Play problem

[Finch]

This hand came up during the Brighton Swiss Teams. It it an excellent example of a standard technique.

 

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=s106hkj94d1094cq1097&s=saj4hq10863dkjcak8]133|200|Scoring: IMP

1♦ P P 1♥

1♠ 3♥ 3♠ 4♥

P P P[/hv]

 

LHO thinks for a very long time before leading, and eventually emerges with the King of spades. Plan the play if I tell you for free that trumps are not 4-0. How likely are you to make the contract?

[plaur]

I dont have a solution but I will try just thinking out loud:

 

I have to loose a spade, a heart and a diamond, so I need to avoid the second diamond looser. If east has the ♦Q no problem. However west is likely to have it. If west does have the ♦Q I need to either have west open the suit for me or pitch a diamond on the 4th club.

 

First attempt of a plan: Duck the ♠K. West continues with ♥A and another ♥. One more round of ♥'s and run clubs from top. If east still has the ♣J im down to the ♦ finesse.

 

Hmm, maybe if I do not duck ♠K I can endplay west on the ♠Q? I cant think of a way to endplay west. Say I duck ♠K west will cash ♠Q when he is in on ♥A.

 

Maybe find a smarter way to play clubs? East probably has the club length but if west has Jx finessing east looks rather silly.

 

Hints and comments welcome!

 

(btw I do not understand the bidding by N/S. I thought S is way to strong for a simple balance with 1♥ and N way to weak for a jump?)

[ack_hh]

My idea:

 

We have 24 HCP, opps have 16. East has passed on West's opening,

so he is likely to have less than 6 HCP. East raised West's spade bid,

so he might have some points though - looks like points are divided

11-5 or 12-4.

 

I'd be interested to find out who has the ace of diamonds.

West is likely to have KQ of spades and one red ace or

both red aces and the king of spades.

 

So, duck the first round of spades, forcing West to continue

with something. If he continues with a spade, we will find out

where the queen of spades is located. Win the next trick and play a heart.

 

If East happens to have the ace of hearts, play him

to have the queen of diamonds, inserting the jack in case he

continues with a small diamond.

 

Clubs should be no problem - West has 4 spades, at least 1 heart,

and likely 5 diamonds - so clubs should break 3-2.

[badderzboy]

Quick question what is West's NT range...

 

We know about the 4♠ and 4+♦s in West hand but if he is 4-2-4-3 or 4-3-4-2 it might be handy to know or eliminate these shapes...

 

 

My solution is to delay the Club/Diamond issue for as long as possible by counting out West's hand.

 

So take the A♠ no harm done and a mild chance of an elimination and exit a high Heart from South leaving entries in the North hand

 

If both duck ok play another but if West wins it and cashes Q Spade we win next round and play another Heart - if West follows then cash A clubs and play to dummy with another Heart so we find out the Heart distribution

 

If West is 4-2-4+ or 4-1-4+ play for the Club Jack to drop and hold the fallback of the Finesse of Diamond Jack (Q in East)

 

If West is 4-3-4+ then he has at most two clubs so play for the J to be in East and finesse the 8 after cashing A♣.

 

Probably wrong...

 

Steve

 

 

 

Steve

[ochinko]

West is marked with SpKQ so I duck the SpK, clear trumps, and hope for the CJ to drop. If it does, I discard a spade on the last club, and throw West in hand with a spade for a diamond trick or a ruff and discard.

 

If the CJ doesn't drop, and it's in East, I'll play East for DQ assuming West had the HA. With HA in East I'm doomed anyway. With 16 points missing East has either 3 or 4 so if East doesn't have CJ he must have the DA.

 

Petko

[guggie]

OK, another try

 

West will have AQ of diamonds and suggests ♠KQ. You must prevent east to gain the lead and play diamonds. Has east the hearts Ace? You miss 16 hcp, so east COULD have ♥A. You are doomed than.

So lets assume west has the ♥A, than esst will have the ♠Q (he must have something for his spade raise), and west is cunningly creating an entry for east. So you duck the ♠K, you take anyother lead, and play hearts. Later on you play 2 top clubs and finesse for the clubJ with east for a discard for yr Di J.

