[lamford]

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Nobody made 6H here in England's premier County Championship and about a third of the field bid it. How would you play on the JD lead?

[mikeh]

I’m suffering from Covid just now….picked it up at a bridge tournament🤒 so I will blame Covid for any idiocies in my thinking!

Even if we guess clubs correctly, we only have 11 top winners.

The lead tells us that the diamond ace is on our right. It also suggests that west has J109(x)(x)(x) in the suit

If he has six then obviously we need to duck the lead in dummy and the ace will beat air. Then dependent to a degree on the trump split, the odds likely favour playing east for the club queen.

But 6-1 diamonds is unlikely and ducking means we haven’t rectified the count at all.

What about 5-2 diamonds? Again, ducking works but we’re going to be committed to later leading to the king, and ducking….I don’t see any strip squeeze looming if only because we haven’t rectified the count.

So maybe I rise with the king, aware that doing so will be very bad if east has short diamonds, Ax or stiff Ace

East can’t duck, so wins and presumably continues the suit, which I have to win, hopefully establishing my 8 as a menace against west (I suppose it could be against east)

I lack communication between the hands, in terms of playing, say, three rounds of spades in order to ensure that only one defender guards that suit…my threats are in different hands with no way to maintain both as viable.

So maybe I need the player with the diamond 9 to hold 5 spades. Now if I guess clubs correctly, I have a squeeze.

If I place west with the guards, then unless he’s void in trump he likely has shorter clubs than does east so I’d play east for the queen.

On that line, pop the king of diamonds, win the queen on the presumed return, pull trump and cash the clubs, playing east for the queen. Then finish the trumps. I would, were I doing this, cash one spade early since I don’t need both top spades in dummy for the squeeze to work and there is a tiny, tiny edge in that the spade queen could be singleton, which not only gives me a trick but may help the two way club guess

Do I like this line? In terms of expecting to make….not at all.

In fact, if I’m playing west to hold five spades, I think (but am not sure) that it’s a little more likely that he has 5 diamonds, in which case I should duck the opening lead around to my queen, and later duck a diamond. I’d reserve the club guess until I’d pulled trump and, if they break ok, ruffed a spade to get a better inferential count.

So, with zero confidence, I duck the lead and win in hand, playing east for A or Ax. I expect to go down.

[lamford]

 mikeh, on 2022-November-12, 15:55, said:

So, with zero confidence, I duck the lead and win in hand, playing east for A or Ax. I expect to go down.

Some good thoughts. Think of the English rock back Clash and you might get nearer.
Diamonds are 4-3 with JT9x and if East is 3-3-3-4 with the queen of clubs or even his actual 3-4-3-3 with the queen of clubs, I think you can make, with perfect timing.

[mikeh]

 lamford, on 2022-November-12, 16:05, said:

Some good thoughts. Think of the English rock back Clash and you might get nearer.
Diamonds are 4-3 with JT9x and if East is 3-3-3-4 with the queen of clubs or even his actual 3-4-3-3 with the queen of clubs, I think you can make, with perfect timing.

That may be, but right now I can barely count to 3 let alone visualize the line that might work. Ironically, just a few nights ago I was at dinner with some bridge playing friends, at the Whistler Regional, and felt smug in that I was the only one of the group who’d not had Covid. Smugness is not a useful emotion, lol, and fate is punishing me for it🤒

[mikeh]

Ok. Here’s a line I know I wouldn’t find at the table, and I far from sure that, single dummy, it’s the correct line

Duck the diamond to the queen. Heart to dummy, hook east for the club queen, draw trump (assume 4 rounds), play three rounds of spades, ruffing.

West now has x void 109 x. East void void Ax Qx. Dummy x void Q A10. Declarer void void 8x Kx

Cash the club king and then lead a club to the ace. West has to come down to his boss spade and a stiff diamond,10 or 9. East has to follow helplessly. Now exit the diamond Queen.

East can keep a fourth club, stiffing the diamond ace, but we may be able to read this in time to keep a club in hand and exit a diamond at trick 10.

Is this higher percentage than playing east for Ax/A in diamonds? Note that in both lines we need to club queen in east.

[lamford]

 mikeh, on 2022-November-12, 17:28, said:

Ok. Here’s a line I know I wouldn’t find at the table, and I far from sure that, single dummy, it’s the correct line

Duck the diamond to the queen. Heart to dummy, hook east for the club queen, draw trump (assume 4 rounds), play three rounds of spades, ruffing.

West now has x void 109 x. East void void Ax Qx. Dummy x void Q A10. Declarer void void 8x Kx

Cash the club king and then lead a club to the ace. West has to come down to his boss spade and a stiff diamond,10 or 9. East has to follow helplessly. Now exit the diamond Queen.

East can keep a fourth club, stiffing the diamond ace, but we may be able to read this in time to keep a club in hand and exit a diamond at trick 10.

Is this higher percentage than playing east for Ax/A in diamonds? Note that in both lines we need to club queen in east.

Yes that line works. It needs West to have JT9 of diamonds and I think this is a form of clash squeeze. You do need to draw trumps pitching a diamond from dummy, and only then hook the club and set up the spade.

[jillybean]

 mikeh, on 2022-November-12, 15:55, said:

I’m suffering from Covid just now….picked it up at a bridge tournament🤒 so I will blame Covid for any idiocies in my thinking!

Ugh, get well!

[gszes]

get well soon

[gszes]

get well soon

[Lovera]

 lamford, on 2022-November-12, 18:27, said:

Yes that line works. It needs West to have JT9 of diamonds and I think this is a form of clash squeeze. You do need to draw trumps pitching a diamond from dummy, and only then hook the club and set up the spade.

I think it is a hybrid or mixed squeeze that however uses the same mechanics of the clash having in ♣ the recovery necessary to get at the K of ♠ separately if E discards two ♠ having three with Q. W also must discard three cards that can be in ♠ twice and that allow you to have the threat that breaks free in 5 (a discard from E) as winner. With the discard of a ♦ by E we can also have the K of ♦ winning by letting it run towards the Ace of E otherwise by rescouting the high cards in ♠ and all ♣ and playing small towards the K we will have the obligatory return towards 8 as 12th taken.(Lovera)

[pescetom]

 mikeh, on 2022-November-12, 15:55, said:

I’m suffering from Covid just now….picked it up at a bridge tournament🤒 so I will blame Covid for any idiocies in my thinking!

You were one of the lucky few not to catch it in Salsomaggiore, I blame GordonTD
Get over it well.

[Lovera]

The final ending seems to me to be a little-considered vice squeeze position with threats (K and 8) distributed between hand and dummy in ♦ having however a clash situation in ♠ which requires keeping ♣ unchanged for what has been said.