An open book

[gnasher]

[hv=pc=n&s=sq7haj62dkj972c95&n=saj53h3da53cakj63&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1d(4+%20unbalanced)2d(majors)]266|200[/hv]

Sorry, I don't know the full auction, but it starts like this, the opponents don't bid again, and you reach 6♦. LHO leads ♣10. Plan the play.

[CamHenry]

I expect the ♠K to be onside on the auction!

 

To deal with the ♥ losers, I can either:

- throw one on a spade and ruff one

- throw one on a spade and one on a ♣

- ruff two

- try to ditch all three, somehow, and concede a trump

 

W is either 5=5=2=1 (most likely) or 5=5=1=2. I also assume E has the ♣Q.

 

I'm tempted to win the lead, play ♦A then finesse the J, ♣9 to E. I then run the ♠Q, scoring 3♣, 2♠, ♥A and 5 trumps.

 

Losing positions: W holds ♦Qx; E holds ♠K; E holds ♦QTxx. I can't see anything more sophisticated.

[WellSpyder]

I'm tempted to win the lead, play ♦A then finesse the J, ♣9 to E. I then run the ♠Q, scoring 3♣, 2♠, ♥A and 5 trumps.

I don't think you can rely on W not covering ♠Q! If he does cover then you only have 2 tricks in the suit and 2(♠) + 1 (♥A) + 5 (trumps) + 3 (♣) = 11. Although I quite often win 11 tricks in a slam, I would be looking for 12 if at all possible.

[Hanoi5]

I expect the ♠K to be onside on the auction!

 

To deal with the ♥ losers, I can either:

- throw one on a spade and ruff one

- throw one on a spade and one on a ♣

- ruff two

- try to ditch all three, somehow, and concede a trump

 

W is either 5=5=2=1 (most likely) or 5=5=1=2. I also assume E has the ♣Q.

 

I'm tempted to win the lead, play ♦A then finesse the J, ♣9 to E. I then run the ♠Q, scoring 3♣, 2♠, ♥A and 5 trumps.

 

Losing positions: W holds ♦Qx; E holds ♠K; E holds ♦QTxx. I can't see anything more sophisticated.

 

That adds up to 11.

[Hanoi5]

How about:

 

♣A, ♥A and ♥ ruffed, ♦A and diamond finesse, ♦K throwing a spade from the board and ♣ to the Ace, ♣ ruffed.Now I have:

 

♠AJx

♥

♦

♣J6

 

♠Qx

♥Jx

♦7

♣

 

And I guess clubs are not good, so I play my last trump and West is squeezed having to let go of a spade and making dummy's good after the finesse or letting go of one heart honour (he has to have KQ), making my J good when I give him a trick there.

 

All in all I need a lot, ♦Qxx with East, ♠K and ♥KQ with West but not that bad from the bidding and lead...

[PhilKing]

Feels like I should be able to ruff one heart and squeeze West without the count, but there might be some nasty guessing involved over whether East has Qxx or Txx in hearts.

 

Oh wait. I can overcome all guessing by drawing two trumps ending in dummy (finessing the jack) followed by a heart to the jack. Then I can arrange my ruff, draw the last trump and make with a simple squeeze.

 

I just need West to be 5521 with the spade king and not the diamond queen.

[Cyberyeti]

Feels like I should be able to play:

 

A♣

A♥

Q♠-K-A

J♠

♦ to J

♥ ruff

♠ ruff

♥ ruff with A

♠ ruff

 

So I have 9 tricks in the bank, now I cash K♦, exit with my last trump for E to lead into my ♣ KJ.

 

I feel very stupid if W has Q, 10x in the minors.

[PhilKing]

Feels like I should be able to play:

 

A♣

A♥

Q♠-K-A

J♠

♦ to J

♥ ruff

♠ ruff

♥ ruff with A

♠ ruff

 

So I have 9 tricks in the bank, now I cash K♦, exit with my last trump for E to lead into my ♣ KJ.

 

I feel very stupid if W has Q, 10x in the minors.

 

Yep - better. Caters for ♦Qx.

