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Fast denies on crack


jchiu

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Second in hand, at unfavourable vulnerability, you pick up

 

AK85 Q9863 Q2 86

 

Dealer, at your right, opens a strong notrump, over which you bid an aggressive 2 to show both majors. Lefty, following fast denies, instantly places 3N on the table. You lead the 6 and see

 

1096 J4 A9B3 AQ109

 

6-J-7-2

A-4-10-2

B-5-J-Q

 

You play upside down carding, give your answer for both IMPs and Matchpoints.

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Top spade.  It would be nice to get a count signal on this so I know whether to continue high or low.

Maybe at MPs. We might need both spade entries to cash our hearts however.

On what hand could a heart possibly set? Declarer obviously has hAK dKJ, so you can never get the hearts setup before he has 9 tricks.

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Top spade.  It would be nice to get a count signal on this so I know whether to continue high or low.

Maybe at MPs. We might need both spade entries to cash our hearts however.

On what hand could a heart possibly set? Declarer obviously has hAK dKJ, so you can never get the hearts setup before he has 9 tricks.

Never mind me, all of my posts are brain dead.

 

15 sessions last week :)

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Partner should give count at trick one, so his hearts are 1075, 107 or 7.

 

Not playing Smith, partner's diamond spots should be suit preference, so he doesn't have Q. He may have K, or may not have either honour. We can beat the contract when:

- He has K and three spades, and declarer has only three diamond tricks.

- He has Jxxx.

 

Playing IMPs, I cash a top spade and examine partner's signal. If he has Jxxx, I cash the suit; otherwise I lead a low spade and wait for partner to get in with K. Let's hope we're on the same wavelength about how he signals in this position.

 

It's harder at matchpoints. Ducking a spade costs a trick when declarer has five diamonds and K, or KJ, or K plus a fourth heart (I get squeezed), or four spades plus J (partner has no spade to play when in with K). I may already be ahead of the field, as other declarers may play the diamonds differently. However, I think I'd still play to defeat the contract - partner is more likely to have K than not.

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I usually address this sort of question in the context of a partnership between good players, rather than two individuals of unknown ability thrown together by fate. Whilst that might not always be the case in real life, it is both a reasonable expectation and a better setting for a bridge problem.

 

I'd prefer to have discussed some of this, but even playing with a good player with whom I had no agreement other than "udca", I would expect count on the first trick (what use is attitude?), suit preference on the second one (what use is count?), and therefore count when I cash K.

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