[nigel_k]

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IMP scoring. Partner leads the ♣Q - K, A, 3. Over to you.

South's opening is weak with 5♠ and 4+ minor.

[rduran1216]

nigel_k, on 2011-August-30, 14:31, said:

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IMP scoring. Partner leads the ♣Q - K, A, 3. Over to you.

South's opening is weak with 5♠ and 4+ minor.

2 of clubs back seems very clear. plan to play a low heart when I get in with K of diamonds.

[the_clown]

I am playing the A of ♦. Partner will discourage if he wants a ♣ ruff, he could have lead from QJxx. If he discourages I will play the 2 of ♣ as suit pref. Playing low ♣ would be a disaster if declarer has a singleton and discards a losing ♦. If he encourages, I will play onother top ♦ and exit with a ♥. If p has an honour we are getting 4 tricks.

With my partner we have the agreement we always give SP when an ace is lead so after the ace of diamonds partner will surely tell me what is right.

So instead of guessing I will listen to partner's signal.


If you were playing rusinow leads u wouldnt have a problem at all

[jmcw]

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.

[bd71]

I don't think I want to lead a ♣ back immediately.

It's clearly most likely that South has 4♦s, in which case the hand seems to me to hinge on whether South has another loser in ♣ or ♥. If he does, I don't think there's anything he can do about it, so it really doesn't matter what we do. I guess in a bizarro scenario South can hold AK♥ tight, so we need to lead a ♣ before a ♥. But we are at liberty to cash a ♦ even in this bizarro scenario.

But couldn't South also hold 4♣s, with partner having led the singleton Q♣? If so, I think we want to lead the A♦ and then play ♣...if partner can ruff, then he knows to come back in ♦ rather than ♥. The disaster scenario is that an immediate ♣ return gives partner the ruff, but if he returns a ♥ and South has A♥, then trump is pulled, and ♦ loser/losers in dummy are discarded on ♣ winners.

Either way, playing A♦ then a ♣ works, so that's the plan.

Edit: forgot to say that I'm listening to partner's attitude signal on the AD, and if he encourages I'm cashing the King as well.

[Foxx]

♦K, ♦A, club.

[rduran1216]

Foxx, on 2011-August-30, 16:08, said:

♦K, ♦A, club.

QJxxx
Axx
x
J9xx


We've just tossed the contract in the ocean by trying to cash our diamonds

The only way a club fails is if declarer was 5404, but is this hand really consistent with the auction?

@the clown - You didn't read the auction. If declarer has a stiff club then he has 4 diamonds and 3 hearts, and isn't dumping a loser.

Small club is clear

edited for accuracy.

[shyams]

Trick 2: ♦K. Partner gives count (is this a count situation?)

If partner shows odd number of ♦s, I switch to ♥9.
If partner gives an even count, I can cash ♦A before trying to give partner a ♣ ruff.

[shyams]

rduran1216, on 2011-August-30, 16:44, said:

QJxxx
Axx
J10xx
x

We've just tossed the contract in the ocean by cashing our diamonds

The only way a club fails is if declarer was 5404, but is this hand really consistent with the auction?

@the clown - You didn't read the auction. If declarer has a stiff club then he has 4 diamonds and 3 hearts, and isn't dumping a loser.

Small club is clear

Dummy has 4 heart cards. discarding two on the J and 10 does not avoid the heart loser

[rduran1216]

shyams, on 2011-August-30, 16:50, said:

Dummy has 4 heart cards. discarding two on the J and 10 does not avoid the heart loser

ah, correct. my apologies. Still there's no urgency on cashing diamonds.

however if we cash one diamond then switch to heart and partner led a stiff, we have blown the defense when declarer is 5314.

[nigel_k]

Club also fails if partner started with QJ doubleton and doesn't find the diamond switch.

[MrAce]

bd71, on 2011-August-30, 15:27, said:

Edit: forgot to say that I'm listening to partner's attitude signal on the AD, and if he encourages I'm cashing the King as well.

What attitude signal are you talking about ? You have AK ♦ and dummy has Q, what makes you think partner will know you have AK and will signal accurately if u start with A? If you are going to play ♦ at trick 2, this should be K, this way pd will not worry about signalling for the ♦ suit but for ♥ or ♣.

[rduran1216]

nigel_k, on 2011-August-30, 17:10, said:

Club also fails if partner started with QJ doubleton and doesn't find the diamond switch.

why wouldn't he find a diamond switch when i hold a card as emphatic as the 2 to lead back?

[shyams]

nigel_k, on 2011-August-30, 17:10, said:

Club also fails if partner started with QJ doubleton and doesn't find the diamond switch.

Declarer would then have a 5-1-4-3 holding and our diamond tricks will score eventually.

[MrAce]

There are dangers in this hand for defense

1- If pd has something like xx Kxx Jxxxxxx Q, then cashing 2♦ at T2 and 3 will let declarer make 4♠, since pd will not take his ♣ ruff.

2- If pd made a lousy lead from Qx ♣, playing back ♣ immediately will let declarer make 4 ♠, because he can discard a ♦ on 3rd ♣ (Unlikely but assume declarer has QJxxx K JT9x Jxx )

3- Playing ♥ after ♦K if pd shows odd number of ♦ (as Shyams suggested) will let declarer make if he has Qxxxx A xxx Jxxx or QJxxx Axx x Jxxx

4- Cashing the ♦K at T2 and playing ♣ has also danger, if declarer has QJxxx Ax Jxxxx x, since we pretty much say bye bye to our ♥ trick.

Among all these, the least likely scenario seems to me the #2. Imo playing ♣ back (2) is the right move.

[phil_20686]

if parther had Qx clubs and Kxx(xx) hearts, he would definately have lead a heart on this auction imo

[kenberg]

Misread problem, analysis withdrawn.

[nigel_k]

Here's my analysis:

Declarer is unlikely to have six spades because with a weak four card minor he would probably have opened a multi instead of the two suited opening. Declarer can't have a heart void given the lead so let's also assume declarer has ♥A otherwise he is probably down. Also if declarer is 5242 or 5341 he appears to be down on any defence. So the shapes we need to consider are:

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.
B 5152 - Declarer may establish diamonds for a club discard
C 5251 - Declarer may establish diamonds for a heart discard
D 5134 - We need to cash diamonds and take our club ruff
E 5314 - We need to cash one diamond and take our club ruff
F 5224 - We can either cash both diamonds or just one plus a club ruff

Line 1: Cash ♦K and lead a club. This works on all except C. Cashing both diamonds doesn't gain and loses in E.
Line 2: Switch to a club immediately. This handles everything except in case A it may be tough for partner to find the diamond switch, especially if he has the jack.

Anyway at the table I chose line 2 and it was case A. Particularly annoying as declarer had a rather horrible Qxxxx A 10xxx 9xx. I unthinkingly returned ♣2 but ♣8 is better and partner would probably have got it right.

[kenberg]

Oh my. I saw the "over to you" and did not realize there was more! I was taking 2♠ as a typical crappy weak 2.

I withdraw all of the analysis. Except that I would still never lead the ace of ♦ at trick 2. I see that we agree that if a diamond is led it will be the king.

I will now humbly retreat.

[FrancesHinden]

shyams, on 2011-August-30, 16:50, said:

Dummy has 4 heart cards. discarding two on the J and 10 does not avoid the heart loser

but if declarer is 5251 you need to play a heart back before cashing the second diamond