3N play problem

[1eyedjack]

[hv=d=w&v=b&w=saxhatxdat9xxxcxx&e=skqt9xhk9xdjcqxxx]266|100|Scoring: IMP

The "x"s really are insignificant.

Uncontested:

West...East

1N ... 2H

2S ... 2N

3N ... P

 

1N = 12-14

2H = Transfer

 

Lead: ♥2 (4th)[/hv]

[inquiry]

Vacant space math will probably not come into play with such a small difference in heart legnth. And to finessee south for the spade JACK means giving up on singlet spade jack with north, and means given north a chance to be a hero by going up iwth the heart Queen or Jack when you lead low to finessee heart nine for one of two entries you need to dummy. (Having North play heart Queen from Qxx when I lead towards K9 in dummy whne I find Soiith with Jxxx in spades so float spade ten, spade to ace, and heart back to dummy would be too horrible to comprehend... I would rather go down like a normal person by losing the spade hook directly to the jack)...

 

So I will capture the heart ACE (I assume with South plays big). Cash spade ace, and lead a spade and hook the jack. I have been down before, this looks like I will be down again as this seems straight foward to me....

[luke warm]

well jack, this might be a hand where other methods do better than mine :rolleyes: ... reason is, we'd be in 4S probably (or 3S) after

1nt : 2c - invitational/garbage puppet

3d : 3s - 6 diamonds : hate diamonds

 

and now opener can pass, bid 3nt, 4S, etc...

 

as to the problem, assuming south plays the ♥Q or J i take the A and play spades from the top... i'm probably down... the other thought i had was to win the ♥A and lead a low diamond to the J, but if north wins i'm afraid of getting gutted in clubs

[cnszsun]

The percentage play for this ♠ suit is 3 rounds of top honor, so i will do it.

[1eyedjack]

Against players who can be relied upon not to err, this is a no-brainer. Playing for the drop in Spades is a priori superior, and the Heart lead does not materially (if at all) affect that.

 

The question is, BY HOW MUCH is it superior over the hook, where there is a possibility of inducing a misdefence, and how likely is the misdefence?

 

I envisage taking a losing Spade finesse, following which they switch to Diamonds (ducked) and a Diamond back. This may even work when Jxxx of Spades is offside so that there is otherwise no genuine play to make.

 

The Spade finesse loses before the opponents have had a chance to signal by way of discard. Of course they may still get it right, and an alert defender should perhaps question why declarer has taken a line in Spades that is clear to all at the table as being against the a priori odds.

 

There is a small temptation at trick 1 to rise with the 9 in dummy. If opening leader has led away from QJ then you win trick 1 in dummy cheaply, and can try running the Diamond Jack before testing the Spades. This is definitely inferior. The Heart honours are more likely to be split, and playing the 9 from dummy gives up a trick in the suit that they have given to you by leading it. Also you telegraph your interest in Diamonds if you lead them yourself, and increase the chances of a Club switch. It is a bit of a shame that the H:T and H:9 are not reversed in position. Either defender might continue H in the hope that his partner had the T, when in fact you want them to attack D.

[Chamaco]

I have seen most posters play spades immediately.

My question is: even if we bring the spade suit home, where do we get the 9th trick from ?

 

If it is diamonds, the we have to develop them sooner or later, so why not taking in dummy and run the J, adding the chance of Qx or Kx held by RHO ? ;)

 

It is true that this advertise club weakness but alert defenders will find clubs with any line of play except the deceptive line of winning in hand a heart and ducking a club to conceal club weakness.

So I'd either go for the diamond line or, (against opps neither too ggood nor to weak not to be deceived) for the deceptive club duck line).

[1eyedjack]

I have seen most posters play spades immediately.

My question is: even if we bring the spade suit home, where do we get the 9th trick from ?

The Heart lead is likely to be away from at least one of the QJ, and as such give you 3 Heart tricks to go with 1 Diamond and hopefully 5 Spades (or in my line, possibly 4 Spades but then hopefully 2 Diamonds)

[luke warm]

I have seen most posters play spades immediately.

