[nickf]

Scoring: MP

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Your idiot partner (me) puts you in 6NT. Opps lead the ♣6, East plays the queen.

Plan the play. However, you will discover:

- When you play the ♥K East will play the 9
- the spade finesse, if you take it, works.
- West has the diamond Ace but the Ten does not appear on the first two rounds.

Essentially, what's the premium line?

nickf
sydney IL

[H_KARLUK]

♦ position shows a combination of cards that is often mishandled. Players tend to lead towards the King, or to lead low from hand to the knave and return a low card to the King. It makes no difference when the suit breaks 3-3, but it costs a trick unless enemy ace tumbled down without capturing an honor card. (Ax-Txxx)

[david_c]

I'll run the opening lead round to my hand and hope for five heart tricks. That would make the diamond position irrelevant.

To give myself an extra chance I'll lead a diamond to the jack at trick two, then back to the ♦K. Did they really manage to duck this? I suspect not. Anyway, whether they duck or not, if the ♥Q is onside but not dropping then I will hope for three diamond tricks and a black-suit squeeze against RHO.

[nige1]

nickf, on Nov 7 2008, 06:02 AM, said:

Scoring: MP


Your idiot partner (me) puts you in 6NT. Opps lead the ♣6, East plays the queen.
Plan the play. However, you will discover:
- When you play the ♥K East will play the 9
- the spade finesse, if you take it, works.
- West has the diamond Ace but the Ten does not appear on the first two rounds.
Essentially, what's the premium line?

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I can't see aything clever: assuming no ♦ honour drops and ♠Q is not singleton and ♠QT are not doubleton
♣J ♦J ♣K ♠K ♥K ♦Q ♠A ♣A ♥ finesse ♥A

[Echognome]

david_c, on Nov 8 2008, 10:00 AM, said:

I'll run the opening lead round to my hand and hope for five heart tricks. That would make the diamond position irrelevant.

To give myself an extra chance I'll lead a diamond to the jack at trick two, then back to the ♦K. Did they really manage to duck this? I suspect not. Anyway, whether they duck or not, if the ♥Q is onside but not dropping then I will hope for three diamond tricks and a black-suit squeeze against RHO.

If you are going to lead a diamond to the J and it holds, why wouldn't you return to hand and lead a diamond towards the Q? That works against Ax(x)(x) with LHO, whereas back to the K would lose to Ax.

[david_c]

Echognome, on Nov 14 2008, 02:27 AM, said:

If you are going to lead a diamond to the J and it holds, why wouldn't you return to hand and lead a diamond towards the Q? That works against Ax(x)(x) with LHO, whereas back to the K would lose to Ax.

Does it help to pick up Ax? Where are your twelve tricks?

[mikeh]

david_c, on Nov 14 2008, 05:28 AM, said:

Echognome, on Nov 14 2008, 02:27 AM, said:

If you are going to lead a diamond to the J and it holds, why wouldn't you return to hand and lead a diamond towards the Q?  That works against Ax(x)(x) with LHO, whereas back to the K would lose to Ax.

Does it help to pick up Ax? Where are your twelve tricks?

It may well help to pick off Ax in diamonds... it may tighten the position in the majors... we will have 6 minor suit winners, 4 top majors, and (presumably) a winning heart hook.. this position may put pressure on West in the majors... altho, especially given the lead of a small club, it seems unlikely that the position exists.

More to the point, in terms of the technically correct line in diamonds, we have entry problems...that, in my view, probably offset any tiny edge we'd get on this hand.

So I'd win the club, diamond to the Q, diamond Jack... not the low to the K, because I am desperate for entries. Win the club return in dummy, diamond to my K and survey the scene.

If the 10 has appeared, I think I hook the spade Jack.. it wins (thx) and now I cash the spade K and the diamond 9, pitching a club, cross to my hand in hearts, cash the club A and the spade A, reducing to spade 9 and low heart, with dummy holding AJ in hearts. I will, by this time, know the opps' shapes pretty well... of course, that may not be enough On a good day LHO is Q10xx xxxx Axx 6x or the equivalent, and we have a showup squeeze if we read the position correctly (we may not... see below about the spade suit when LHO owns Q10xx).

If the diamond 10 has not appeared, I still adopt this line (absent the attempt to 'cash' the losing diamond, of course) and reduce to a less tight 3 card ending... it still works if LHO is squeezed in the majors or began with Qxx or shorter in hearts. And if LHO shows out in diamonds and if (a big if) I deduce that he began with 3 spades, 4 clubs, and 2 diamonds, I will play for the heart Q to be doubleton offside.. this is not going to be 'clear', since a competent player will drop the spade Q under the A from Qxx (forced) and Q10xx (mandatory play of the card known to be held).

BTW, if on the spade K, LHO drops the Q...the lines become a little more complex, and I won't go there just now.