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NAOP District Finals Hand #5


ArtK78

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District 4 NAOP, First Finals session. Matchpoints.

 

[hv=pc=n&n=sjt4hk2dkt3cqj982&e=s83hqjt83d976ca64&d=s&v=n&b=15&a=1s2d4sppp]266|200[/hv]

 

The opening lead is the 10, playing Rusinow leads (as if that were relevant).

 

Your play.

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If I am second to play to the opening trick, I usually wait for my partner to tell me which card he wants from dummy.... ;)

 

I don't know if the card played from dummy is relevant, but assume that declarer plays low from dummy.

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I suspect that the reason there aren't any earlier positive answers is that there is little bridge logic to guide us. Clearly the issue is whether to win and return the suit or to duck, wait for partner to win a presumed trump trick and then have him lead his presumed second club to us.

 

So how many clubs does he have? How can we tell? We can't, at least not with confidence.

 

However, some holdings with a doubleton club might lead hearts: say he is 3=2=6=2 with both red Aces...unless he has AQ hearts, he might well lead the heart A. And if he were say Axx xx AQJxxx xx, he might lead hearts half the time.

 

Thus a sort of restricted choice analysis persuades me that he is slightly more likely to have a stiff than a doubleton.

 

I win the club and return my higher spot.

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The reason that I posted this problem, besides the fact that it is a real problem that I faced in the event, is that after I agonized over my decision for about 45 seconds before getting it right (I won the Ace and gave partner a ruff) the declarer thought that the choice was absolutely clear cut. And this is a good player. Later, during our dinner break, I spoke with his partner about my decision. He thought that my action was far from clear.

 

In any event, besides the fact that I believe that my partner was more likely to lead a singleton club if he had one than a doubleton club along with a trump entry (if he had that combination), I finally decided to win the Ace and return the suit because my long tank had created an ethical problem should I duck. Sure, I could encourage clubs with my play at trick one, but everyone on the East Coast of the US already knew that I had the Ace.

 

Scoring 4 tricks (A, ruff, A and A) against 4 was worth 5.5 out of 6.

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