Four Hearts DBLed

[inquiry]

Both Vul, imps (hand from BBO nov 11, 2002)

 

You hold  S-4 H-AQ852 D-A62 C-AQ92

 

The bidding goes:

You West Pard  East

1H   DBL   3H    Pass

4H   DBL   end

 

Partner's 3H over the double was 4H's 5-7 point given the vul.

 

  Dummy

  S: Q8752

  H: K864

  D: J97

  C: 4

 

  You

  S: 4

  H: AQ852

  D: A62

  C: AQ92

 

West leads the SA (Ace from AK then switches to Heart Jack... plan your play.

[jjsb]

well what pump into my mind , what i would play i think at the table is take K of H , play as of D and as of C and finish in cross ruff . too simple of course but well ...

it's a very difficult play there's many possible line of play. and really nto sure what is the  best .

regards

syl

[keylime]

My line of thinking...win the K in dummy, then cross finessing the Q of clubs, then win the A of clubs pitching a diamond, then Ace of diamonds and a diamond to exit...now the board's set up for a ruff and sluff or if they exit a trump you still have control.

[nadroj]

heart king, trump a spade, club ace, trump a club, diamond to ace, trump a club, trump a spade, trump last club give up 2 diamonds at end

[inquiry]

Thanks for the replies. This hand was played in 4Hx 6 times, 3Hx once, and in hearts 13 out of 15 times. It won 10 tricks in hearts 10 times. The hands were

 

Both Vul, imps (hand from BBO nov 11, 2002)

 

                              Q8753                                                The bidding:

                              K964                                                  You West Pard  East

                              J97                                                     1H   DBL   3H    Pass

                               4                                                                       4H   DBL   end

 

AKT9                                            J63

J      _                                                                    T73

KQ5                                              T843

KT875                                       J63

 

                               4

                               AQ852

                               A62

                              AQ92

 

This hand can be played in a very straight forward manner. The line ruffing 3CLUBS in dummy (forgoing the club finesse) is right (suggested by nadroj and jjsb). However, if you win the first heart in dummy with the king as they both suggested, you run the significant risk of an overruff if clubs are 5-3. In fact, trying for 3Club ruffs after winning the HKing at trick one fails on the actual hand. Far better is to save the H-King for the last club ruff (risk free even if it sets up the H-Ten as a winner for the defense, as we shall see).

 

The basic plan is to win your two minor aces, ruff 3 C, and score all 5 of your hearts for 10 tricks. This requires clubs no worse than 5-3 and West to have either 4+Spades or three spades to AK (given the bidding and play, certainly reasonable).

 

Win first Heart with Souths Q, cash C-A, ruff club, ruff spade, ruff club, ruff spade, ruff club with KING. Now, if spade QUEEN is good (west held SAKx) lead it and discard a Diamond. West may ruff, but now you are assured your 5 trump tricks (win Diamond Ace, pull the last trump with heart ace and your last heart is your 10th trick).

 

If west had 4 (or 5 spades). You can safely ruff a third spade (scoring all your small trumps individually). This line gives you 5H, 2 minor Aces and 3 club ruffs.  But if West had an unlikely five spades (or even a sure 4), you should cash your diamond ACE before ruffing the fourth club). This line assures you score all five trumps in your hand (even with a 3-1 heart split) by ruffing spades.

 

This hand is interesting because there are so many other lines (more complicated of course) that work because WEST has all his sides defense. You can, for instance even duck the Heart JACK in both hands and make it as WEST is endplayed immediately into giving back the ducked trick with interest. Or you can win the Heart king, pull trumps in 3 rounds, and even cash the club ACE before exiting a small diamond, once again endplaying WEST. Or you can win the heart king and duck a club completely, that works too. Basically the only two lines that fail involve winning the HEART  KING and then trying to ruff 3 clubs in dummy (east will overruff the third club ruff) or taking the club hook (you now lose 2D, 1S and a club).

 

I wonder if all the west who doubled with this hand thought the second double was a re-takeout or penalty? If you play this a 100% penalty, I think this hand is not strong enough to double. It is very hard to defend when you hold all your sides defensive values. If the second double was again takeout, as I play it, then it is ok (although it certainly would not work very well on this specific hand. 8)