Helping partner

[Phil]

From Day 1 of the Jacoby Swiss:

 

[hv=pc=n&w=s7h6532dajt64ckj8&n=sqjt93ha9dkq3cqt4&d=s&v=0&b=1&a=1hp1sp2hp3cp3hp4hppp]266|200[/hv]

 

You play UDCA (discards are UDCA too)

 

You lead the spade. Right or wrong, partner cashes the ♠AK and declarer follows. The analysis on whether or not he should isn't relevant.

 

It should be clear that you need a club shift. How can you get partner's cooperation to lead a club instead of simply playing a 3rd spade trying to get you an uppercut, or kill dummy's spade tricks?

[inquiry]

Did partner really cash ♠AK in that order? I find it hard to believe he has the ♦Ace as I am looking at it. A ♦ void doesn't seem likely, maybe a singleton. But back to the problem.

 

Your first discard here should be suit preference (do you play upside down suit preference too?).

 

If you wanted a trump promotion, your discard should ask for a spade (something like the ♦Jack or ten

 

 

If you want a club shift, you want to encourage a club, the only card is the ♦4.

 

If you play upside down suit preference reverse the signals. If your not playing something like this, you will probably not beat it, because the club 8 looks "high" and is discouraging. And dicouraging in diamonds does little good at getting a club shift.

[Lobowolf]

I do not play suit preference here. Obviously, we have a spot card problem in clubs. Since we led our short suit, partner will assume that the "usual" thing to do (absent our informing him otherwise) is to continue spades and give us our ruff. Therefore, I think the best shot is an unnecessary honor discard, suggesting the desire for something "unusual." Because the unusual play I want partner to make is in the club suit, and because my club suit is shorter (which partner may be able to read from his own club length, and thereby work out my problem - my choice of club spots is constrained), my card would be the ♣J.

[inquiry]

Your options with your methods are as last poster said is the ALARM CLOCK ♣JACK.

 

 

Alarm clock would be necessary as well if your diamonds were AJT87 as the "seven" might not look "low" enough to encourage a club switch. Which jack would most likely wake partner up for the need for a club switch (if you play S/P at trick 2)?

[TWO4BRIDGE]

my card would be the ♣J.

 

That throws away your 4th trick.

 

I play O/E on the 1st discard, which would be the ♦4 , stating " I like ♣ " , but it would not demand a ♣ switch, unfortunately .

[wyman]

That throws away your 4th trick.

 

Huh?

 

edit: oh, i see what you mean I think. But you've got the hands reversed if I'm right (and the ace of diamonds is your fourth trick in any case).

[gnasher]

From partner's point of view, it might be necessary to play a club, a diamond or a spade. (A diamond would be necessary if declarer had xx KJxxxxx x AKx and I had x Q10x AJ10xx xxxx.)

 

Therefore a low club means play a club, and a low diamond means play a diamond. Because we might not have a low enough card in either suit, a very high club should mean play a diamond, and a very high diamond should mean play a club. To get a trump promotion, I should play a card which is unlikely to be either my lowest or my highest.

 

Hence I'd throw ♦J.

 

 

By the way, I can't see how throwing ♣J can ever cost the contract by force.

[Phil]

I gave this hand to a lot of players in Louisville and I got a lot of differing opinions. Here's a sampling:

 

- ♣J is the most logical play to wake up partner (alarm clock). Gnasher's example notwithstanding, its very unlikely a diamond could be right, but I like the idea of catering to it if possible.

 

- ♣J would definitely discourage clubs and encourage diamonds.

 

- ♦J looks like a sequence and doesn't wake partner up.

 

- ♦T is more 'weird' and might wake up partner for a club shift.

 

- The problem is essentially unsolvable (!?). This person has won about 4 nationals in the last 3 years.

 

So what did I do? Instead of trusting pard, I ruffed the trick (!) and played ♦A, ♦. This works when declarer has 1, 2 or 4 diamonds and 6 hearts. I don't think its that far out TBH and a few players thought it was clear.

 

Naturally, declarer held 2=6=3=2. Thats the kind of week it was.

[dake50]

Ruff SK, underlead DA.

[655321]

Ruff SK, underlead DA.

 

The title of the thread is 'Helping partner', not 'Helping declarer'.

[gnasher]

Ruff SK, underlead DA.

So that we can be endplayed later?

[gnasher]

- ♣J is the most logical play to wake up partner (alarm clock).

What would they discard from x 109xx A432 J432 ?

 

- ♦J looks like a sequence and doesn't wake partner up.

I wouldn't bother asking them any more bridge questions. Looking at dummy, it can't be important for partner to know whether your diamonds are AJ1098 or AJ432.

 

- The problem is essentially unsolvable (!?). This person has won about 4 nationals in the last 3 years.

If the problem is "What should you discard when your discussion of carding went no further than 'UDCA'?", he might be right. But that's just another way of saying that you should have spent more time discussing carding, and less time on Two Suits Exclusion Kickback.