Intermediate-+ card-reading hand

[ncohen]

W N E S

P 1D P 2D (inverted)

3C 3D P 3N (all P)

 

lead: S 5

 

♠ A103

♥a1094

♦KQ982

♣8

 

♠ 72

♥KJ3

♦A1054

♣kq72

 

you duck the first trick, E winning with the J. He returns the club 5 to the Q and A. Now, the club J (S10) 9 and K. You play diamonds, starting with the K. E has 4 to the J. On the run of the first 4 diamonds, W discards S9, C 6, C4, and S8. He then discards ht 8 on the S A (E playing the 6). On the last D, E discards Ht 6 and W the club 2. How do you play the hearts and why? The lead is in dummy:

 

 

♥a1094

 

 

 

♥KJ3

♣7

 

answer follows, if I've figured out the editor:

 

 

 

W has the ht Q because of both distribution and HCPs. As to distribution, W's known to have 3 spades, since he followed to the first round, discarded two, and showed out on the 2nd round. He also started with 6 clubs, retaining the 10. With 5 to the AJ, he'd be 5-5 in clubs and hearts and would have bids hearts or perhaps 2N. Also, E, with 1095 of clubs, would surely have returned the 10. So, he started with 4 hearts and has one left. That's supported by the high heart discard -- GIB is very honest at signalling distribution and signalled an even number of hearts. You also know that hearts weren't originally 3-3, because whoever held the Q would not have discarded a heart.

As to points, E is marked with KQJ of spades because W has shown out. For W's 3-level vul overcall, he surely has honors besides AJ10xxx of clubs and so must have ht Q.

So, cash ht K and finesse the J, making 5.

 

 

[dokoko]

Playing West for the Queen of hearts seems right for the reasons you give.

 

I would not have played ♠A, however.

 

When West shows out on the first diamond, you can be pretty sure of his 3=4=0=6 or 4=3=0=6 shape. He is favorite to hold the ♥Q but may overcall without it.

 

East's heart discard is bad play, he should hold on to his hearts whatever he holds. Would you have played the hearts as you did without his discard? You should, but that risks going down if he started with ♥Qx.

 

Playing for the ♥Q with West before cashing ♠A will get you the same 11 tricks if you are right, but assures of 10 tricks if you are wrong (East has no club left!).

 

So while with the discards given you can be sure of 11 tricks, you couldn't be sure to reach that situation.

 

(If North's hearts were ♥A1074, your line of play is best as you need to squeeze West down to three hearts for 11 tricks!)

[kenberg]

Let's see. After 9 tricks E and W have each discarded one heart. We assume W started with 6 clubs since bidding 3C when 5-5 in hearts and clubs would be very odd. Only one club is still out.

 

W has shown out of spades and both are out of diamonds.

 

 

So: After trick 9 W holds 3 hearts and 1 club, E has 3 spades and one heart. We start with a low heart from the table. If for some reason E has come down to the stiff Q we will know what to do, and if, as expected, E follows with a low spot we also know what to do.

 

As noted, the defense has been helpful. W might have tossed that club 2 on the last diamond, saving his spade 8, Then if declarer next plays the spade A, W follows suit. Declarer then knows that W started with 7 cards in the majors, 4 of one major and 3 of the other, but he has at least a little more to think about. And, also as noted, E could hold on to both heart spots. He knows they are spots, but declarer doesn't.

[ncohen]

East's heart discard is bad play, he should hold on to his hearts whatever he holds. Would you have played the hearts as you did without his discard? You should, but that risks going down if he started with ♥Qx.

 

 

E was Challenges -GIB, and that's a typical GIB play.

[johnu]

E was Challenges -GIB, and that's a typical GIB play.

 

There is a fundamental deficiency in GIB "logic" where GIB assumes that declarer can't misguess a 2 way finesse, or fail to drop an offside honor. The result of this logic is that GIB can randomly play a card that gives away a trick or more.