How to play (matchpoints)

[lowerline]

[hv=pc=n&s=saqjth9dk85cat974&n=sk8643hak4dj943ck&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=2h2s3h4sppp]266|200[/hv]

2♥ was Muiderberg (5crd suit with 4+crd in a minor). Lead is ♥6.

How do you play? (remember it is matchpoints)

Steven

[mikeh]

[hv=pc=n&s=saqjth9dk85cat974&n=sk8643hak4dj943ck&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=2h2s3h4sppp]266|200[/hv]

2♥ was Muiderberg (5crd suit with 4+crd in a minor). Lead is ♥6.

How do you play? (remember it is matchpoints)

Steven

It is conventional to always have S as declarer. Yes, in real life this will happen only 25% of the time, but it is simple to switch the hands around in the diagram, with appropriate changes to the bidding. I am not going to set out my line at this time.

[gszes]

still cant get this spoiler thing right what is wrong with this technique?

[Vampyr]

Use a slash to turn spoiler off:

[kuhchung]

 

still cant get this spoiler thing right what is wrong with this technique?

 

 

Maybe after you work out the spoiler tags, you can work out how to single space your posts!

[kenberg]

Despite the repeated mention of matchpoints I am going to play in a fairly straightforward manner, at least if everyon follows to the first trump.

 

 

Win the heart, cash a spade. If everyone follows I cash another spade.

 

If spades are 2-2 I cash the other high heart throwing a diamond, cash the king of clubs, and then lead a diamond toward the board. I get five spades in hand, two ruffs on the board, two hearts, two clubs and, if lucky, my diamond king, So 11 or 12 tricks.

 

If I have to play three rounds of spades to draw trump. Same line. Win T1, three spades, high heart throwing diamond, high club,diamond toward the board. I get one fewer ruffs, so ten or eleven tricks.

 

If spades are 4-0 I need to rethink after trick 2. Presumably the 2♥ bidder is the one with the spade void, else he is 4-5-4. Maybe before I worry to much about this you could say if everyone follows to spades at trick 2?

 

Since this is posted, I assume there is some clever line that brings in one more trick than my prosaic line, but most of what I can see would be high risk.

[Winstonm]

I win the heart and cash a high spade. Assuming no 4-0 break, I cross to the club K, cash the other high heart, pitching a diamond, and then ruff a heart high. I cash a high spade. If the spades are 2-2, I play the club Ace and then lead the 10 pitching two diamonds. If the spades are 3-1, I will cash the club Ace, and if an honor comes down on my left I continue as before, without cashing the last spade. If no club honor comes down, I overtake the 3rd spade and lead a diamond toward the Kx.

 

I may have missed something but I think this would be my basic line at the table.

[lowerline]

Despite the repeated mention of matchpoints I am going to play in a fairly straightforward manner, at least if everyon follows to the first trump.

 

 

Win the heart, cash a spade. If everyone follows I cash another spade.

 

If spades are 2-2 I cash the other high heart throwing a diamond, cash the king of clubs, and then lead a diamond toward the board. I get five spades in hand, two ruffs on the board, two hearts, two clubs and, if lucky, my diamond king, So 11 or 12 tricks.

 

If I have to play three rounds of spades to draw trump. Same line. Win T1, three spades, high heart throwing diamond, high club,diamond toward the board. I get one fewer ruffs, so ten or eleven tricks.

 

If spades are 4-0 I need to rethink after trick 2. Presumably the 2♥ bidder is the one with the spade void, else he is 4-5-4. Maybe before I worry to much about this you could say if everyone follows to spades at trick 2?

 

Since this is posted, I assume there is some clever line that brings in one more trick than my prosaic line, but most of what I can see would be high risk.

 

This was my line at the table. ♦A was onside, but trumps were 3-1, so I ended with 11 tricks. Good for a score of around 35%. Most made 12 tricks, but I cannot find a reasonable line to get there.

These were the EW hands:

[hv=pc=n&w=s5hqj875dt7cqj632&e=s972ht632daq62c85]266|100[/hv]

 

Steven

[kenberg]

I'll venture a guess. Suppose that W doesn't open, which I imagine happens at some tables.

You open a spades, partner splinters in hearts you sign off in 4♠, E leads the ♣8. You coveer and W covers. Maybe he shouldn't, but you could hold K5. Anyway, something like this. You take your king, take three spades ending on the board and, trusting the 8 was from shortness, lead the top club pitching a diamond and now another top club forcing a cover.

You will now be tossing a diamond from your hand on the ace of clubs and be setting up for two more pitches.

 

Probably you could arrange all of this even without the opening club lead, but who would? For example on the heart lead you could cash the ♣K, go to the board with a spade, force a cover by leading the ♣ T, pinning the 8, get back to the board while drawing two more rounds of trump, and then lead ♣9 establishing the 7. After AK of hearts pitching a ♦ you lead toward the board and of E does not take his ace you toss another ♦ on that established club. But only if the opponents hold their cards very loosely.

 

I can see making 6 on the lead of the ♣8, not otherwise. People usually aren't that fond of leading a doubleton so I am far from convinced this is the answer but I see no other.Playing to establish clubs, with no hint of how they lie, seems out of the question to me.

[Zelandakh]

People usually aren't that fond of leading a doubleton

I get the impression this varies a great deal from club to club. Some places seem to have a love of doubleton leads; some hate them; and some have house rules like leading from a doubleton only with the trump ace. Presumably this all comes from someone at these clubs that is vocal about such things. As a junior I led doubletons all the time - now not so much.

[kenberg]

I get the impression this varies a great deal from club to club. Some places seem to have a love of doubleton leads; some hate them; and some have house rules like leading from a doubleton only with the trump ace. Presumably this all comes from someone at these clubs that is vocal about such things. As a junior I led doubletons all the time - now not so much.

 

I lead them sometimes. Like singleton leads, they can be very right or very wrong, and on this hand I expect it leads to declarer making 6. I though a little more about this and really, assuming the auction is an uncontested, 1♠-4♥-4♠, I can't see that East has any great lead. A small diamond is only for the truly adventurous, and I would not be leading hearts on this auction. So its a trump or a club, neither is appealing.

 

The more I think about it, and I have not become obsessed but I did give it some thought, I think that this is what happened. Uncontested splinter auction, East shrugs and leads the ♣8, North reads it as short suit and establishes some clubs. I think it would be very hard for West to play low when dummy covers the 8.

 

Added: As an amusement, I put all four hands into GIB and, as expected, GIB takes twelve tricks. But GIB sees all four hands. On a heart lead, I think it takes a line something like I suggest above to do this and, as with GIB, I think you need to see all the cards before you would play it that way. Analyzing the efficacy of short suit leads, or any lead, is a tricky business. You can well imagine that after the hand is over no one notices that, while 12 tricks could have been made with any lead, w/o the club lead it would not have happened in real life.