Matchpoints

[kfay]

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sahkj75d82caqj1084&s=skq108ha32dqj5c952]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv]

 

The lead is the ♦4 to the K and the ♦3 is returned to the J and A.

 

LHO switches to the ♠3, RHO discouraging.

 

So... what am I supposed to do?

 

Edit: Here was the complete auction:

 

1♣-1♠; 2♣-2NT; 3NT

 

W probably knows that E has 4 diamonds.

[suokko]

1♣-1♠;

2♣-3NT?

[kfay]

1♣-1♠;

2♣-3NT?

no S bid 2NT and N raised

[suokko]

Just checking the contract :ph34r:

 

Looks like you can't take the finesse in ♣ because they didn't lead more ♦. Now is the ♣ king on or off?

 

Option 1. Drop singleton ♣ K. 10 tricks if not dropping. if dropping 11 tricks,

 

Option 2(assuming 4th leads). Play ♥ to A. Cash ♠ K and ♦ Q and take the ♣ finesse. If finesse on 11 tricks (unless 4th or 5th) and possible 9 tricks when ♦ is 4-4.

 

Of course if it looks that ♠ is 5 in LHO then cashing 2 spades is good bet but I doubt that.

 

So in average you take more tricks when cashing ♣ A. But this isn't field action so you don't have any protection if finesse is on. (You would take finesse if they continue ♦)

[gnasher]

I would do this:

 

Option 3: heart to the ace, ♠K throwing a heart, low club to the queen. If clubs are 2-2 or singleton king I have an entry to hand to cash another spade winner. If RHO ducks with ♣Kxx, two more rounds of clubs will endplay him to give me an entry to hand. If LHO has ♣Kxx, there's some chance that he's 5134 and will be endplayed, or is 4234 with ♥Q.

[Fluffy]

Andy is the man :)

[dellache]

If south bypassed his spades by bidding a direct 2N he has lots of inferences : diamonds are 44 and west was afraid that you had qj9xx. East has long spades otherwise west would have led one. West has at most 3 hearts because he didnot lead one (Axxx is a bad lead). So it is very likely that east has at most 1 club.

 

Now the theorical line is to play HA cash Sk Dq and play the c9.

 

The practical approach maybe to play a straight c9 after HA hoping that west will forget to cover it with Kxx. East will probably not be able to duck this (it would have been better to play dq instead of the Jack) and you cover yourself against stiff ck and slight misanalysis of defense motives and/or ability (CAN we trust their ability to lead correctly?)

[cherdanno]

I would do this:

 

Option 3: heart to the ace, ♠K throwing a heart, low club to the queen. If clubs are 2-2 or singleton king I have an entry to hand to cash another spade winner. If RHO ducks with ♣Kxx, two more rounds of clubs will endplay him to give me an entry to hand. If LHO has ♣Kxx, there's some chance that he's 5134 and will be endplayed, or is 4234 with ♥Q.

That LHO gets endplayed seems rather irrelevant to me, as the field will be taking 11 tricks whenever LHO has Kxx. (Or am I wrong in assuming that 3 rounds of diamonds will be the normal defense start?)

[dellache]

I would do this:

 

Option 3: heart to the ace, ♠K throwing a heart, low club to the queen.  If clubs are 2-2 or singleton king I have an entry to hand to cash another spade winner.  If RHO ducks with ♣Kxx, two more rounds of clubs will endplay him to give me an entry to hand.  If LHO has ♣Kxx, there's some chance that he's 5134 and will be endplayed, or is 4234 with ♥Q.

That LHO gets endplayed seems rather irrelevant to me, as the field will be taking 11 tricks whenever LHO has Kxx. (Or am I wrong in assuming that 3 rounds of diamonds will be the normal defense start?)

As I said in my post the diamonds may well be ATxx to K9xx. In that case West has to guess if you had QJ9xx or the actual hand. The non diamond continuation at trick 3 advocates this. It's difficult to guess what will happen at the tables that bid 1C 1S 2C 2N 3N. The Dia continuation looks safer but is that clear?

[gnasher]

Cherdano's post has made me change my mind.

