Your play, third hand ....

[ralph23]

♣♦♥♠

 

This example comes from Mike Lawrence. I'll include a link to his web site later, from which this comes and which contains great materials for B/I players, but for now consider this:

 

[hv=d=w&v=b&n=st542ha65dkqcajt5&e=s93h93dt86543c742]266|200|Scoring: IMP

Partner opens 1♠, passed around to South, who overcalls 2♥. Partner bids 2♠ now, but North raises to 4♥, ending the auction. [/hv]

 

Partner leads the AK of ♠ at the first two tricks, and South follows suit both times (surprisingly ... partner bid spades twice on a five-bagger!).

 

Now partner leads the 6 of ♠ and declarer plays the 5 from dummy.

 

LOL, declarer played LOW from dummy ! The six is high, and you know declarer will have to ruff. So what is your play at trick 3 ? And why ??

[jtfanclub]

Partner asked me to ruff with my highest trump, so I'm ruffing with my highest trump. I don't care if Mike Lawrence or anybody else comes back and says that, with some deep analysis there should have been something else I should have done. Partner wants a high trump, partner gets a high trump, end of story.

 

Edited to add: if partner didn't want me to ruff high, he'd have led the spade queen.

[vuroth]

My 9 of hearts just looks too useful to not play. It might only draw the 10, but it might also draw out a higher honour.

 

If partner isn't looking for help promoting his/her trump honours, then there's nothing I can offer the defense at all on this hand.

 

V

[TimG]

I would expect that Mike Lawrence would prefer we go directly to his site to view his material rather than have it copied to a forum.

[ralph23]

http://www.michaelslawrence.com/

 

Nice thinking on the play, and you should visit the site yourself. He has lots to offer for B/I players. How To Read Your Opponents Cards was his first book, and is a classic; you can order material online.