[Trumpace]

You are East and you hold AT742, 7, 95, AT984. Your LHO deals and preempts 2H and RHO raises to 4 (partner passes).

Partner leads the club 3.

You see :

Scoring: IMP

Partner leads ♣3

---

Plan your defense.

Adv/+, please refrain from posting too soon.

[vuroth]

Ace, Ace, spade. I see all our winners going away really fast if we don't take them now.

If partner doesn't have K♠ and a natural trump trick, I have no idea how we're going to do this.

V

[cherdano]

Hint for vuroth:

Spoiler

Maybe you can help out with the trump trick a little...

[y66]

I'll try returning a small spade at trick 2. If declarer has the king, maybe he'll play me for the queen instead of the ace.

[HeavyDluxe]

I'm winning the club lead... If I lead a trump through declarer, we may be able to promote a ♥ winner.

So, I guess I'd play ♣A, ♠A, then fire a trump through... I'm not sure we beat it, but it gives us a chance I think.

[vuroth]

I can't picture a trump holding partner could have that plays better with east leading than it does when north or south leads.

Are we that worried about partner being endplayed in trump?

[eros2]

I would give declarer credit for two heart honours and a spade honour (partner would surely lead from KQ) for his pre-empt. I win the Ac and return a low spade betting on a wrong guess if declarer has the king. Partner hopefully has Kx or Ax in trumps.

Is this too obvious?

[Trumpace]

eros2, on Dec 20 2008, 09:09 PM, said:

I would give declarer credit for two heart honours and a spade honour (partner would surely lead from KQ) for his pre-empt. I win the Ac and return a low spade betting on a wrong guess if declarer has the king. Partner hopefully has Kx or Ax in trumps.

Is this too obvious?

Well this is B/I problem and when this hand came up on BBO, of all tables with the ♣ lead, only 1 table seemed to have got it right, so perhaps it is not that obvious

Also, there is (I agree, very minor) a consideration of what to do at trick 4. What would you return after winning the ♠A? (Assuming partner won 2nd trick and played a spade back).

[Trumpace]

HeavyDluxe, on Dec 20 2008, 07:59 PM, said:

I'm winning the club lead... If I lead a trump through declarer, we may be able to promote a ♥ winner.

So, I guess I'd play ♣A, ♠A, then fire a trump through... I'm not sure we beat it, but it gives us a chance I think.

How do you expect to promote a trump trick by leading trumps through declarer? Won't he do it himself, i.e you don't actually have to lead it yourself?

[eros2]

Trumpace, on Dec 22 2008, 08:41 PM, said:

Quote

Also, there is (I agree, very minor) a consideration of what to do at trick 4. What would you return after winning the ♠A? (Assuming partner won 2nd trick and played a spade back).

I suppose there is a possibility that lefty rounded down to 2H with AQ 7th and a barren shape (2-7-2-2) due to the vulnerability. Therefore, partner has the stiff K♥. I exit with anything except a trump (it may telegraph the position).

[Trumpace]

eros2, on Dec 22 2008, 05:16 PM, said:

Trumpace, on Dec 22 2008, 08:41 PM, said:

Quote

Also, there is (I agree, very minor) a consideration of what to do at trick 4. What would you return after winning the ♠A? (Assuming partner won 2nd trick and played a spade back).

...
I exit with anything except a trump (it may telegraph the position).

Is there any suit in particular which might work out better?

[eros2]

Trumpace, on Dec 23 2008, 01:13 AM, said:

Is there any suit in particular which might work out better?

No? All 3 choices end up in dummy.

Partner cannot be void in diamonds - or we would not have been able to cash 3 black suit tricks. There is no way to promote a Qx trump holding opposite.

[FrancesHinden]

Every player does not have strict shape requirements for a weak 2H opening. Can you think of a possible shape for declarer where it matters what suit you play at trick 4, after ace of clubs, spade to partner's king (or queen if declarer mis-guesses), spade to your ace?