[Nilz]

Scoring: MP

1♠-4♦-4♠-6♠

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You are West, RHO deals and the opps carry out the above uncontested auction. 4D was a splinter, 4S says "She wants to play in 4S". Your lead.

There may be follow-ups.

[vang]

heart ace

[Phil]

Sounds like LHO was worried about something.

I'm guessing its hearts. I've fallen for the phony splinter before.

[pooltuna]

vang, on Oct 6 2010, 12:05 PM, said:

heart ace

yes try for your ♥ ruff or partner to have the K

[Nilz]

Seems like the consensus is to lead the heart ace, which is pleasing, since that's what I chose. Believe it or not, Dummy has:
♠AQ86
♥J10
♦8
♣AQ9653

Partner contributes the 4 (standard carding), declarer plays the 2. What do you play at T2?
Does your play change if declarer plays the 7?

[P_Marlowe]

Ace.

Lets have a look at the table.

I dont think we can beat the contract, if we are going passive.

After I have seen the table, and p neg. mark, I will play the
Queen.

Diamonds, cant go away, the king of clubs cant go away, the Jack
of hearts can go away on the diamond values in openers hand.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[awm]

If opener lacks the club king or spade king, we're very likely setting this no matter what I play at trick two. So let's give declarer those two cards.

If declarer also has the ♦A and the ♥K, then we cannot set the contract barring a very unlikely ruff by partner. But such a hand would've taken a more encouraging action over the 4♦ splinter. It seems like a good bet that declarer has something wasted in diamonds for the 4♠ signoff.

Basically this comes down to a guess as to whether declarer is off two top heart tricks, or off two red aces. Partner's signal should be a clue here. It appears that partner has played the lowest outstanding heart (standard carding) which implies that either partner does not have the ♥K, or partner started with exactly ♥K4 doubleton. Obviously this position is possible, but it seems more likely that we need to switch to a diamond and get our ace before it disappears on the clubs.

If declarer plays a higher spot it's a bit of a guessing game. However, continuing can only be right if partner has ♥K4 or ♥K42. This still seems a bit against the odds (i.e. usually partner has a higher spot than the 4 in his hand) so I would tend to switch to diamonds.

I disagree with P_Marlowe, in that I think diamonds could very easily go away on the run of the clubs.
It may also be worth asking about cuebidding style (i.e. does a 4♠ deny a heart control or just indicate a bad hand opposite the splinter? would 4♥ show a heart control or just a good hand for slam?)

[cherdanno]

P_Marlowe, on Oct 6 2010, 04:35 PM, said:

Diamonds, cant go away, the king of clubs cant go away, the Jack
of hearts can go away on the diamond values in openers hand.

Marlowe, why do you post a reply to a play problem when you don't even take the time to count tricks? If partner has the ♦A, and declarer all kings outside of diamonds, then he has 5 spades + 1 heart + 6 clubs, for 12 tricks.

[Fluffy]

seems like a close call between the reds.

appart from finding partner with a red trick, the only hand where we can miss is declarer having KJxxx Kx KQxxx K where even on a heart return only 4 pithces develop, quite small target anyway but makes it a bit closer.


I'd play a diamond, seems more likelly.

[P_Marlowe]

cherdanno, on Oct 6 2010, 07:59 PM, said:

P_Marlowe, on Oct 6 2010, 04:35 PM, said:

Diamonds, cant go away, the king of clubs cant go away, the Jack
of hearts can go away on the diamond values in openers hand.

Marlowe, why do you post a reply to a play problem when you don't even take the time to count tricks? If partner has the ♦A, and declarer all kings outside of diamonds, then he has 5 spades + 1 heart + 6 clubs, for 12 tricks.

Serves me right - posting to a play problem.

Nevertheless, I still play the Queen, I think the risk is higher to lead into
a diamond tenance, than anything else, and if I do the heart goes away.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Free]

♥A is pretty obvious. I'd continue with a ♦ hoping that partner doesn't have ♥K4.

[robertb]

Seems like it's clear to play a diamond next if South drops the 2 under the 4.

If South drops the 7, well, at this point, right or wrong, I think I would play the heart queen next.

[Nilz]

Thanks for the responses.
Partner playing the 4 seems consistent with declarer having something like KJTxxx-Kx-Kxx-Kx, in which case a diamond is necessary. But partner could also have K4 of hearts doubleton, and not the diamond ace, in which case a heart continuation is necessary. So it seems like I have to guess. From the responses (and common sense) it seems that partner holding K4 exactly (or K42 if declarer plays the 7) is less likely than holding the diamond ace, so probably a diamond is best. I chose the heart queen and declarer made.
Reading the comments, it seems like most people chose a diamond, so maybe I am partially to blame. But partner could have made it easier for me if he had found a double of the splinter with AKQJT43 of diamonds...

(declarer had KJT9xx-K7xx-5-K4)