[FrancesHinden]

he Crockfords Cup is the English teams championship (the Gold Cup is the British championship). There are 5 KO rounds then an 8-team final. These hands come from the last KO round before the final.

48 boards, IMPs

The auction is a little embarrassing, but I suppose you have to have it to put the defence in context.

Scoring: IMP

uncontested
1♠ 1NT
2♣ 2♦
2♥ 2NT
3NT

---

1♠ = 5 card majors, strong NT
1NT = semi-forcing
2♣ = balanced 13+ or clubs or 14-17 with 6 spades (north had a heart in with the diamonds and thought she was 5323)
2♦ = bad hand or club support
2♥ = balanced or spades (NF)
2NT = raise to 2NT with 4 clubs
at this point North discovers she is 5413 and slightly embarrassed bids 3NT

Jack of hearts lead, king, ace
Diamond return, you elect to play the queen, Jack on your left.
This is a very messy hand, but where do you see 9 tricks coming from?

[han]

I'll go for the intra.

[pclayton]

han, on Mar 31 2008, 08:33 AM, said:

I'll go for the intra.

And you still make if KQT is in West. Plus there is some interesting endgame positions against West. There's chances with HT or H8 in East too.

So club to board and low spade toward hand.

[mikeh]

there is a potentially interesting heart position, especially if west has, as he probably does, J109x(x) in the suit...you may be able to generate an end position in which he has to give you a second heart trick.

So it is tempting to lead a heart now, and duck when west splits... however, if he returns a diamond, then we are basically down since it is almost impossible to keep rho off lead in the spade suit. So I think I join with Han and Phil in crossing in clubs and leading a spade. I have time, later, for the heart play anyway, and by leading a spade earlier, I both maximize my chances of eliminating east's entries and of picking up on a legitimate lie in the spade suit.... H10 on my right would be my dream holding, but, as Phil observes, there are others that work as well

[FrancesHinden]

OK, you play a club to dummy (any comments about _which_ club you win with in dummy?) and lead a spade to low, jack and queen.

LHO plays the 10 of diamonds.
Now what?

[han]

I'll go for the avoidance.

[Fluffy]

I would win ♦10, cash ♠A, run the clubs and play a heart from hand towards Q8x. Maybe West has another spade left, but I wish he forgot to unblock.

[mikeh]

Well, if I win the diamond 10, I can play a spade up and hope to catch LHO with KQ10 or KQx.. and duck when/if he produces an honour.

Or I can cash the clubs, watching LHO's pitches, and hope he started 4-4 or better in the majors. I think that is better: win the diamond, cash 3 more rounds of clubs.

We reduce to a 5 card ending in which LHO has to keep 109x of hearts. If he began with 4+ spades, he is toast (assuming the heart 9). We play a heart up: he splits and we play A and a spade.

This also caters to KQ10 tight in LHO's hand.. thus 3=4=2=4 or 3=5=2=3 shape with that chunky spade holding.

I considered ducking the diamond 10, which assures the contract if diamonds are 4-3, but if LHO began with a doubleton, I cannot handle a major suit switch by him... the count is not yet rectified, and if I duck the major he switches to, he simply plays the other one next, eliminating my communication.

[hatchett]

Quote

I considered ducking the diamond 10, which assures the contract if diamonds are 4-3

I don't think ducking the diamond guarantees the contract if they are 4-3, for instance, if LHO is 2434 a heart switch would beat the contract

[mikeh]

hatchett, on Mar 31 2008, 03:45 PM, said:

Quote

I considered ducking the diamond 10, which assures the contract if diamonds are 4-3

I don't think ducking the diamond guarantees the contract if they are 4-3, for instance, if LHO is 2434 a heart switch would beat the contract

Yes, I miswrote.. I had in fact started a long post about how to make if diamonds were 4-3.. if you duck, lho might continue: the auction has made it very unclear who has what, and if LHO has 3 diamonds, they rate to be J108, so he may well continue. If he switches, we are probably down... the post got truncated... the duck assures the contract 'is assured' if he continues the suit.

But if he switches, you need luck... even if hearts are 5-2, if he switches to hearts, you have limited entries to your hand, so you need to play the club Q to your K, and then knock out the diamond, then decide whether to play for clubs to be 3-3 or rho to hold 10xxx (assuming the 10 hasn't appeared at the crucial time. And a spade continuation may also screw you up if you decide to play for diamonds to break.

However, since I decided that the squeeze was preferable, I truncated (and screwed up) my long post

[nige1]

FrancesHinden, on Mar 31 2008, 04:19 AM, said:

Scoring: IMP

uncontested
1♠  1NT
2♣  2♦
2♥  2NT
3NT
1♠ = 5 card majors, strong NT
1NT = semi-forcing
2♣ = balanced 13+ or clubs or 14-17 with 6 spades (north had a heart in with the diamonds and thought she was 5323)
2♦ = bad hand or club support
2♥ = balanced or spades (NF)
2NT = raise to 2NT with 4 clubs
at this point North discovers she is 5413 and slightly embarrassed bids 3NT
Jack of hearts lead, king, ace
Diamond return, you elect to play the queen, Jack on your left.

---

Prospects seem bleak but I like playton's line ♥J covered by ♥Q and ♥A; finesse ♦Q (LHO follows with ♦J); enter dummy with ♣ to ♣A; ♠ to ♠J and ♠Q. Infrafinesse chance failed, so hope that LHO is 3532 (say).

• If LHO leads a ♠. win with ♠A and play another.
  
• If LHO leads ♥T, win ♥Q and play ♠A and another.
  
• If LHO leads ♦T, duck. Win ♥T switch with ♥K. Overtake ♣Q with ♣K; lead ♦A; if ♦ are 4-3 then concede a ♦; win ♠ return. Finesse ♣9; Phew and claim