PhilKing Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 I can think of no rationale for partner winning with the ♥K from KQ, since by winning with the queen he makes the defence easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher Posted September 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Will partner cash the ace with specifically Axxxx? It's tough.From partner's point of view, when is cashing SA wrong? I agree it may not be easy to find, of course. He does not know about the ten of clubs, so he cannot afford to cash the other top heart.I think partner knows about ♣10. Why would we have covered from Qxxx(x)? The problem with the layout you suggest is that declarer has rejected the more likely layout of swapping round the red kingsIn that layout (declarer having AJx AQxxx 10x Axx, partner having KQxxx xxx KQxx x), declarer's line still works, doesn't it? If we give a club ruff, he can set the clubs up and score four hearts, three clubs, two diamonds and a spade. If instead we play a spade through, he just ducks, threatening to score a spade ruff and ♦J. To prevent that partner has to play a third trump, but now declarer cashes ♣7 and then sets up a diamond trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilKing Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Scrub post. Answering a different diagram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilKing Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 In that layout (declarer having AJx AQxxx 10x Axx, partner having KQxxx xxx KQxx x), declarer's line still works, doesn't it? If we give a club ruff, he can set the clubs up and score four hearts, three clubs, two diamonds and a spade. If instead we play a spade through, he just ducks, threatening to score a spade ruff and ♦J. To prevent that partner has to play a third trump, but now declarer cashes ♣7 and then sets up a diamond trick. If we play a spade through, West wins and switches to the diamond king. If declarer clears diamonds, partner then plays his trump (or any red card). Declarer has to lose a black trick of some sort in the wash. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finch Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 There are two reasons why partner does not have KQx of hearts:(i) winning with the king is just a partner-punishing false card (as PhilKing says, there's absolutely no reason to win with the king while winning with the queen tells you what his heart holding is)(ii) leading a singleton club with KQx in trumps is a very odd play I'm not entirely certain why partner felt the need to win the second heart. Why couldn't we have had Q9 doubleton? I have some additional information that declarer is a much better player than dummy who is also not shy of opening 14-count 1NTs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher Posted September 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 But the thing that really worries me about this hand is that partner is defending like a man who wants a ruff. After all how did he know we don't have the heart queen?If the spades are AQx-KJxxx, it's still necessary for partner to play ♥K. And he knows that with AQx Axxxx Kx Axx declarer was cold just by ruffing a spade in dummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilKing Posted September 17, 2012 Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 If the spades are AQx-KJxxx, it's still necessary for partner to play ♥K. And he knows that with AQx Axxxx Kx Axx declarer was cold just by ruffing a spade in dummy. Good point, which I am sure my partner will spot. :) That's a big hand though, but Axx Axxxx Kx Axx is quite likely from partner's perspective. Basically whenever declarer has Axxxx he will play on spades. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamford Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 sorry duplicate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamford Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 There are two reasons why partner does not have KQx of hearts:(i) winning with the king is just a partner-punishing false card (as PhilKing says, there's absolutely no reason to win with the king while winning with the queen tells you what his heart holding is)(ii) leading a singleton club with KQx in trumps is a very odd play I'm not entirely certain why partner felt the need to win the second heart. Why couldn't we have had Q9 doubleton? I have some additional information that declarer is a much better player than dummy who is also not shy of opening 14-count 1NTsLeading a singleton club is not that odd from K98xx KQx Qxxx x. If the ace of hearts were in North, we may get a ruff to go with our trump trick, and all leads are dangerous. If West does have Kxx of hearts and East a doubleton, then West ducking the second round is fatal, as declarer will just establish the clubs. However, that might add something to the play of ace and another when declarer does have AQxxx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamford Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 In that layout (declarer having AJx AQxxx 10x Axx, partner having KQxxx xxx KQxx x), declarer's line still works, doesn't it? If we give a club ruff, he can set the clubs up and score four hearts, three clubs, two diamonds and a spade. If instead we play a spade through, he just ducks, threatening to score a spade ruff and ♦J. To prevent that partner has to play a third trump, but now declarer cashes ♣7 and then sets up a diamond trick.East should play a spade when he wins with the king of hearts in your layout. West can then just lead a top diamond, and declarer can indeed ruff a spade, but when he tries to get off dummy with a diamond to the 10, West just wins and puts him back there with another diamond, and he cannot get off the dummy. (Just saw that PhilKing made a similar point, but if declarer ruffs a spade in dummy first, only locking him in dummy will do). And I am not sure that East should not cover the jack of clubs with Qxxx. Certainly if he is looking at Kx of hearts it seems the only chance. What was the whole hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 What was the whole hand?Partner had Axxxx Kxx Q1085 x. He thought (and I agree) that his ♦5 should be suit-preference. I think (and I think he agrees) that he should have cashed ♠A before playing a diamond. Edit: I won the king and played a spade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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