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Defensive Problem


joshs

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After the following auction, both white:

 

1H(partner)-2H(Michaels)-x(suggests defending)-P

P-2S-x-All Pass

 

You hold KJ7x xx Q9 AK98x

 

You lead the CA, and dummy comes down with:

9x KQxx JT QTxxx

 

Partner plays the lowest club spot and declarer follows. After thinking about it, you play another high club, and partner pitches and encouraging low heart,, you play a heart to the Q and ace, and partner returns a low trump (ok partner screwed up and didn't play a trump, but he should have) and declarer plays low and you win with the J.

 

How do you defend?

 

(How likely is it for partner to have a second spade that beats the 9, vs having the AK of diamonds, and are there any other cases that matter?)

 

Note: Partner is marked with 2641 shape.

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I think partner has the AK of diamonds and poor spades for two reasons:

 

i) he has an opening bid which seems to be made up of the AJ of hearts, a top diamond honour and either the other top diamond honour or a spade honour. With Ax of spades he would have played ace and a second spade, so he'd need to have exactly Qx, as opposite to all the various xx holdings he can have.

 

ii) with a poor diamond holding (one of the top two honours) and a trump higher than dummy, he might not have played a trump, he might have tried for some sort of cross-ruffing idea by playing a heart back. Planning for a potential trump promotion in due course. Partner doesn't know you have the DQ (you've got enough stuff not to need it); for all he knows declarer wants to draw trumps and knock out his one diamond honour, so it's much less tempting to try and draw trumps for him.

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Well in actuality partner returned a heart, which was the wrong defense. I was planning on returning the DQ and a Diamond (playing partner for the AK) so as to get another heart thru, but I didn't get the chance. But this play would have been made in part because return a trump is way too risky (not based on your good analysis). DQ when its wrong costs us a trick, a trump when its wrong might cost us multiple tricks.

 

Partner actually had xx AJT9xx AK8x x

 

So thanks to the D8, this defense would have set it 800. We only got it 300.... :(

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