Irrational Exuberance?

[daveharty]

[hv=pc=n&s=shakq932d952c9862&n=skqj52h8da86cat54&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1sp1n(forcing)p2cp3h(invitational%2C%206+%20hearts)p4hppp]266|200[/hv]

 

Exuberant bidding (and the lure of the vulnerable game bonus) has landed you in a tenuous contract. LHO leads the ♣Q; time to justify your bidding!

 

What problems do you foresee?

 

 

You have an awful lot of potential losers in the minor suits. You probably need to bring in trumps for zero losers; that is possible if they split 3-3, or if either opponent has the JT doubleton.

 

 

What can you do about it?

 

 

Win the club Ace (the lead marks RHO with the King, so you probably don't need to worry about this trick getting ruffed) and lead the spade King. If RHO plays low, pitch a diamond. If the King holds, repeat the ruffing finesse; when RHO plays the ace, you will ruff and attempt to draw trumps. But even if LHO wins the Ace, you are in good shape; the spades are now established for discards. Yes, you have lost a trick you didn't have to, but it will come back with interest. This is called a "loser-on-loser play." If LHO switches to a diamond, win the Ace and pitch your last diamond on a high spade. Then ruff a diamond in your hand and draw trumps; if you get your hoped-for heart split, you will lose only two clubs and the spade Ace.

 

 

Could the contract be beaten?

 

 

No. The heart and spade splits mean that whichever minor suit the defense leads, the spades will provide sufficient discards in the other minor after executing the loser-on-loser play.

 

 

The full hand:

 

 

[hv=pc=n&s=shakq932d952c9862&w=sa97hj54dk743cqj3&n=skqj52h8da86cat54&e=st8643ht76dqjtck7]399|300[/hv]

 

[ArtK78]

In my browser, the full hand in the last spoiler is not coming up.

[daveharty]

That's odd, it shows up okay for me in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox. I don't have IE so I can't test it.