Declare or Defend?

[Apollo81]

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=sa92hk873dak7c962&w=sj865haqjt62d82c3&e=st4h5djt965ckqjt7&s=skq73h94dq43ca854]399|300|Scoring: MP

3NT by North[/hv]

 

Assume double dummy play and defense.

 

Contract: 3NT by North

 

If you choose to declare, how will the play go?

 

If you choose to defend, how will the defense go?

[suokko]

i would probably fail to make against good defense ATT unless there was some helpfull biding :)

 

as defender A♥ should be ducked to make declaring harder.

[kfay]

Looks like I declare.

 

Say E leads a ♣, I duck the first 3 rounds and W pitches 2♦ and 1♥ and I a ♠. Then 3♦ will squeeze W between the majors.

 

The best defense seems to be to lead ♦. I win in hand and play a ♣, ducked. ♦, ♣ ducked, ♦, ♣A. But now W has been squeezed and I can retain enough ♠ in hand to eventually be able to reach my long ♥.

 

Not a great analysis really but long story short is I'm pretty confident I'll take 9 tricks.

 

 

 

Although Han and I were talking and it seems like a good defense would be to have W lead the ♠8 when in early with the ♥A to try to break up communications between hands, but then I think I can still strip squeeze him and throw him in with a ♥ to lead from ♠Jx into K7

[Jlall]

yeah declare, nice analysis kfay

[ceeb]

Trusting the problem setter is easier than working out whether declarer can always suitably rectify the count for a squeeze. Making N the declarer must be a devious move to trick the careless. Pursuing that assumption, the only reason it matters who declares is that West but not East can break spades. Therefore it must be that breaking spades is the key to defeating the contract by South, hence unbreakable from North.

[OleBerg]

I'll make it as South too.

 

The ♠8 is covered, and the 10 taken by South. A heart is played and ducked to West.

 

If a club comes back, another duck, and spade switch is taken in dummy (Preserving the 7). Now it is safe to duck another club, and when a heart is led later, West cannot perservere in spades, and the skvis ensues.

[mikegill]

I think everyone missed the boat on this one...

[kfay]

I think everyone missed the boat on this one...

You mean aside from the fact that we want to declare? I suppose that could be... what is it in the play that's different that culminates in some other fancy line to 9 tricks?

[Cyberyeti]

What happens if E leads diamonds at every opportunity and depending on the precise timing, W probably ducks the AH. Can you get the count rectified without E cashing diamonds.

[matmat]

What happens if E leads diamonds at every opportunity and depending on the precise timing, W probably ducks the AH. Can you get the count rectified without E cashing diamonds.

I think then declarer has the tempo to set up the long heart in hand as W has already been squeezed in the majors

[mikegill]

Yeah my bad. Didn't consider the spade spots carefully enough. If you switch the s7 and s6, then repeated diamond leads will beat it.

[ceeb]

I'll make it as South too.

 

The ♠8 is covered, and the 10 taken by South. A heart is played and ducked to West.

 

If a club comes back, another duck, and spade switch is taken in dummy (Preserving the 7). Now it is safe to duck another club, and when a heart is led later, West cannot perservere in spades, and the skvis ensues.

But now you have no entry in a threat suit to the dummy's ♥winner.

 

The play has gone:

♠8,9,10,K South wins

♥x Q x x West wins

♣x x Q x East wins

♠x x x A North wins

So far everybody wins. Now you can, for example, duck one more ♣ and cash the minor winners leading to a 4-card ending in which you endplay W to score your ♠7. But you don't score the ♥K, so you lose 2♥ and 3♣.

[OleBerg]

I'll make it as South too.

 

The ♠8 is covered, and the 10 taken by South. A heart is played and ducked to West.

 

If a club comes back, another duck, and spade switch is taken in dummy (Preserving the 7). Now it is safe to duck another club, and when a heart is led later, West cannot perservere in spades, and the skvis ensues.

But now you have no entry in a threat suit to the dummy's ♥winner.

 

The play has gone:

♠8,9,10,K South wins

♥x Q x x West wins

♣x x Q x East wins

♠x x x A North wins

So far everybody wins. Now you can, for example, duck one more ♣ and cash the minor winners leading to a 4-card ending in which you endplay W to score your ♠7. But you don't score the ♥K, so you lose 2♥ and 3♣.

After ♠A I duck another club.

 

Any switch is taken, and another heart is led towards dummy (North).

 

If West rises, he will be skvised, if he ducks, he will be stripskvised. (Third round of diamonds is taken in dummy, spades is communication back to hand.

[ceeb]

That's right. So why make North the declarer? Must have been a hand from play.

[nigel_k]

After ♠8-9-10-Q, there's no need to duck anything. Just lead a heart up and then cash minor winners, ♥K and ♠A and exit with a heart to endplay West.