Your line?

[Rebound]

[hv=d=s&v=e&w=sk105ha3dak10cakq62&e=sq982hqj10dq9875c9]266|100|Scoring: IMP

2♣-2♦-3NT-6NT

 

(Agree with 2!C?)[/hv]

 

Play to the first trick:♦ 3-5-2-A

[effervesce]

Disagree with 3NT. What's 2NT after 2♦?

 

In 6NT, we have 9 top tricks if diamonds behave. We need 3 more. Spades looks the best chance for this: I can't see anything better than running the ten of spades at t2, which makes whenever diamonds break and spade J onside.

[fromageGB]

Agree with 2♣, disagree with 3NT and would bid 2NT, disagree with A♦.

Effervesce has a fair analysis, you need the ♠J with north, but are the diamonds breaking?  Doesn't look like it to me.  So win trick 1 with the 10, then ♦AK. Now tempt them with the ♠K. This should win, else you are home with the spade finesse.  So now ♠5 to the 8.  If this loses to the A then (on a club return) ♠10 to the Q.  Take the diamonds, then if spades don't drop take the H finesse. On a heart return, take the finesse at that point.

 

If the ♠8 wins, take the diamonds then again fall back on the heart finesse if the spades don't break.

 

So it boils down to a choice - diamonds dropping or heart finesse?

[OleBerg]

So now ♠5 to the 8.

 

And if North inserts the jack, to jam our communications, we unblock th ♠10 on the diamonds.

[Rebound]

Interesting so far, and fair enough B) . Some additional info:

 

I was half in the bag when I played and posted the hand, so the auction was rather poor as was the question of whether to open 2♣.

 

As to the play, however,

a ) I played on the assumption RHO lead 4th best. In that case, if you do not win the opening led with the A/K you can't pick them up. I know this has a negative effect on communications but it turned out I was right. So,

 

b ) given that LHO has Jxxx in ♦, how do you proceed?

[effervesce]

Agree with 2♣, disagree with 3NT and would bid 2NT, disagree with A♦.

Effervesce has a fair analysis, you need the ♠J with north, but are the diamonds breaking?   Doesn't look like it to me.   So win trick 1 with the 10, then ♦AK.  Now tempt them with the ♠K. This should win, else you are home with the spade finesse.  So now ♠5 to the 8.   If this loses to the A then (on a club return) ♠10 to the Q.   Take the diamonds, then if spades don't drop take the H finesse.  On a heart return, take the finesse at that point.

 

If the ♠8 wins, take the diamonds then again fall back on the heart finesse if the spades don't break.

 

So it boils down to a choice - diamonds dropping or heart finesse?

 

If you play that way, they can duck the first two round of spades, and win the third-then you're restricted to two spade winners, 5 diamonds, 3 clubs, and a heart winner. That's only 11 tricks. You'll still need the heart hook for the 12th-doesn't appeal to me.

 

Thus the play of the ten of diamonds at t1 appears inferior to me- North is unlikely to have led from Jxxx or a diamond singleton. Running the ten of spades allows me to pick up spades for 3 tricks whenever north has the spade J.

[Rebound]

Ok, I get what you are saying, and I agree, at the time I made an assumption I likely shouldn't have. However, in the actual hand, it did turn out that LHO led from Jxxx. So, the question is, where do you go from there? I see two lines of play; there are perhaps more but I don't think so. Which one do you choose?

[pclayton]

I would have rebid 2N. I would expect East bids 3♣ and then 4♦. I would expect to end up in 6♦ - which has its own issues albeit a lot less than 6N.

 

Agree with the ♦A, but I now continue with the ♦K. I'm not expecting LHO to have led from ♦Jxxx, but we should check if he did. I'll assume RHO pitches a meaningless heart on the 2nd ♦, since you've said LHO had Jxxx. If diamonds were 3-2, I'll lay down the ♠K, then ♠10.

 

I'll continue with the ♦10 which LHO will probably duck. You could go into all kinds of theories why LHO would cover, but unless you are playing against Chtonic he won't. I would then continue the ♠K. My general plan is to finesse LHO out of the ♠J. RHO does his best to thwart this by ducking. I continue the ♠10 which will also probably get ducked (if RHO wins, or if LHO has ♠Jx, I'm home).