[winkle]

Say you play a heart to ace and lead a club. If lefty ruffs I think you can pick up any 2=3 diamond break by playing along cross-ruffing line. But sadly if he pitches you're very badly placed (probably need to play righty for QTx).

[winkle]

Yep - better. Caters for ♦Qx.

 

I don't think this caters to Qx. The diamond to jack will lose and a trump will come back.

[PhilKing]

I don't think this caters to Qx. The diamond to jack will lose and a trump will come back.

 

Misread his line somehow. Seems to cater for same as mine.

[gnasher]

I'm told that Cyberyeti's line was chosen at the table by JAllerton. When I was given the hand, I suggested the same line as PhilKing. I think these are both better than Hanoi5's line, because they work when hearts are Hxxxx-Hxx.

 

There's also a line where you draw trumps with a finesse, give up a club to East's queen to get to eleven, then squeeze West for twelve. That also fails when East has a heart honour.

 

Apparently there's something better than any of these, but I haven't worked out what yet. [Edit: Now I have.]

Edited June 17, 2013 by gnasher

[Finch]

Apparently there's something better than any of these, but I haven't worked out what yet. [Edit: Now I have.]

 

Yes. The challenge is to find a line that makes when West is both 5521 an 5512. I think we're all prepared to pay off to the DQ offside, however.

We don't know if the player who worked out the winning line (one of Jallerton's teammates) used electronic assistance to do so.

[mikeh]

How about this:

 

Win the club A and play a heart to the Ace.

 

Lead the spade Q and win the Ace when covered.

 

Cash the spade J and lead a spade.

 

East cannot ruff effectively, so will discard a club or a heart.

 

A full analysis requires stipulating what he pitches and how that affects our line.

 

For now, assume he pitches a heart. In fact the line is identical even if East never pitches a heart....we will always ruff the 3rd round of hearts with the Ace.

 

We ruff the spade, and ruff a heart, exhausting RHO (assuming hearts were 5=3).

 

We lead dummy's last spade. Again, East cannot ruff with any effect, so he pitches. He has to pitch a club perforce, if we assume he earlier pitched a heart.

 

We ruff the spade, then ruff a heart with the A.

 

Next we lead dummy's last trump to our J and cash the K.

 

If trumps were 2=3, then we are home...we lead a club to dummy and lead a club from the board, ruffing for trick 12.

 

If trump were 1=4, then rho was 2=3=4=4.

 

Assuming we played as above to the point of cashing the diamond K, we are reduced to void J 9 9 and rho to void void Qx x, with dummy void void void KJx

 

We lead to the club K and lead a club, scoring our 9 of trump now or at trick 13.

 

Btw, if this is the winning line, and I haven't spent much time testing it, I can assure you I did NOT use any electronic assistance. Of course, that will be obvious if I am in error :P

[gnasher]

Assuming we played as above to the point of cashing the diamond K, we are reduced to void J 9 9 and rho to void void Qx x, with dummy void void void KJx

 

We lead to the club K and lead a club, scoring our 9 of trump now or at trick 13.

I think RHO is down to ♦Q10 ♣x, so he just makes the last two tricks.

[gnasher]

We don't know if the player who worked out the winning line (one of Jallerton's teammates) used electronic assistance to do so.

You mean the first player to work out the winning line. The solution I emailed you today was produced entirely by natural methods.

[Finch]

You mean the first player to work out the winning line. The solution I emailed you today was produced entirely by natural methods.

 

Indeed, my apologies.

The player who gave the hint "there is an alternative rather beautiful line that works on some layouts" and has since remained silent.

As opposed to gnasher who sent the solution.

 

This was in a one day swiss teams event. Jallerton says he thought about it for about as long as he felt he could in that context without opponents starting to complain too much and knew he hadn't worked out all the possible permutations at the table.

[mikeh]

I think RHO is down to ♦Q10 ♣x, so he just makes the last two tricks.

right, unless lho held 10.

 

we can cater to that with a finesse of the 9 earlier, but that loses to 10x offside.

 

Rats: I was so pleased with my line...it works on the 2=3 trumps but then I realized I had to cater to 1=4 and overlooked the 10 issue.

[winkle]

[deleted until I work out all the variations.]

