an easy defense?

[jjsb]

this one happened to me on bbo you hold that very nice hand on south :

 

76

8752

10953

K107

 

the auction goes (dealer north) :

 

W         N        E         S

          1D       p         p

x          1S       2C      2D

2H        3D       3H       p

4H       p          p        p

 

your partner lead Ace of S and dummy appear this way

Q1083

J4

J2

A9643

 

your pd follow by K and 9 of S . i guess u ruff?? if you do you see west follow 3 times in S. the  2 the 4 then J... well to you now .

 

regards

syl

[Guest]

K of C, knocking out the entry to the S Q before declarer can draw trumps. Looks straightforward defence.

Ron

[jjsb]

I think that it's not necessary i wait more longer to tell what was the good answer , it's easy and as Ron say  a "straigthforward" defense , here are the 4 hands

             

                 AK95

                  ---

                 KQ876

                 QJ85

J42                          Q1083

AKQ10963                J4

A4                            J2

2                              A9643

                 76

                8752

                 10953

                K107  

 

so the good defense is to play C and even if, in these case it's not important, the K is the best card  . My intention was not to give an impossible problem to solve but to express in bridge there's so many difference in real situation and bridge "with time" noone in bbo found the defense. As for me well , i was luckily playing with a star (thanks again caroltom) and with few kibbitz and the pressure was really there... sounds stupid rigth ?but well , bridge is also that i think a lot of players can tell about that. It was just more easy for me to just focuse on that 9 of S who looks like asking for D , i was seeing for the Ace in my partner's hand and already see the contract down (in fact i had a thougth of double and regretting i haven't) so  i don't try think more and ... play D and give the contract. a good lesson also... it's good to have a good signalisation but well ... sometimes before playing to where your partner ask you to play... better stop and see what can happen... Last thing , notice that defense is much more difficult to play in MP ... i don't want to have declarer hold (for exemple)

 

J42

AKQ10963

Q

Q2

 

yes the contract is still down but ... only one down...

 

regards

sylvain

[inquiry]

           Dummy

          Q1083

          J4

          J2

          A9643

 

76

8752

10953

K107

 

the auction goes (dealer north) :  

 

W    N     E     S

_               1D   p     p

x     1S   2C   2D

2H   3D  3H    p

4H   p     p      p

 

your partner lead SAK9 your ruff and west follows the third round with the J.

 

Well, the answer has been posted before I could espouse my view. There are two issues, does the S9 from S9x remaining in partners hand demand a Diamond return? If you decide to return club, which should you return (K or x).

 

First, the issue of does the 9 demand a return of a diamond. Well, no. For two reasons. Partner had to lead a spade for  you to ruff, and he had only two choices... the 9 or the small. So even playing lavinthal signals he has to return one or the other... sometimes he will not have a preference and must choose. With three cards remaining instead of two, it would be a little different.

 

Second issue. Do you return a club and if so which one?  Wotan suggested the Club King (no problem), jjsb suggested any club. On the actual hand, any club works. But I hope to show you that the CLUB KING is 100% right.  

 

But what are the problem hands and what can we expect partner to hold. Can we, for instance, expect partner to have four spades to AK and seven diamonds to AKQ? Of course not. So west has at least one diamond. Will partner expect us to have 5Diamonds? Nope, we would jump to 3D over 2C if we did (I would have jumped to 3D anyway... 2D allowed east to invite to 4H... if you bid 3D and west bids 3H east has to decide to pass or bid game on his own). I also don't believe my partner has 6 Diamonds. Why? Over 2H with 6D no worse than KQxxxx and my free 2D bid, I think he/she would bid 3D (based upon the law of total tricks). This makes east 3H "raise" competitive rather than invitational putting more pressure on them. But partner with 5D and expecting I may have only 3 (since I didn't blast to 3D) will surely pass, so this is what I expect.

 

So I believe at imps, if my partner who had heard this auction with the DA, would safely cash the diamond ACE before giving me my spade ruff. Because he knows I will not have 5Diamonds, so he knows 1) the D ace is cashing (since he is not 7-4) and 2) I can then ruff a spade for safe down one (again, this is at imps, at MP, with DA he will be worried about two down and will not cash DA from say DAQxxx).  This assures down one with no confusion.

 

So the danger hand is now identified. It is west has 7H + DA  or 6H plus the DA. That is 7H, 1C, 1D, and possible the SQ for a club or D pitch. We have worked out that in likelyhood, partner would have only 5D so West has a stiff Club. In this case, a low club might allow a theoretical stiff Club Queen to win the trick. Dummy can be entered with the HJ, and a diamond pitched on the club ACE. So the CLUB King caters to the one real threat based upon bidding logic... West has singleton CLUB QUEEN.

