle Of Restricted Talent" anthology, I originally planned to omit the article, then to include a footnote or character comment acknowledging the other line. But in the end Danny and I and our publisher decided to leave it as-is, since Chthonic's line is not incorrect. Best regards. Nick Straguzzi " So take a bow Fluffy (who is the actual 'you' Nick refers to in his e-mail)!!! You came up with the line that not even Chthonic thought of! :D

No, he is NOT endplayed. He wins the heart and returns a SPADE. IF you duck it (establishing the JACK as a dummy entry), West wins and returns a second heart. West - with an original holding of K-J-10-X - forces out your Ace of hearts and now holds 2 heart winners AND THE DIAMOND ACE (which you seem to forget is still at large, you having failed to establish ANY diamonds winners yet.) 1 SPADE, 3 HEARTS - 1 DIAMOND. 5 tricks. DOWN ONE. You CANNOT fail to establish your diamond tricks and make 3NT - and you have to waste a dummy entry to establish them. But the act of establishing them without trowing a CLUB WINNER from your hand destroys any chance of forcing a later entry to dummy - as the original problem demonstrated.

> He wins whichever heart honor you play and returns a small Spade. > You win and lead to the other heart honor. No, i don't win. I play a small ♠ from my hand. Now, if west play the Queen, the Jack of ♠ is my 9th trick. And if West play small, the Jack of ♠ is also my 9th trick. In either case, i have no entry problem. For example, suppose West win the ♠ switch with the Queen and lead another ♥. I win with the Ace, play a small ♠ to the J (or ♣ to the K ) and after this i return in hand with my third ♠ (or K of ♣ to the Ace) and i'm OK : 3♠, 5♣ and 1 ♥. Regards, TS PS : apologies if i'm not clear because of my english but i really don't see the problem with this line of play. No, it isn't - since you have not established any Diamonds yet. E-W can establish 4 tricks in the majors before you can knock out the Diamond Ace. There is ALWAYS some combination of major suit honor placements that can defeat you. You CANNOT make the contract by merely cashing 3 clubs and then trying to force an entry to dummy. Your line of play will FAIL given my set-up. Your spade entry coes too late, since the opponents set up and cash 3 hearts and a spade (or 2 spades and 2 hearts) to go along with their Diamond Ace - which you have not driven out.

He wins whichever heart honor you play and returns a small Spade. You win and lead to the other heart honor. East wins it and returns a second spade. No entry to dummy. And when WEST wins the 4th round of hearts (East having started with K-J tight), he cashes 2 rounds of spades. Down one. You still have ♥A, so RHO won't win the 2nd ♥, ♠J will be your 9th trick. Who cares? You have to lead a SMALL heart the second time to try to force entry. But it isn't gonna happen. If you lead the ACE, then East will turn up with KJxx - and again, will cash the setting tricks when he gets in. And if you let the first spade from East slide to West, he returns a HEART. East covers dummy's play and forces your Ace. Now - since you have not yet driven out the DIAMOND ACE, when you lead a diamond, EAST wins and cashes 2 established hearts. You see - failing to establish your diamond trick has consequences. :) 3 rounds of CLUBS and then a HEART is not good enough, since any continuation can be defeated if the cards lie badly.

It is from an article - which I will post with the solution after more folks give it a whirl.. Your answer is correct.

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=sakj105hkdkqj108cq2&w=shdc&e=shdc&s=s943ha85432d62caj]399|300|Scoring: IMP P - 1♠ 2♥ - 3♦ 3NT - 4♦ 4♠ - 6NT[/hv] WEST leads the J♥. Dummy wins as East follows with an encouraging ♥. South cashes the A♠, bringing a small ♦ from East and a small ♠ from West. South now leads the K♦. West wins and returns the 9♦ as East follows throughout. 1. What must South hope for to take 12 tricks? 2. How do you play the hand?

Yes. It should be "2 controls'. (We use the LOWEST response to show the STRONGEST possible holding - leaving more bidding room for the hands with higher aspirations.

He wins whichever heart honor you play and returns a small Spade. You win and lead to the other heart honor. East wins it and returns a second spade. No entry to dummy. And when WEST wins the 4th round of hearts (East having started with K-J tight), he cashes 2 rounds of spades. Down one.

I'm still trying to work out how SOUTH became declarer in Spades. :huh:

NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!! :ph34r: