It is a shame whereagles isn't going to participate. This hand offers some interesting defensive communication possibilities.
jmcw, on 2011-August-30, 15:22, said:
Given the auction I would expect partner to be leading from length, QJ9 or QJ97. I see no future in returning a ♣, and it may turn out badly if P has led from Qx.
On the other hand, if partner has a stiff ♣Q (unlikely) he can ruff. Simple solution is to cash ♦ K and switch back to ♣ or ♥ at trick 3.
Given that nobody would lead the
♣Q from
♣Qx, a club back never automatically allows declarer to make a hand that could not be made, regardless of partner having 1, 2, 3, or 4 clubs. A low club back might give partner a problem with
♣QJ doubleton. Should he try a heart or a diamond? A heart return by partner allows it to make. If partner has
♣QJx he can even lead away from the
♥King as declarer will have a stiff heart ace, so no harm. Should he lead the
♥King, it still doesn't matter as one diamond pitch does declarer no good.
Cashing the
♦ at trick two will never allow declarer to make a hand that could not be made. The problem is after you cash a diamond you have to play accurately, depending upon what declarer holds. If declarer is 5
♠-
♥Ax-
♦Jxxxx-
♣x you have to switch to the
♥x NOW or he makes. If he is 5
♠-
♥A-
♦Jxxxx-
♣xx you can afford to lead a heart now, but have to cash your club next time you get in.
Defensively, cashing the
♦King then shifting to a club, solves the problem in the first paragraph. Partner will know to return a diamond. Cashing the
♦King and shifting to a club in the second kills the defense you need to return a heart. But if partner has a singleton club, you needed to give him his club ruff.
So BOTH defenders have to consider the sequence of plays that get the job done regardless if partner holds any of these problem hands. The answer so many seem to think is clear is to return the
♣2 at trick two as "suit preference". But is this true? Would the
♣2 be suit preference or would it be "original count" (4th best), regardless of partners club holding. I think reading the
♣2 as suit preference is a stretch. Even club 8 back isn't helpful and can be misread.
What do we as EAST know about partner's hand?
- He does not have ♥AK or he would have started with one of those, so declarer has at least one heart honor.
- Partner has AT LEAST three diamonds (or declarer has six and will make if his heart honor is the ACE), and go down otherwise.
- Partner has Q, QJ, QJx or QJxx of ♣'s
- Partner has 3, 4, or 5 hearts (he can not have 6 or 2 ♥'s)
Would cashing the
♦K at trick two (which will get partner on the right page as to what to return when he gets in on second round of clubs) get you the information you need? the_clown was on the right track when he said in his partnership when he leads the ace, his partner gives suit preference. Well, that specific agreement seems STRANGE to me as a hard and fast rule. But here, on this hand, when you lead the
♦King, attitude is not useful, so partner will need to give either suit preference or count. I think here, where it looks like you might score at least three minor suit tricks, suit preference is the most important. Partner will play his highest diamond (and with three I hope we can read it) if he a.) can not ruff clubs, and b.) has a heart honor. Otherwise he will play a low
♦ (and always if he had a singleton
♣).
Some thought of this defense above, and any hand where declarer has 4
♣ this defense will be "killer". But no one carried the defense out to solve the problem when declarer has either 5-1-5-2 versus 5-2-5-1 when holding the heart ace, and partner signals he has the heart king under the diamond king.
REAL SOLUTION
There is an obvious solution to this problem, however. When partner signals for a heart shift when you cash the
♦king (and with 3 diamonds, hopefully we can work his signal out), his signal under declarer's
♥A will have to be further "attitude". With five hearts, partner will now discourage in hearts. The reason being, your low card is from 3 or 4 (or possibly a singleton). Once declarer wins the heart ACE, it can only be from three so declarer is "out" so he will want you to shift back to a club. If you had a singleton, you couldn't lead another one anyway, so a negative attitude is still right.
If partner has three hearts to the king, and you lead low, he will signal attitude again, this time, he will want you to continue hearts. Because rather you had three or four hearts for your low heart lead, declarer will have another heart.
If partner has four hearts, the situation is not clear
to him what you should do next. The idea here is for partner to give an ambivalent signal in hearts (not his King, not his lowest spot, not his highest non-king heart).
I use UDCA so the way these signals would work is this. With FIVE hearts excluding the ACE, partner would play the TEN from KT764, that signal would be clear an unambiguous. I would lead a club next when in with the
♦A. Playing standard partner would play the 4, again very clear.
If partner has three hearts to the King, the play will be equally clear to you. With.
KT7, play the 7 (udca) or T (standard)
K64, play the 4 (udca) or 6 (standard)
If partner has four heart to the king, he wants you to continue hearts IF YOU had three hearts, and switch to clubs if you had four hearts. He doesn't know if your
♥3 was from 3 or 4. So he plays the middle of his heart spots...
KT74 play the 7,
K764 play the 6
KT76 play the 7, etc.
Since you have only three hearts, the defense is clear. If you don't see the
♥T (playing UDCA) it is right to return a heart when in with
♦K.
Summary: if partner wants to ruff a club, he would play his lowest diamond. If he can't ruff a club, but is looking at the heart king/Ace, he will play a high diamond. When he can't ruff a club but has no heart honor? Makes no difference, he will play low diamond. On heart lead he uses the signals explained above.
Quote
A 5143 - Partner would not lead from Qx but might from QJ. We need to take our diamonds before declarer establishes ?9 for a diamond discard.
Partner will play a HIGH diamonds because he must have either the ACE or KING of hearts. I will lead the
♥3 and partner will clearly discourage a heart continuation (for me the
♥T since I play UDCA, playing standard the
♥4), so I know to switch pack the
♣ when I get in with my 2nd diamond winner. We will score both clubs, both diamonds, and if partner has heart ACE, a heart too. If he doesn't have the ACE, we still get four minor suit winners.
Quote
B 5152 - Declarer may establish diamonds for a club discard
Partner will play high diamond because he MUST has either the King or Ace of hearts. I will lead a heart and partner will follow the same defensive as problem A by playing the DISCOURAGING heart and we will shift back to a club.
Quote
C 5251 - Declarer may establish diamonds for a heart discard
Partner will give a high diamond, and I will shift to a heart. If declarer has AK tight of hearts, we were never beating it, but this sets the contract if he has Ax of Kx of hearts. With four hearts, partner will see our low heart and will play an muddling heart. Since I have only 3 hearts, my not seeing the highest or lowest missing heart, I will know to continue hearts when in with my second diamond.
Quote
D 5134 - We need to cash diamonds and take our club ruff
Partner will ask for club ruff, he will know I have the
♦A to lead too
Quote
E 5314 - We need to cash one diamond and take our club ruff
Partner will ask for club ruff, AND know I have the
♦A. I will not score the
♦A but partner will get his heart honor later (if declarer has AKx of hearts, no defense sets the contract).
Quote
F 5224 - We can either cash both diamonds or just one plus a club ruff
Partner will ask for club ruff, know I have the
♦A. I will win the
♦Ace after he ruffs a club, and then try a heart for likely down two.
As you can see, this logical line of defense (can it be worked out at the table?) handles all the hand types, but relies heavily on partnership understanding of the situation.
Theoretically if you had four hearts, reading partners signal with 3 versus 4 cards might be a little difficult. But here goes. Let's give you the
♥4 in addition to the J93. Now the missing cards are KT76. With three cards hearts, partners card will always be 6 or 7 with four cards it will always be the 7. So you are left wondering what to do (no problems if you have three hearts). There is a solution to this problem in the form of using either trumps or diamonds (depending upon which declarer leads) as to give alternative count in hearts or to serve as a clear suit preference signal. We assume partner has two spades and two diamonds left. If declarer plays two rounds or trumps, partner can give "count" in hearts by his play of spades, or he can give clear suit preference for hearts when he held three (high low in trumps) or not for hearts when he held four (low-high), depending upon your agreement about how you signal in trumps. My default is S/P.
A wise declarer will lead a diamond instead of trump with 5152 or 5251 and the heart ACE. Now you have to read partner's diamond as either s/p or alternative count in hearts (which ever you think your partner will give). But partner's diamond spot might be hard to read. He already played his highest diamond on the first round, so his last two diamonds are both low or both high spots you may actually get back to a guess.
Help
