Another bottom

[nige1]

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=st9ha73d9863caqt9&w=s3hkt95dq72ck8765&e=sakj82hq86dk54cj3&s=sq7654hj42dajtc42]399|300|Scoring: MP

Session 1 Board 5 of Spring Bank Holiday Championship Pairs.

Hands transposed to make South declarer.

-- -- -- _P

_P 1♣ 1♠ 1N

_P _P _X AP

West leads ♥10 against South's 1NX.

1. Play or defend?

2. What is the key play?

[/hv]

[gnasher]

The "obvious" line is: duck two hearts; win the third; take a diamond finesse; regain the lead; finesse the other diamond; cash ♦A; finesse ♣Q; cash minor suit winners; lead a spade from dummy with RHO down to just spades.

 

However, the defence can ruin this by playing ♦K when I lead one off dummy, with the idea of cashing ♠AK when I'm out of entries to hand. The play would go: duck two hearts; win the third; diamond to K and A; diamond ducked; club to the queen; diamond to West; defence cash the last heart and two spades, then exit a club; defence eventually score ♣K.

 

The answer is to lead a spade from dummy at trick four to cut communications. East's best play is to win and switch to a club, ducked to dummy's 9. This gives me an extra club trick but attacks my entries for the long diamond and the spade play. Now I play a diamond. If East plays the king, I win and play another one, and make three clubs, three diamonds (discarding the blocking diamond on a club) and a heart. So, East plays low on the diamond, West wins and cashes his heart, then exits with a club, but the third club winner squeezes East - he has to discard in this position:

 

[hv=d=&v=&n=s9hd986ca&w=shd72ck87&e=saj8hdk5c&s=sq76hdajc]399|300|[/hv]

 

One more wrinkle: if West tries to prevent this by not cashing his long heart (ie one more card in the above diagram, I cash my club, finesse a diamond, cash ♦A, and exit with a spade, scoring ♠Q at trick 13.

 

Interesting hand. I'd like to be declarer.

[gnasher]

I might be about to change my mind. When I play a spade at trick four, West might cover with the jack instead of winning. I can't think of any counter to this.

 

If I had ♠8, I'd eventually have an endplay against East for a second spade trick - win ♠Q, club finesse, lose diamond to West, regain lead with club, finesse diamond, cash diamond, spade to 10 - but with spades as bad as these that won't work.

[nige1]

Interesting hand.  I'd like to be declarer.

Well done gnasher. Indeed, the key defensive play is for East to rise with ♦K on the first round of diamonds. In practice, you are also right: it is more profitable to be declarer. Especially as I held the East cards :)