My question is: even if we bring the spade suit home, where do we get the 9th trick from ?

 

If it is diamonds, the we have to develop them sooner or later, so why not taking in dummy and run the J, adding the chance of Qx or Kx held by RHO ? ;)

 

It is true that this advertise club weakness but alert defenders will find clubs with any line of play except the deceptive line of winning in hand a heart and ducking a club to conceal club weakness.

So I'd either go for the diamond line or, (against opps neither too ggood nor to weak not to be deceived) for the deceptive club duck line).

also, most defenders, when seeing the spades in dummy, will deduce that you have the ace and are trying to steal a diamond trick... this will most likely elicit the dreaded club shift

[whereagles]

LOL... you guys won't believe this :) I'm gonna take the 1st trick and play a club to the queen myself!!

 

This bluff is rare, but it happens every now and then, and, having cleverly concealed my 6-card diamond suit, this seems the right time to try it ;) I lose nothing by doing it since I can hardly imagine opps can cash 5 club tricks now.

[luke warm]

I lose nothing by doing it since I can hardly imagine opps can cash 5 club tricks now.

maybe not, but 4 may be enough... there's still the little matter of diamonds

[the hog]

Win the H, run the S, D to the A, hook the H.

 

Playing C to the Q occurred to me but it is pointless on this layout, as off the top I only have 5 tricks. This sort of play works well with one suit open when another needs to be set up. That is not the case here.

 

Poor decision by E to bid 2N on this hand. In the absence of a super accept do you really want to be in game when opener figures to have a 12-13 count?

[pclayton]

This hand looks pretty straightforward to me: A♥, hook the 9♥ and try to cash the spades.

 

Now, if LHO is a hero and blocks a 2nd entry to the board by playing 2nd hand high, I'm playing for miracles if spades don't break. If spades don't break, abandon them and try the J♦. If I catch KQ onside, they'll have to cover so I win and play the 10♦ back. If RHO has the AK♣ I can't be beaten.

 

If LHO doesn't go superman on me, then I hook the 9♥ and try spades. If 4-2, I can at least get back to dummy for -1. There might be some interesting end positions if they don't put a ♦ on the table, too, I haven't considered the end positions - but there might be a stepping-stone lurking; I can't tell.

[1eyedjack]

LOL... you guys won't believe this :) I'm gonna take the 1st trick and play a club to the queen myself!!

 

This bluff is rare, but it happens every now and then, and, having cleverly concealed my 6-card diamond suit, this seems the right time to try it :) I lose nothing by doing it since I can hardly imagine opps can cash 5 club tricks now.

I have seen it happen but it never works for me. This could be the right hand for it but it has one drawback: Unless the opps set up the Diamonds for you to run, then you are still going to need to pick up the Spades without loss. If you succeed in picking up the Spades without loss then there is no need to risk the ruse. At least by conceding a Spade (and thereby setting up a 4th spade) before they (hopefully) attack Diamonds, you only need 2 Diamond tricks.

 

It could help you decide how to play the spades without loss, and they may set up the Diamonds to run, in which case you will only need 3 spade tricks.

 

The idea certainly has some merit.

[1eyedjack]

This hand looks pretty straightforward to me: A♥, hook the 9♥ and try to cash the spades.

 

Now, if LHO is a hero and blocks a 2nd entry to the board by playing 2nd hand high, I'm playing for miracles if spades don't break. If spades don't break, abandon them and try the J♦. If I catch KQ onside, they'll have to cover so I win and play the 10♦ back. If RHO has the AK♣ I can't be beaten.

 

If LHO doesn't go superman on me, then I hook the 9♥ and try spades. If 4-2, I can at least get back to dummy for -1. There might be some interesting end positions if they don't put a ♦ on the table, too, I haven't considered the end positions - but there might be a stepping-stone lurking; I can't tell.

If you are going to give up on the possibility of defensive error, then it is right to play on Spades before hooking the H. That way you cannot be cut off from the 4th Spade if you end up with a Spade loser. You still have DA entry to finesse the H later.