[pescetom]

MP

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Sitting in North, you are looking at 5HCP with decent intermediates and wondering why partner pushed you into playing a grand.
East leads ♣8 and you see this impressive dummy.
How do you plan to make 13 tricks?


This is an N/B problem, please use a spoiler to reply if you are better and wish to comment early. Thanks.

[Cyberyeti]

If he was going to lead a club, makes me wish I was in 7♠

[pescetom]

No replies, maybe we have no N/B left
In which case, over to A/I ?

It can be made quite easily with a rational plan, you can even take the beer card too

[mw64ahw]

Look to make 4♠, 1x♣ ruff, then 5♥ inc. ruff(s) leaving 3♦ winners

[pescetom]

Here is the full hand:

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You can hardly go wrong if you planned to ruff and then play on hearts, cashing AK and then ruff or over-ruff (rinse or repeat with spades connection if necessary).
There may be a better line, I confess I would stop here at the table.

Our N/B field pulled trumps and spades, then finessed in hearts for 11 tricks

[Cyberyeti]

Pulling trumps doesn't make 7 with Q♥ 4-2 onside, I was trying to work out if I was going to draw one trump intending to take a ruff with the 9, or 2 and go for a miracle in the hearts if the trumps didn't split.

[wuudturner]

Drawing all of the trumps early is an implicit play for East to hold EXACTLY the Qxx in hearts. More than 3 hearts, and even if the finesse wins, you still have a heart loser. The probability of finding the Qxx onside is around 18%. That is, a 3-3 split is 35.5%, an half of that time the queen will be on your right. So you need to try for a heart ruff, or more.

If you are going to ruff hearts, then you need hearts to split no worse than 4-2, since you will need to cash the AK, before you draw all of the trumps. You might get lucky, drawing two rounds of trumps. then cashing the AK of hearts. But that line effectively assumes hearts are 3-3, and 4-2 is more likely.

So I think you ruff the club initially with the 6. The profligate and the abstinent crowd will have ruffed with the diamond 7 at trick 1 instead. Then you can afford to cash one high trump, the ace. Next the AK in hearts. When West follows with the queen on the second round, you can even play for 4-1 in diamonds, by ruffing a heart with the 9, then cash the diamond jack. Return to hand with a spade to the ace and draw trumps, then cash out.

Had West been able to play a low heart on the second round too, now you lead a 3rd round of hearts. Ruff with the 9 (unless West has ruffed in with the 10.) This goes down if West started with Qxxx in hearts, and East with the diamond 10, but you are always down then, since you need two heart ruffs. If hearts were 3-3, then the ruff with the 9 is safe.