 

Can club king be wrong? Well if West is 3-6-2-2 with the Club Queen, the King performs a sort of "no-gain" merrimac coup... it gives up a club trick, but saves a Diamond trick (the SQ is not useful after CK lead) so you break even (regardless of who has the DA). If west is 3-6-1-3 with a singleton diamond King and the CLUB QJx, the club king still does not allows them to make an unmakable contract...after all, they will win only 3C and 6H. Only if West is precisely 3-6-1-3 with club QJx and DA does the club King back give up the contact, but this hand seems impossible given partners pass over 2H. However, a low club is deadly in any of the hands with 6H and west has the club QUEEN with or without the DA. The Queen wins, trumps are pulled, club to ACE (or heart to jack and club ace if singleton club QUEEN). So the only play, clearly, is the club King. Even if partner has the DA.

[jjsb]

Thanks Inquiry for that wonderfull analysis of the deal !!! impressive i should say . just 2 things to add .

firrst for the Lavintahl . i think that when 2 cards left the highest one should mean something (ask for the higher colour) and the small nothing precise . maybe it's something to discuss to discussion but i have the impression that if i don't want to give any information i would just play the small one so i bet the highest should "mean something"

second no big deal at all i guess i just wasn't clear but i didn't suggest "any club" ... i said "K is the best card" .

anyway again thank you for that really nice analysis of this deal !!!!

regards

syl

[inquiry]

Sorry... i didn't mean to mistate your view on the club suit.

 

As for highest should mean something because the lowest means nothing, then takes away from the meaning of the lowest. With your partners hand, I would have actually returned a low club (since ACE of CLUBS was in dummy) to make it clear I didn't have the DIAMOND ace... and at matchpoint holding the DAQ i would lead the S9 and hope partner listens carefully and fires back a diamond, and without the DA I would lead a low club... here to Deny the Diamond Ace.

 

The way I use lavinthal in such "it doesn't matter" situations with two cards is not to make the lowest (or highest) meaningless... I return the spot card that is easiest for my partner to read as not really a suit preference... so here I would return my lowest spade.  But I certainly would never question caroltom's choice of plays, so the nine must have been right (although again, not the card I would have choosen).

[eyhung]

I think this hand brings up an excellent point.  I believe that good defense is hard to achieve consistently if you adopt an attitude that partner's signals are commands instead of suggestions.   Just because partner signals something does not mean that it is the best defense -- your own cards may tell you something different.  It is up to each defender to use the information that partner gives him to find the best defense.  Frequently, this means following partner's suggestions, but not always.  In this case, partner does not know about the club king, so he cannot see that the Merrimac Coup is the right play.  

 

I find that playing without any signals at all can really sharpen one's game (although your time taken on defense will increase).  It is surprising how much one can work out just with the information from the bidding and early play, especially if declarer and partner are good players who always have a reason for playing a certain card.  (Bad players tend to be more random, revealing less information, but they will make significant technical mistakes to make up for the loss of defensive precision.)  Signals are a helpful tool to eliminate some  possibilities and speed up the defense, but they should not be used as a substitute for thinking.

 

Eugene Hung

[jjsb]

I think this hand brings up an excellent point.  I believe that good defense is hard to achieve consistently if you adopt an attitude that partner's signals are commands instead of suggestions.   Just because partner signals something does not mean that it is the best defense -- your own cards may tell you something different.  It is up to each defender to use the information that partner gives him to find the best defense.  Frequently, this means following partner's suggestions, but not always.  In this case, partner does not know about the club king, so he cannot see that the Merrimac Coup is the right play.  

 

I find that playing without any signals at all can really sharpen one's game (although your time taken on defense will increase).  It is surprising how much one can work out just with the information from the bidding and early play, especially if declarer and partner are good players who always have a reason for playing a certain card.  (Bad players tend to be more random, revealing less information, but they will make significant technical mistakes to make up for the loss of defensive precision.)  Signals are a helpful tool to eliminate some  possibilities and speed up the defense, but they should not be used as a substitute for thinking.

 

Eugene Hung

 

i agree to everything was send by Eugene , that's exactly what i wanted to suggest sending that deal. as Ron said , as long as you can trust the auction and see the cards played u can be sure K of C will make that contract down ... so yes partner's signal is definitely never an order just information ! thinking must be always there ...

regards

syl