[gprentice]

South is playing 3NT. What is the best line for the defense here? If west leads AC should he continue clubs or switch to another suit. Note west did not bid during the auction.

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[Douglas43]

I would lead KC for unblock / count then when East plays the 3, switch to QS. But I might get Bath Coup-ed in Spades.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

After the Ace of club, it depdneds on your agreements, what East showes,
if he showes count (even) or low is neg. ,
West should switch to Spades, the Queen of spades, declarer should Duck.
If East plays the spade 10, it may / should stop West from continuing spade,
the ten denies the Jack, ... and arguably the Ace.
If West switches again, it will be a switch toward hearts.

Would I be able to find this at the table not likely, ..., I have the added
challenge, that we play low encouraging, and I have to read the 3 as neg,
which I am not going to.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[gprentice]

 Douglas43, on 2024-March-02, 00:26, said:

I would lead KC for unblock / count then when East plays the 3, switch to QS. But I might get Bath Coup-ed in Spades.

ok, why would the 3 make you switch to the QS?

[gprentice]

 P_Marlowe, on 2024-March-02, 00:34, said:

Hi,

After the Ace of club, it depdneds on your agreements, what East showes,
if he showes count (even) or low is neg. ,
West should switch to Spades, the Queen of spades, declarer should Duck.
If East plays the spade 10, it may / should stop West from continuing spade,
the ten denies the Jack, ... and arguably the Ace.
If West switches again, it will be a switch toward hearts.

Would I be able to find this at the table not likely, ..., I have the added
challenge, that we play low encouraging, and I have to read the 3 as neg,
which I am not going to.

With kind regards
Marlowe

Thanks, we play AQ for attitude and King for count. Should the King be lead here? After playing the ace to advertise the suit, is there a case for west to switch immediately to QS, trying to get east on lead.

[P_Marlowe]

 gprentice, on 2024-March-02, 01:10, said:

Thanks, we play AQ for attitude and King for count. Should the King be lead here? After playing the ace to advertise the suit, is there a case for west to switch immediately to QS, trying to get east on lead.

If the King asks for count, go for it.
If you can read the attidude signal, you have to switch, the question is, can you read it, assuming low is pos,
if low is neg, you will read it.
If you cannot read it, cashing works, if you drop the jack in the next 2 rounds, ..., partner will not throw
the jack under the Ace with Jx, ... the jack showes the 10. The chances for droping are ok, sometimes you loose.

[shyams]

I would lead the CK for count. However, playing std count signals, it looks quite likely that I'd misread the 3 as bottom from a 3-card suit instead top of a doubleton. So I'd continue to cash.

Now, on West's third top club, East can discard the ♦10 to indicate a switch to spades.

As long as West decides to switch, declarer is toast. If West instead continues clubs in order to establish the 5th club, ...

[Douglas43]

 gprentice, on 2024-March-02, 01:06, said:

ok, why would the 3 make you switch to the QS?

I am on a guess as to whether the 3 is from 32, xx3, or singleton. If declarer has smoothly dropped the 7 from J72 I'm a mug. But he has made a T/O X then bid 3NT over 3!D, so I'm more inclined to go for 3=4=2=4.

Hence I'm switching to partner's suit. Partner should know that, having not led from Qx opposite a second seat weak two, I've got VERY good clubs. Luckily, even if I fall for the Bath Coup, we should beat it as long as partner keeps the !C2. And I'll be signalling for clubs on the diamond suit.

But at the table this is squeaky bum time.

[gprentice]

 shyams, on 2024-March-02, 06:43, said:

I would lead the CK for count. However, playing std count signals, it looks quite likely that I'd misread the 3 as bottom from a 3-card suit instead top of a doubleton. So I'd continue to cash.

Now, on West's third top club, East can discard the ♦10 to indicate a switch to spades.

As long as West decides to switch, declarer is toast. If West instead continues clubs in order to establish the 5th club, ...

At my table my partner played AKQ of clubs then QS, then another spade after declarer played low, so the bath coup allowed declarer to make 3NT. Someone here pointed out that 10S from east here could stop the second spade from west - but I didn't think to do that. West would have to switch to a heart at trick 5 to take the contract light since declarer can lead a spade from north himself after running the diamonds.

A friend of mine (a top player) suggested that west should switch to spades at trick two regardless of what east plays on trick one in the hope that east can lead clubs through declarer. I am wondering if this line of play has the best chance of success - it likely succeeds if east has an ace, otherwise fails - with no ace in east, declarer makes 6 diamonds and at least 3 tricks in the majors. So which is the best line of play for west?

Later... - however, establishing a club trick for declarer by continuing AKQ also requires east to have an ace to take the contract light - since declarer can make a club trick and the two major aces - 9 tricks.

[gprentice]

So if east has
spades KJ9xx
hearts Kxx
makes no difference if you switch to spades at trick 2 or 4 - declarer makes

if east has
spades K9xxx
hearts KQ
makes no difference if you switch to spades at trick 2 or 4 - declarer makes


if east has
spades K9xxx
hearts Ax
switching at trick two guarantees taking the contract light even if the bath coup works
switching at trick four takes the contract light only if west switches to a heart at trick 5.

Should west switch to a a heart at trick 5 - if declarer has both aces, it makes no difference; if declarer does not have ace of spades he won't hold up the spades so east should switch to a heart because it's the only chance of taking the contract light.

Looks like switching at trick two is the best line of play and doesn't require any signalling to work.

[P_Marlowe]

You ignore the fact, that clubs may be running, and that after you switch, declarer may have his 9 tricks.
There is no reason, that East has to have the Ace hearts, for most KJTxxx would be enough for a green vs red
weak two bid, and the jack may even be an optional plus (the ten as well ... style comes into play).

[gprentice]

P_Marlowe, on 2024-March-04, 12:20, said:

You ignore the fact, that clubs may be running, and that after you switch, declarer may have his 9 tricks.
There is no reason, that East has to have the Ace hearts, for most KJTxxx would be enough for a green vs red
weak two bid, and the jack may even be an optional plus (the ten as well ... style comes into play).

ok, so if you play AQ for attitude and K for count,

should west lead the King and continue with the ace if partner shows an odd number, otherwise switch to QS.

or
should west lead the Ace - and east should signal for an immediate switch if possible because he knows he will get in with AH

or
should west lead the ace and continue with KQ ignoring east signals because they might be invalid