Claim

[Gerben42]

I would always claim 1 and 4 (mentioning the unblock).

 

 

Yes, better mention the unblock or I will rule against you.

If you don't mention the unblock, you are assumed to have missed the point of the hand.

 

 

On 2 I would ruff out clubs before I claim. It's my experience that against most opps it takes less time to play it out than to explain. If one opp or another starts to think, I show the hand and explain instead. Maybe this is inconsistent.

 

No this is not inconsistent. The point of claiming is that it is unsporting to let your opponents waste brain power when you know there is nothing left to think about. So if opponent starts to think, you can cut it short.

 

Claiming on a squeeze has always struck me as somewhat pompous (sorry the hog I don't mean it personally! just the action).

 

Sort of yes, but if the squeeze has already materialized, I think it's OK.

[blackshoe]

Claiming on a squeeze has always struck me as somewhat pompous (sorry the hog I don't mean it personally! just the action).

 

Sort of yes, but if the squeeze has already materialized, I think it's OK.

 

Hm. If claiming on a squeeze is pompous, what is not claiming on a squeeze? "I knew there was a squeeze, but I didn't claim because I figured you were too stupid to see it"?

[gwnn]

No it is more like "I knew there was a squeeze but I didn't claim because I am stupid enough to screw it up sometimes (by e.g. missing an early discard)", and "because perhaps you will discard erroneously".

[Flameous]

I don't usually like the claim on squeeze like here deal 3. Here I have to count the cards to know if suit's 4th card is strong, and I don't think you can expect opps to trust you to be able to always do that without error.

If clubs had 10 in it, then I'd accept the claim stating that after playing all majors and three rounds of clubs, if CJ is still up, I'll play diamonds from the top. Here you have to only look for one card and I trust anyone can do that.

[PeterGill]

1. At IMPS I claim 11 tricks. At match points, I try for 12 tricks of course. My line is a slight variation of Gerben's. I play RHO for DAxxxx and Hxxx or HJxx. Draw trumps ending in dummy. D towards the king. Back to CA for D through the (ducked?) ace, to my jack (the principle is that RHO might play "2nd hand plays low" twice when I lead towards the hidden hand). Now I want to duck a heart to LHO. So low H, duck if Q played, else go up with HA and duck a heart on the way back. LHO might have no diamonds or might exit in C or H not D ---> 12 tricks if H 3-3.

 

2. Claim is dependent on my knowledge of my opponents (based in part on previous hands against them). If they are novices, I wait until my hand is all high before I claim. Against better players I claim as soon as clubs are seen to be 4-3.

 

3. I would never ever claim in a dodgy 7NT - too much at stake. Which suit to play first? I think the best play is three rounds of clubs first. Claim if 3-3. Opponents can see the long clubs in dummy, so they would not throw clubs on D's, but might from 4441 with singleton club (or e.g. 3442 shape) pitch a D from say xxxx, xxxx, 9xxx, x. Next I cash the spades, not the hearts, as holding on to 8xxx in spades is unlikely. Then the hearts. Then hope for squeeze or 3-3 D. Unlike Hands (1) and (4), I'm confident that this is the best line of play.

 

4. At IMPS, I claim 10 tricks, stating how I unblock in clubs. If I'm directing, I would accept any claim without mention of any unblocking

statement, as it's obvious to play low to C10 on 3rd club after CJ drops.

 

At match points, I try for 11 tricks of course. I think winning the first spade will make the spade position less clear to the opponents. So I win SA then play C9 and C8 on the first two rounds of clubs, not C6. If RHO has 2 clubs, I cross to C10 so that LHO has to make 4 discards before RHO can make any helpful 2nd discard. If LHO has 2 clubs, I continue the top clubs from dummy, unblocking C10, so that RHO has to make 3 discards before seeing any discard from LHO.

 

They will have many discards to make and I will pitch a H early to maximize the chances of both opponents discarding down to 2 (or 1) hearts, and not keeping enough spades, in order to hang onto their D's. To keep 2 hearts and 3 spades, an opponent will have to void themselves in D. If my concentration is good, I will take in all their discards. If my focus is poor, possibly due to a late night, I will simply count how many spades and hearts each opponents discard, so that after Trick 8 I can deduce the D count. I will keep track of the number of spades each started with (from the pips led and discarded) and of any signalling method they use. I will play as fast and in tempo as possible, so that I pick up any telltale clues from a defensive tank. I expect to make 10 tricks about 80% of the time and 11 tricks occasionally.

[barmar]

Hm. If claiming on a squeeze is pompous, what is not claiming on a squeeze? "I knew there was a squeeze, but I didn't claim because I figured you were too stupid to see it"?

You don't have to tell them you knew there was a squeeze, just act happy when the squeeze works.

 

No one is going to be offended that you didn't claim early on the squeeze. And against 90% of opponents, explaining that the squeeze is certain isn't going to save much time over playing it out until the squeezed opponent has to go into the tank deciding what to throw.

[mycroft]

Yeah, basically that's where the claim on a squeeze, except in the best events, should happen. Play it through, when the person gets to the "what do I do now?" point, you can explain the 3- or 4-card ending quickly and easily and it should work. If you are on trick 5 and claim on the marked red-suit squeeze, expect it to take longer than playing it out 95+% of the time at club or non-1st-division tournament.

[piratepete]

3. I would never ever claim in a dodgy 7NT - too much at stake. Which suit to play first? I think the best play is three rounds of clubs first. Claim if 3-3. Opponents can see the long clubs in dummy, so they would not throw clubs on D's, but might from 4441 with singleton club (or e.g. 3442 shape) pitch a D from say xxxx, xxxx, 9xxx, x. Next I cash the spades, not the hearts, as holding on to 8xxx in spades is unlikely. Then the hearts. Then hope for squeeze or 3-3 D. Unlike Hands (1) and (4), I'm confident that this is the best line of play.

 

Aren't you actually giving up on the squeeze through this line? If the fourth ♦ isn't good, how do you get back to the ♣2? Doing exactly this but cashing only two rounds of clubs is a good try, though.

[PeterGill]

Aren't you actually giving up on the squeeze through this line? If the fourth ♦ isn't good, how do you get back to the ♣2? Doing exactly this but cashing only two rounds of clubs is a good try, though.

 

I cash the majors, ending up in dummy. Sorry, I thought that went without saying.