nige1 Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) [hv=pc=n&s=s2hk642d2ckqj8642&w=skqha3dakjt53ca53&n=sa9753hjt875dq7ct&e=sjt864hq9d9864c97&d=S&v=0&b=1&a=1cd1sp2c3n4hppp]300|300|Steve Male reports this deal from Harry Smith's lockdown teams. North plays in 4♥. Defenders lead 2 rounds of ♦. Declarer ruffs, crosses to ♠A, and runs ♥J. Can you spot the peculiar winning defence -- without benefit of Gib :) Edited to explain how declarer entered hand .[/hv] Edited February 9, 2021 by nige1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfi Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 Isn't declarer in the wrong hand to lead the HJ, or is something missing in the play description? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberyeti Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 How does he get back to hand to run ♥J ? In lots of cases you have to guard your two aces with your life and not release them under any circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 the precise defence depends on declarer's line of play. He needs to get to his hand to lead trump. One way is a spade to the Ace then the heart Jack, covered by the Q and K and won by the Ace. Now a spade back forces dummy to ruff, reducing it to one small trump, and eliminating any chance of preserving a trump entry to dummy once the clubs are established. The best he can do is to play a club. West wins and returns his last trump, which declarer has to win in hand and he is now dead. So maybe declarer leads a club at trick 3...low is best, I think, since it gives west a chance to err by ducking. West pops the Ace and leads the spade K, which declarer has to win. Now the hearts as before, and west plays the spade Queen, as before, and forces dummy to ruff. Now a top club lives, as declarer pitches a spade, but on the 3rd club, where declarer is hoping west ruffs from A9 in trump, it turns out that east's heart 9 is promoted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberyeti Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 the precise defence depends on declarer's line of play. He needs to get to his hand to lead trump. One way is a spade to the Ace then the heart Jack, covered by the Q and K and won by the Ace. Now a spade back forces dummy to ruff, reducing it to one small trump, and eliminating any chance of preserving a trump entry to dummy once the clubs are established. The best he can do is to play a club. West wins and returns his last trump, which declarer has to win in hand and he is now dead. So maybe declarer leads a club at trick 3...low is best, I think, since it gives west a chance to err by ducking. West pops the Ace and leads the spade K, which declarer has to win. Now the hearts as before, and west plays the spade Queen, as before, and forces dummy to ruff. Now a top club lives, as declarer pitches a spade, but on the 3rd club, where declarer is hoping west ruffs from A9 in trump, it turns out that east's heart 9 is promoted. Club to the 10 you can actually afford to duck. If you do, partner doesn't need to cover the heart and you duck again if he doesn't, declarer has nowhere to go and is now -2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gszes Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 ARGHHHHH I knew I was in trouble MIKEH beat me to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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