 

OK, west can have A and east Q of diamonds. Does not explain the long thinking. I am rather in love with my own solution. Oops, always dangerous, being in love makes you blind for the faults in yr love-object...

[david_c]

okay, I'm convinced it must be right to duck at trick one.

 

But now say West plays a second spade. I'll win and play a trump towards dummy. If West takes the ♥A then it all seems easy, but what if both opponents follow small? I think that marks West with at most a doubleton club. But is it right to finesse in clubs now, or do you draw trumps, try to drop the ♣J with West, and then try a diamond finesse? Er... OK, I'll take the club finesse through East at trick 4. Does that do it?

 

Edited: Ignore that - it doesn't make any sense...

Edited August 24, 2005 by david_c

[Finch]

Hints and comments welcome!

 

(btw I do not understand the bidding by N/S. I thought S is way to strong for a simple balance with 1♥ and N way to weak for a jump?)

OK, a couple of hints and comments.

 

West will have at least 5 diamonds and 4 spades for this auction (that's true in general whatever methods EW play; but in particular this West would have opened 1S with 4-4 in spades and diamonds. Yes, I know I didn't tell you that before, good job you asked...).

 

Guggie is getting close, although the "wests" and "easts" are a bit confused.

Ochinko has slightly miscounted the tricks available: if the CJ drops you have 10 tricks with 4 trumps in hand, 4 clubs, the ace of spades and a spade ruff, so the endplay is for an eleventh.

Ack_hh has miscounted clubs. There are six outstanding, not 5.

 

As for the auction: I agree that the "book" call on the South cards is to double. However, I feel fairly strongly that 1H is correct. For one thing, if you double North is likely to become declarer and you would really rather prefer to have the opening lead coming round to all those lovely tenaces (4H went off at the other table played by North). For another, if you double and North bids a black suit you have to introduce the hearts at the 2-level, and it is not really a very good suit. Finally, if you bid 1H, when are you going to miss game? You might miss a better part-score in a black suit, but partner couldn't overcall, and if partner can't bid over 1H you probably aren't making game. The 3H call from North was correct in our style, where we would make a jump cue bid (3D) on a better hand with 4-card support, or a single cue bid on a better hand with 3-card support. You can substitute an alternative auction of your choice, as long as it ends in 4H by South!

[plaur]

West will have at least 5 diamonds and 4 spades for this auction (that's true in general whatever methods EW play; but in particular this West would have opened 1S with 4-4 in spades and diamonds. Yes, I know I didn't tell you that before, good job you asked...).

 

 

Nice to know west is marked with 5+ diamonds :-) I still dont get the comment that west would have 5+ diamonds whatever methods E/W plays? Why is that?

 

Can west have 6 diamonds?

What hand can east have for his pass and 3♠ bid?

 

Second try:

I still duck ♠K. West will return a spade or a heart. I win that and play hearts.

If west has 3 hearts a club finesse is marked.

If west has 2 hearts he has at most two clubs. I would probably finesse clubs (after cashing ♣A).

If west has 1 heart he has at least 2 clubs. (he could have 6 diamonds, right?) I would run clubs from top I think.

 

I dont see any endplays or value in eliminating spades?

[plaur]

So lets assume west has the ♥A, than west will have the ♠Q (he must have something for his spade raise),  and west is cunningly creating an entry for east.

Nice! Good reason for the duck.

 

However if you cash two clubs you cant finesse clubs, unless you want to finesse opener, right?

[guggie]

ahum. You are right

 

also changed some east/west troubles. My left and right also always get confused. Good that I am not an orthopedic surgeon.

[mikeh]

Another nice problem from Frances... hope you post the complete hand on this one eventually, and on the difficult slam hand from last week :D

 

The tank on the lead suggests that west was trying to create an entry. You do not need 2♠ tricks, so there is no reason to win trick one.

 

West has options, depending on shape. You assume he has the trump A: if east has it, you cannot make, and most good players would not pass 1♦ holding an Ace.

 

If he has the stiff A, he must cash it now, before exiting a ♠, regardless of his actual ♠ holding. You then test trump and discover the 1=3 break. Draw trump and play ♣ to behave: tough if west has 4=1=6=2 without the ♣J.

