Long Beach KO's - I

[pclayton]

The only benefit to losing is that you get to discuss some of the hands you screwed up and hope that others can benefit from your mistakes.

 

We are playing in the Bracket I KO's in Long Beach. The bracket is pretty strong but there are no pro teams. We squeak out of the round robin and face one of the three strongest teams in the bracket in the quarterfinals. Bad break getting them this early.

 

Everything that can go wrong does. Your partner goes down in a flat cold contract on the 2nd board and doesn't count the hand right on the 7th. You make a sensible lead that doesn't work out on the 11th. Your opponents are flat brilliant. They are bidding very thin games that come home, staying out of good games that don't make, etc.. You figure you are stuck about 30 when board 16 (final of 1st half) hits. You get to 7♥ on the following layout:

 

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=sakt5h732dakt63ca&s=s43hakqt84d52cj86]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

Your bidding revealed a 6 card solid heart suit, and not much else. The opening lead is a small ♥ and you beat the 9 with your 10 in hand.

 

Plan the Play.

 

As another exercise, plan the play on a spade lead.

[Winstonm]

I don't see anything brilliant to do so I cross to the club A and return in trumps, then ruff a club and use the spade entries to establish a long diamond.

 

With a spade lead, it is harder to pick a line but I'm going with this one: win the spade, cash the club A, cross in hearts, ruff a club. Cash a second spade and ruff a spade back to hand. Assuming this wins, ruff the last club, cash the diamond A, K, and lead a diamond, ruffing with the 10 if RHO follows.

[pclayton]

I don't see anything brilliant to do so I cross to the club A and return in trumps, then ruff a club and use the spade entries to establish a long diamond.

 

With a spade lead, it is harder to pick a line but I'm going with this one: win the spade, cash the club A, cross in hearts, ruff a club. Cash a second spade and ruff a spade back to hand. Assuming this wins, ruff the last club, cash the diamond A, K, and lead a diamond, ruffing with the 10 if RHO follows.

Question: On the first - after you ruff a club, how are you going to get back to your hand to draw the 3rd round of trump?

 

I'm not saying the line is wrong, but I want to know your strategy for Trick 5.

[awm]

Without too much thought, my line would be:

 

Win the ♥T, club to ace, heart to ace, club ruff. Ace and king of diamonds, ruff a diamond high, pull the last trump, spade to ace, diamond ruff. Basically I am playing for diamonds 4-2 or 3-3, plus a few squeeze chances if diamonds break badly but hearts are 2-2.

[Winstonm]

I don't see anything brilliant to do so I cross to the club A and return in trumps, then ruff a club and use the spade entries to establish a long diamond.

 

With a spade lead, it is harder to pick a line but I'm going with this one: win the spade, cash the club A, cross in hearts, ruff a club.  Cash a second spade and ruff a spade back to hand.  Assuming this wins, ruff the last club, cash the diamond A, K, and lead a diamond, ruffing with the 10 if RHO follows.

Question: On the first - after you ruff a club, how are you going to get back to your hand to draw the 3rd round of trump?

 

I'm not saying the line is wrong, but I want to know your strategy for Trick 5.

Let's see. I win the first heart, cross to the club Ace and return with a heart - how do hearts divide at this point? I assume 3/1 with LHO holding 3. :)

 

I am going for the simplistic line of returning with a diamond ruff, playing LHO for either xxxx or xxx of diamonds if the hearts are not dividing.

[whereagles]

after you ruff a club, how are you going to get back to your hand to draw the 3rd round of trump?

 

I'm not saying the line is wrong, but I want to know your strategy for Trick 5.

Ruff diamond high. I just skimmed through the problem, but I think I can afford this ;)

[hatchett]

On a ♥ lead to the 9 and T. I am pretty much forced into this line since there is no advantage in playing for two ♣ ruffs. Cross to ♣. Draw second trump. Ruff ♣, AK diamonds is cold

if trumps are 2-2 (45% allowing for no 4-0 split) or if trumps are 3-1 (55%) diamonds 4-2 or better say around 85%+ (there's a small chance a hand with 5+♦ only has 1 trump) that looks to be an >90% line overall.

 

 

 

 

On a ♠ lead. It is much more complicated, I have various options. A simplish option

 

Cash top 2 ♥, making if they are 2-2 (45%). If they are 3-1, cash ♦AK, ruff a ♦. This makes if ♦ are 3-3, or 4-2 or if ♦ are 2-4 with the third trump on our right....say around a 65% of the diamond layout making this a >80% line.

 

If you alternatively plan to ruff 2♣ you need to be able to get back to hand three times to ruff ♣ twice and then to draw trumps. You have one entry in trumps and the other two have to be pointed suited ruffs, if you use spades then you either need QJx ♠ (a claim position after one ♣ ruff) or LHO having either 4+ spades, spades 5-2 and better, or RHO having J depending on what hearts pips fall etc. THis line is much worse than the one above.