 

At this point, I think I need RHO to hold ♠Axx ♥Kxxxxx ♦x ♣xxx to make. So, 3 clubs (crossing our fingers) and exit the spade.

 

It should be apparent at the table who has the ♠A, unless I'm dealing with WC. Anyway, I think I'm forced to play the hand with the ♠A to hold 0-3 clubs.

[gnasher]

So now ♠5 to the 8.

 

And if North inserts the jack, to jam our communications, we unblock th ♠10 on the diamonds.

Having crossed to dummy with a helicopter?

[fromageGB]

So now ♠5 to the 8.

 

And if North inserts the jack, to jam our communications, we unblock th ♠10 on the diamonds.

Having crossed to dummy with a helicopter?

Ouch! I left the helicopter at home.

If N plays ♠J on the 5, you play with the Q, and if S wins the A we are sunk. If N has the ♠A then we need the heart finesse.

Maybe not such a good line. Maybe that's why I'm not an international B)

[fromageGB]

I continue the ♠10 which will also probably get ducked (if RHO wins, or if LHO has ♠Jx, I'm home).

I regret that this line is no good, either. South wins the ♠10 with A and exits with a club.  You have 3 clubs, 3 diamonds, 3 spades, 2 hearts with the finesse, for 11 tricks and I cannot see a twelfth.

[fromageGB]

OK, so my line is still the only one so far. It needs ♥K with south and either ♠AJ+any with N or ♠A singleton with S.

 

I can't see another line.

[655321]

Agree with the ♦A, but I now continue with the ♦K. I'm not expecting LHO to have led from ♦Jxxx, but we should check if he did. I'll assume RHO pitches a meaningless heart on the 2nd ♦, since you've said LHO had Jxxx. If diamonds were 3-2, I'll lay down the ♠K, then ♠10. 

 

I'll continue with the ♦10 which LHO will probably duck.

 

 

I continue the ♠10 which will also probably get ducked (if RHO wins, or if LHO has ♠Jx, I'm home).

I regret that this line is no good, either. South wins the ♠10 with A and exits with a club.  You have 3 clubs, 3 diamonds, 3 spades, 2 hearts with the finesse, for 11 tricks and I cannot see a twelfth.

 

Umm.. Looks to me like pclayton will have 5 diamond tricks if RHO wins the ♠10 with the Ace...

[kenrexford]

Another thought... Not necessaruily a good line, but a fun line.

 

OK, so I win the diamond Ace. But, out of sheer curiosity, I try the diamond King next, just in case.

 

LHO does have Jxxx! Weird. So, needing my diamonds to come in, I play the 10. Suppose that this is ducked and I win in hand.

 

What a weird lead! OK, so LHO must have all weird leads. I'll give him the heart King. I'll also give him the spade Ace. Getting closer...

 

So, he also needs the club Jack for "all weird leads." With Jxx(x) in both minors, I think he will lead the longer minor, as the lead from Jxxx seems less likely to give up a trick than from Jxx. Makes sense to me. So, restricted choice suggests that, as he could have Jxx-Jxxx, Jxxx-Jxx, or Jxxx-Jxxx, he has a three-card Jack-suit 66% of the time and will lead the other suit. So, he has Jxx in clubs.

 

This leads down an interesting path. I clear the clubs. But, what to pitch. One club following is easy. One heart also. But, for various reasons, I need that spade threat lingering. So, I ditch a second heart, reducing to stiff Queen.

 

Now I lead the spade King. I could do that before playing clubs, I suppose. Whatever. The spade King wins, because LHO also needs, in my line, the spade Jack, AJx(x). He cannot win that spade, lest I bring in the suit. On the second spade, he must duck with either AJx or AJxx, to block the suit. So, I win the Queen. Now, I am up to eight tricks (three diamonds, three clubs, and two spades). I have five cards left in dummy, including two spades, the stiff heart Queen, and two diamonds. So, I play the two diamonds, reducing my hand to A3 in hearts and a club.

 

RHO must save a club, obviously. If he saves down to two clubs, a spade play from dummy would squeeze him out of a heart.

 

But, that only seems to work if LHO has but three spades, or pitches a spade, and only has one heart. But, we want LHO to have the King of hearts and no good lead. So, what if he has K2?

 

This is interesting. If LHO saves down to K2 in hearts, and one spade, I exit with a spade. RHO must ditch a heart. Doing so leaves LHO stuck. If he plays back the spade deuce, my Queen on dummy wins, plus the long spade. If he plays back the King, my 3 is established.

