Jump to content

5 diamonds


Zloty

Recommended Posts

If declarer is 0472, we need partner to lead another heart, if 1471 or 2470 he is simply down. I will just discard whatever encourages the heart the most depending on what discards we are playing. I really don't think declarer will have less than 7 diamonds, and partner won't have 7 hearts being 3rd seat nv with a suit headed by AK.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If declarer is 0472, we need partner to lead another heart, if 1471 or 2470 he is simply down. I will just discard whatever encourages the heart the most depending on what discards we are playing. I really don't think declarer will have less than 7 diamonds, and partner won't have 7 hearts being 3rd seat nv with a suit headed by AK.

 

oh right

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although A can do the trick, any card that says you don't want a spade should be clear.

 

Would you be happy if partner returns a club? Zloty usually posts double dummy puzzles or hands from bridge books or columns, and this looks like a sample hand. And in the sample hand, A is the card that says don't expect any side suit tricks, I have a trump promotion if you lead a heart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a very old theme. The simple answer is that at imps or at rubber or total points one pitches the spade A.

 

You cannot possibly have a stiff spade! Not only does that give S an impossible number of spades (clearly S is not playing roman/tartan jumps and has long diamonds) but if it were stiff, it is always going to score a trick.

 

So this is a play that is sometimes referred to as an 'alarm-clock' signal...intended to wake partner up.

 

This was almost certainly taken from some old book on defence because in the modern game, S's 4 would show spades and diamonds.

 

Note that discouraging spades won't do the trick.....partner will think that we want a club more often than that we want a diamond. Picture S with Ax Qxx AKQxxxx x, or the same hcp but 2=3=6=2 shape. Now, that may seem like a bad example, and maybe it is, but hands taken from old books on play will often be based on auctions that look silly to modern eyes (and, yes, I see that there was a weak 2 involved, but they've been around for more than 50 years now).

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...