 

If he cashes the ♥ A and shows up (after either a trump or a ♠ exit) with 2+♥, draw trump. If East shows out on the second trump, lay down a top ♣ and then cross to dummy in trump and hook the ♣8. Too bad if he was 4=3=6=0 :D ... he is far more likely to be 4=3=5=1.

 

If ♥ are 2=2, then west has either one or two ♣. You cannot realistically guard against Jx, but you can against stiff J. So cash high ♣, cross either in trump or via a ♠ ruff and hook the ♣8, with one last trump available in dummy to allow you to enjoy the 4th ♣.

 

BTW, nice falsecard with the thoughtful lead point: whether West has KQxx or Kxxx is a red herring if he has AQ♦. if, on the other hand, West has KQxx ♠ and Axxxx(x) ♦, then he was presumably mulling over the chances that A and a ♦ would enable his partner to score a ruff, so I cannot accuse West of sneaky false-tanking ;)

[ochinko]

Ochinko has slightly miscounted the tricks available: if the CJ drops you have 10 tricks with 4 trumps in hand, 4 clubs, the ace of spades and a spade ruff, so the endplay is for an eleventh.

Does that mean I made an overtrick? ;)

 

I counted the tricks that I have to give. SpK, HA, and DA. I can discard only one diamond in my hand so even if the CJ drops I still have to concede a diamond.

 

Petko

[david_c]

If he cashes the ♥ A and shows up (after either a trump or a ♠ exit) with 2+♥, draw trump. If East shows out on the second trump, lay down a top ♣ and then cross to dummy in trump and hook the ♣8. Too bad if he was 4=3=6=0 ;) ... he is far more likely to be 4=3=5=1.

But you're only worried about 4=3=5=1 hands with a singleton jack - isn't this much less likely than a 4=3=6=0 ?

[the hog]

To those who think W has to have the KQ of S, why? With AQ of D, A of H an imaginatative defender may well lead a KS in the hope of forcing an entry into partner's hand.

[mikeh]

If he cashes the ♥ A and shows up (after either a trump or a ♠ exit) with 2+♥, draw trump. If East shows out on the second trump, lay down a top ♣ and then cross to dummy in trump and hook the ♣8. Too bad if he was 4=3=6=0 :D ... he is far more likely to be 4=3=5=1.

But you're only worried about 4=3=5=1 hands with a singleton jack - isn't this much less likely than a 4=3=6=0 ?

oops, I was so wrapped up in the various branches of my solution that I overlooked this valid point: whether 4=3=6=0 is 'much more likely' than 4=3=5=J is debatable: both are relatively low frequency holdings, even given the assumption that west is 4=5+ in the pointed suits, and (without doing the math) I would think that the difference is modest. However, your point is well taken: if west shows up with 3 trump, it is slightly safer to draw trump, ending in dummy, and take an immediate ♣ to the 8

 

I can take consolation in knowing that at least one observant reader actually reads my long posts ;)

[Finch]

[hv=n=s106hkj94d1094cq1097&w=sk952ha7daq8632c5&e=sq873h52d75cj6432&s=saj4hq10863dkjcak8]399|300|[/hv]

 

West's SK lead was an intelligent effort, but luckily we're all too good to fall for it, and we duck. He continued with another spade (perhaps East held the ace...) so we win with the ace (or the Jack depending on East's card), and play a trump. When we find out how trumps are breaking, we know that

 

- If West started with 3 trumps, he has at most one club so we are going to cash one top club then finesse with confidence.

- If West started with 2 trumps, then he has at most two clubs and the odds are strongly in favour of taking one top club then the club finesse

- If West started with 1 trump, it's very close indeed. I think it's still right to finesse, as with a 4153 he might have doubled 1H but with a 4162 he would definitely have bid 1S.

 

There's one additional point which Mike & others picked up on: if West has 3 trumps, do you cash one top club first, catering for 435J but losing to 4360? I think you do, not only because of the relative frequencies (singleton Jack is a little more likely than a void) but also because if West is 4360 he would likely have bid 4S over 4H. Not only that, but 4S looks to be making if he's got that hand.

 

So the sophisticated extra wrinkle is that you win the second spade and play a trump. If all follow low, you have to take the top club next before playing a second trump, or West will win the ace and play a third trump sticking you in the wrong hand.