[nige1]

[hv=pc=n&s=sq7haj62dkj972c95&n=saj53h3da53cakj63&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1d(4+%20unbalanced)2d(majors)]266|200|

Sorry, I don't know the full auction, but it starts like this, the opponents don't bid again, and you reach 6♦. LHO leads ♣10. Plan the play.

[/hv]

IMO: Win ♣T lead with ♣K, cash ♦A, finesse ♦J.

• If RHO has ♦Qxx then lead ♣9 and when LHO shows out play ♣A, finesse ♥J, win major return, finesse ♠, cash ♥A, ruff a ♥, ruff a ♣ and cash trumps, squeezing LHO in majors. (Making 2 X ♠, 1 X ♥ , 2 X ♣, 1 X ♥ ruff, 5 more ♦, and 1 more trick from the major squeeze].
• If RHO has ♦Qxxx or ♦Txxx then run ♣9 and, assuming that LHO is 5512 i.e. LHO follows to the ♣...
• If RHO wins ♣Q and leads a trump then draw trumps. and finesse ♠ (Making 2 X ♠, 1 x ♥, 4 x ♣, 5 x ♦). This also works when LHO is (54)22.
• If RHO ducks ♣9, then finesse ♠, cash ♠A, ♣K, ruff a ♣ cash ♥A, ruff a ♥, ruff a ♣. (Making 2 x ♠, 1 X ♥, 3 X ♣, 2 x ♣ ruff, 1 X ♥ ruff, and ♦AKJ).

[JLOGIC]

I think it is a personality test or something if you see the sqz instead of the endplay or vice versa lol. Stripping them out and endplaying them while ruffing 2 hearts feels natural to me, I wonder why.

 

Looking forward to solution for how to best cater to 5512 while not messing up 5521, I have no idea.

[CamHenry]

Another facet of the personality test might be whether you follow my example of "Here's 3+2+1+5 tricks, that's enough, right?". ;)

[gnasher]

This is the line that I thought covered all the possibilities:

 

♣A, diamond to the jack, club towards dummy, and:

 

(1) If LHO ruffs: Win the heart continuation, ruff a heart, ♦A, ♣K, club ruff, draw trumps, squeeze West.

 

(2) If LHO follows: Win, cross to a heart, ♠Q-K-A, ♠J, ♣K, ♣ruff, ♥ ruff, ♣ruff, ♥ ruff high, ♣ ruff, with RHO following suit throughout (alternatively you can play a spade in the ending and pitch a heart when RHO ruffs in).

 

(3) If LHO discards and you think he's 5611: play as in the "LHO follows" line.

 

(4) If LHO discards and you think he's 5521: Win, cash ♦A (or don't, if you want to be flash), play a heart to the jack. LHO wins and has to play back a heart. Ruff in dummy, cash ♣A, ruff a club back to hand, and cash the rest of the trumps to squeeze him.

(When you play a heart to the jack, RHO may play an honour from Hxx. If so, just win and play ♥J.)

 

However, I think there's a flaw in this plan. Suppose that LHO has K10xxx K10xxx xx 10. He ruffs the second club and returns ♥K. Now the squeeze doesn't work, because RHO has the heart guard.

[PhilKing]

However, I think there's a flaw in this plan. Suppose that LHO has K10xxx K10xxx xx 10. He ruffs the second club and returns ♥K. Now the squeeze doesn't work, because RHO has the heart guard.

 

 

Phew! Now I can sleep like a baby.

[rhm]

After having spent too much time on this I do not think, assuming West holds at least 5 cards and at least one high honor in each major, there is a line which caters for West holding

 

a) a singleton small trump

b) a doubleton small trump

c) Tx in trumps

 

You can win against two of these distributions.

 

a) and b) combined require a deep first round finesse of the ♦9 without cashing the ♦A first

b) and c) combined require a finesse of the ♦J. but you should not play a club before playing a second round of trumps

a) and c) can be combined but you require a finesse of the ♦J and need to play a club from hand without playing a second round of trumps.

 

The details are messy and complicated, and I do not want to bore you with several pages to prove them.

 

Rainer Herrmann