 

So, what if LHO saves down to the stiff King and two spades? Same problem. I exit with a spade, knocking out his Ace. He cannot return a spade, lest I win that established spade, and a return of the heart King simply results in my taking the last two hearts (because RHO also had to reduce to a stiff heart).

 

But, my third spade play does not knock out the Ace unless LHO had Axxx. Meaning, Jx to the right.

 

So, I actually need LHO to have started with ♠Axxx ♥K2 ♦Jxxx ♣Jxx for this line. He might win the spade King early on, but I counter that by then winning my 10 with the Queen, dropping the Jack and establishing my 98.

 

Wait! Go way back. What if LHO decides to cover my diamond 10, landing me in dummy? I now have five diamonds and three clubs to eventually cash, plus a heart and an easily established two spades. But, that's only 11 tricks. So, after winning the diamond Queen, I lead a spade to the King, leaving me in the same position as before, when LHO ducked or won and allowed me to establish the spades for no losers. So, same result.

 

So, if I play a second diamond and find out the LHO has made a "weird lead," I use restricted choice to limit him to Jxx in clubs, I give him the heart King as well, but only two because I need him to have his second card be below my itty-bitty trey, and thus he must, per necessaity, have A-fourth in spades, and no Jack because of the deep endposition.

 

Heck of a lot more appealing a line if my heart pip were a bit higher than the trey, but God gives us deuces and treys for a reason -- stories.

[Rebound]

The full hand: [hv=n=sj63h965dj643c853&w=sk105ha3dak10cakq62&e=sq982hqj10dq9875c9&s=sa74hk8742d2cj1074]399|300|[/hv]

 

So, please tell me if I was way off base. After winning the A I played K, 10, ducked. I played 3 rounds of clubs, pitching a spade and a heart. Then I led a spade.

 

I see that, as the cards lie, except for RHO needing to have only 3 clubs, you make if spades are led from the top from the West hand (i think) after 3 rounds of diamonds and 3 rounds of clubs. But, how crazy was it to adopt this line of play compared with other possibilities?

 

It strikes me as interesting how much different this hand is if I hold the ♦9 and dummy has the 10

[kenrexford]

Not completely off base. The start is almost exactly what I thought about.

 

You end up, then, deciding who has the missing spade and heart honors. I mean, had North held the fourth club, your line after this point works. But, you still must decide what spades to play.

 

The spade pitch was potentially costly, for the reasons I explained, above.

 

Despite the cards actually on the table, I don't think that the actual layout is very likely. The lead of fourth best from a Jack empty against a slam is ugly. If you must put the heart King with the spade Ace, and with a three-card club suit, North seems to be the better candidateto hold those cards.

 

But, my analysis may be way off.

[Rebound]

"But, my analysis may be way off. "

 

Well, I'm inclined to agree with you, and those above, that the lead of 4th best from Jxxx is atypical against a slam, particularly on the given hand. I'm pretty sure I'd have led my top heart.

 

I don't know what intuition or faulty thinking led me to be so sure diamonds were 4-1 either way; but once I was, and having realized this was a poor contract, I thought the best thing to do was commit to the first line I saw that had a chance, since no matter what, I'd have to find a very specific distribution.

 

The main reason for my post was my complete lack of confidence as to how and when to play the spade suit. I appreciate all the feedback.

[nige1]

[hv=n=sj63h965dj643c853&w=sk105ha3dak10cakq62&e=sq982hqj10dq9875c9&s=sa74hk8742d2cj1074]399|300|

So, please tell me if I was way off base. After winning the A I played K, 10, ducked. I played 3 rounds of clubs, pitching a spade and a heart. Then I led a spade.

 

I see that, as the cards lie, except for RHO needing to have only 3 clubs, you make if spades are led from the top from the West hand (i think) after 3 rounds of diamonds and 3 rounds of clubs. But, how crazy was it to adopt this line of play compared with other possibilities?

 

It strikes me as interesting how much different this hand is if I hold the ♦9 and dummy has the 10[/hv]

IMO Rebound's line is good but PClayton's is better because the latter makes trivially when LHO has ♠AJ or ♠Jxxx or ♠Jxxxx and has good chances when LHO has ♠AJx.