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In defense of defense


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[hv=d=s&v=e&n=sj10hkq85dkq932c63&w=sa3haj4da4cakj875]266|200|Scoring: IMP

Bidding:

 

2S*-X-4S-P

P -X

All pass.

 

*Weak 2-bid with 2 of top 3 honors.

 

You lead club Ace (Ace from AK), 3 from dummy, Queen from partner, 4 from declarer.

 

Plan the defense to go +800, a 4-trick defeat. (Hint: make the play that "builds a fence" around partner, leaving no room for partner to make the wrong play.)[/hv]

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Maybe if you cash your two clubs, play two spades, maybe declarer plays a low diamond to his jack and you win, you give partner a club ruff, declarer gets 2 diamond tricks (partner keeps the ten hopefully) then leads king of hearts, you duck, leads a heart/diamond, you get two hearts/1H 1D, cash a club, declarer ruffs a club, has trumps left. You got 4 clubs, a spade, 1-2 hearts, 2-1 diamonds. Hmm, 1 too many but I probably gave him really bad declarer play!
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The best I can see is this:

 

 

Apparently declarer is KQxxxx, ?, ?, T9xx. Play a middle club for pard to ruff. I need pard to play a trump so I can clear the suit afterward. This should be logical, since he can't overruff dummy, but I can't see a better plan, and I can't see how pard can be forced to make this play. I also can't see how we can cope with 0-3 or 3-0 in the red suits.

 

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Maybe if you cash your two clubs, play two spades, maybe declarer plays a low diamond to his jack and you win, you give partner a club ruff, declarer gets 2 diamond tricks (partner keeps the ten hopefully) then leads king of hearts, you duck, leads a heart/diamond, you get two hearts/1H 1D, cash a club, declarer ruffs a club, has trumps left. You got 4 clubs, a spade, 1-2 hearts, 2-1 diamonds. Hmm, 1 too many but I probably gave him really bad declarer play!

If you play Ace then King of clubs, then play Ace and a low spade, declarer will overtake dummy's Jack of spades with the King and draw trumps. He has the 109 of clubs left versus your J8, so he can win a club trick.

 

You have 9 cashing tricks in a NT game for +600, so it would be good to go +800 instead of +500.

 

Keep your wits and count. Try again.

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The best I can see is this:

 

 

Apparently declarer is KQxxxx, ?, ?, T9xx. Play a middle club for pard to ruff. I need pard to play a trump so I can clear the suit afterward. This should be logical, since he can't overruff dummy, but I can't see a better plan, and I can't see how pard can be forced to make this play. I also can't see how we can cope with 0-3 or 3-0 in the red suits.

Phil:

 

 

You are on the right track but how can you avoid partner's possible error by forcing a ruff at trick 2?

 

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The best I can see is this:

 

 

Apparently declarer is KQxxxx, ?, ?, T9xx. Play a middle club for pard to ruff. I need pard to play a trump so I can clear the suit afterward. This should be logical, since he can't overruff dummy, but I can't see a better plan, and I can't see how pard can be forced to make this play. I also can't see how we can cope with 0-3 or 3-0 in the red suits.

Phil:

 

 

You are on the right track but how can you avoid partner's possible error by forcing a ruff at trick 2?

 

You can always lead the club 5, forcing partner to ruff.

 

But Han's line is better.

 

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Yes, Hannie. (but only based on my remark to "build a fence").

 

 

The optimal theoretical defense is a midde club at trick two, allowing partner to work out the spade return - this caters to a 7-card spade in declarer's hand, but this is highly unlikely given the 4 clubs he also holds.

 

In practice, the best play is a low spade at trick two - partner cannot err and declarer has no recourse.

 

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