 

I think that the spade switch suggests that the club is onside. If LHO had Jxxx xxx Axxx xx, wouldn't he just clear the diamonds?

 

I play a heart to the ace, cash a spade and a diamond, then run ♣9. If that loses, I'm no worse off than I would have been if they'd cleared diamonds at trick 3. If I don't do that and the club is right, I've let this spade switch talk me into making fewer tricks than everyone else.

 

It's a shame: my earlier line was much more attractive.

 

(Edited to correct typo in second paragraph.)

Edited December 3, 2009 by gnasher

[gnasher]

As I said in my post the diamonds may well be ATxx to K9xx. In that case West has to guess if you had QJ9xx or the actual hand. The non diamond continuation at trick 3 advocates this. It's difficult to guess what will happen at the tables that bid 1C 1S 2C 2N 3N. The Dia continuation looks safer but is that clear?

I think the diamond layout is clear to West regardless of the auction, as long as they play 4th best leads.

 

If East had only two diamonds, he'd know that declarer had five of them, and wouldn't lead one back at trick two. Thus West knows that East has four.

[pooltuna]

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sahkj75d82caqj1084&s=skq108ha32dqj5c952]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv]

 

The lead is the ♦4 to the K and the ♦3 is returned to the J and A.

 

LHO switches to the ♠3, RHO discouraging.

 

So... what am I supposed to do?

 

Edit: Here was the complete auction:

 

1♣-1♠; 2♣-2NT; 3NT

 

W probably knows that E has 4 diamonds.

I would continue w/a ♥ to hand, cash a ♠. lead the 9♣ unblocking the 8 in dummy

[dellache]

As I said in my post the diamonds may well be ATxx to K9xx. In that case West has to guess if you had QJ9xx or the actual hand. The non diamond continuation at trick 3 advocates this. It's difficult to guess what will happen at the tables that bid 1C 1S 2C 2N 3N. The Dia continuation looks safer but is that clear?

I think the diamond layout is clear to West regardless of the auction, as long as they play 4th best leads.

 

If East had only two diamonds, he'd know that declarer had five of them, and wouldn't lead one back at trick two. Thus West knows that East has four.

That's not true. With those clubs in dummy, EW may just need to cash out their 3 available diamond tricks (West=AJxx, East = Kx), before declarer can score his 11+ tricks. From East POV, even with Kx, a shift may just lead to a cold bottom at MP. IMP it's another story.

 

BTW : what other reason can we find to explain West's shift ?

[gnasher]

BTW : what other reason can we find to explain West's shift ?

He has ♣K, and knows that if he plays another diamond we'll take the rest of the tricks. A spade switch gives us the opportunity to do something stupid, such as the line I originally suggested.

[dellache]

BTW : what other reason can we find to explain West's shift ?

He has ♣K, and knows that if he plays another diamond we'll take the rest of the tricks. A spade switch gives us the opportunity to do something stupid, such as the line I originally suggested.

We could also say that West doesn't know where the C9 is and wants to prevent us from taking the Club finesse twice because he has Kxx. But I agree your answer also makes sense. BTW playing the ♦ Jack instead of the known Queen was real bad play.

 

Anyway the good line always seems to cash SK, DQ and play 9C.

[mikeh]

BTW : what other reason can we find to explain West's shift ?

He has ♣K, and knows that if he plays another diamond we'll take the rest of the tricks. A spade switch gives us the opportunity to do something stupid, such as the line I originally suggested.

I don't know that this is a valid inference.

 

I would credit LHO with having a specific construction in mind...he may be making a poor percentage decision, but I suspect he hopes for more than just an error on our part.

 

If we held Jxxxx AQx QJx xx, and he lacks the club King, he'd better play a spade, not a diamond.

 

If we held KQxx Q10x QJx 9xx, he'd better play a diamond rather than a spade even if he holds the club K.

 

Having said that, I agree with the line of crossing in hearts, cashing one diamond and one spade and then advancing the club 9, intending to run it is not covered.

 

I'll try for a top on some other board....this is not a board on which to risk a bottom...which is what we get if we adopt a line that loses a trick to West's Kx(x) in clubs.