Defend 3NT

[kfgauss]

Here's a defense problem against 3NT:

 

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=sq643h107dq10854c63&w=skj985hkj54d7c742]266|200|Scoring: Imps[/hv]

 

Bidding:

 

W N E S

P P P 1C

X 1D 2H 3NT

P P P

 

1C = precision (16+ unbal, 17+ bal)

X = ♦ or (♥+♠) (suction)

1D = very bad hand (0-4 or so I think)

2H = pass/correct (partner really only goes to the 2-level with 4 in our style)

 

Lead: ♥4.

 

So far, your ♥4 has gone to partner's ♥8, ducked. Partner continues ♥Q, ducked, and then another heart, declarer winning ♥A and discarding a club from dummy.

 

Declarer now plays off ♦AK (you discard a low spade on the second) and leads a low spade from hand.

 

What now?[hv=d=w&v=n&n=sq643h107dq10854c63&w=skj985hkj54d7c742]266|200|Scoring: Imps[/hv]

[Finch]

For partner's 2H bid to make sense, he surely must have 5 diamonds. If instead he petered in diamonds, tell me now....

 

That makes declarer 2326 or 3325, with something like Ax(x) Axx AK AQJxx(x)

If declarer has the AKQ of clubs he has 9 tricks, so partner must have a club stop; as soon as he has a club stop we should have 5 tricks (3 hearts, 1 spade, 1 club) unless we do something silly.

 

If he has doubleton spade, we beat it easily by rising with a spade and exiting in spades; declarer will only have 8 tricks at most. If we duck, declarer may have AKJxx clubs and makes a large number of tricks.

 

What if declarer has 3 spades? If we rise, cash our heart and exit in spades then declarer wins in hand and crosses to the SQ squeezing partner in the minors.

 

If we rise and exit in spades without cashing our heart, then declarer wins in hand, (partner discarding a diamond) and crosses to the SQ. Partner can discard a heart on this, but now 3 rounds of clubs in some form will endplay him to give dummy the Q10 of diamonds.

 

So if declarer has 3 spades, we need to duck and pray partner has a club stop. But hold on, now declarer just sets up clubs and makes 4 clubs, 2 spades, 1 heart and two diamonds. Unless partner has a double club stop that can be led through... but that seems impossible.

 

So I conclude we can only be certain of beating it if declarer has a doubleton spade, and I rise and exit in spades.

[cherdano]

There is just one thing that irritates me in your analysis, Frances: if declarer has, say, Ax Axx AK AQJxxx, shouldn't he play ♠A and a low spade? Alternatively, he could play ♣A and ♣Q. His line goes always down against good defense.

 

Ok, maybe he assumed that we would go wrong and cash a heart after in with the spade king -- in which case he could throw his ♠A :)

 

Otherwise, one might hope for declarer to have overbid with Axx Axx AK AJTxx, in which case rising and exiting in spades still beats it.

 

Arend

[Jurek S]

Take ♠K, ♥K and exit ♣ breaking ♣/♦ squzee

[Free]

What count does partner give on the ♦s?

[kfgauss]

Partner does indeed show an odd number of diamonds. (I should have included this, as it is not strictly implied: we're quite happy to raise to the 2 level with 3 cards or the 3 level with 4 cards when partner has the single-suited hand type.)

 

If you've decided what to play to this first trick, read on (hidden text):

 

 

Partner contributes the ♠10 to this trick. We play upside-down count, so this is presumably not an attempt to show a doubleton. Indeed, this is presumably partner's only spade. (Declarer having only 2 spades was a nice thought, though.)

 

If you've risen with the ♠K, you're still alive. How now?

 

 

Andy

[kfgauss]

The answer (hidden text):

 

 

was of course given by Jurek while I was posting the above post. Very nice! This works when partner has QJx or Kxx of clubs.

 

 

[Finch]

I missed declarer discarding a club from the dummy on the third heart.

Sorry, I had assumed dummy still had doubleton club when I think I was right about needing declarer to have a doubleton spade.

 

That was insane; why didn't he pitch a diamond?

[kfgauss]

I missed declarer discarding a club from the dummy on the third heart.

Sorry, I had assumed dummy still had doubleton club when I think I was right about needing declarer to have a doubleton spade.

 

That was insane; why didn't he pitch a diamond?

Yes, there's no defense if declarer doesn't pitch a club. His club holding in hand was AKxxx (partner had QJ10). He must've missed the squeeze possibility early on and the fact that he might at some point be short on hand entries. Of course, he must've known that 4+ diamonds were behind dummy, so tossing the club instead was sort of silly (but this was a late night online hand, so silly things happen).

 

The problem seemed a fun "take advantage of declarer's mistake" sort of problem. Should I modify such problems next time -- e.g. give dummy a stiff club from the start somehow?

 

I suppose declarer could have AQ10xxx (AQJxxx or AKxxxx & he should've just

played on clubs from hand). Then, though, he should read me for 5-4-1-3 and hope to drop some honor from partner's hand. I guess trying to sneak through to dummy to get a finesse isn't more of a mistake than pitching the club, though.

 

Andy