IAC Forums
Chew the Fat! => Sleight of Hand => Topic started by: jcreech on September 17, 2018, 02:17:42 AM
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Dlr: South
Vul: None
North
!S T
!H 76
!D AKQJ542
!C KT4
West East
!S QJ75 !S K984
!H T9 !H QJ2
!D 876 !D 9
!C AQ75 !C j8632
South
!S A632
!H AK8543
!D T3
!C 9
Auction:
North East South West
1 !H P 2 !D P
2 !H P 4 !H P
P P
This hand became interesting because of the Dare to Practice session. There was a similar hand that came up that nearly every declarer got wrong. The Dare hand required that you give up an early trump in order to retain control of a side suit; if you did this, then you made the contract, if not, you were down.
On this hand, the defense started with the Q !S. My initial thought was to ruff two spades, then play three rounds of trump, hoping that they split, I would lose a !H, !S and !C.
I then realized that there was an alternative line that might net an additional trick while practicing one of the techniques coming out of Angel Blue's lessons. I still needed trump to break, but instead of ruffing any spades, I give up a trump at trick two. That way, I still have control of the spades, and do not need give up that trick.
So at trick two, I led a trump. West overtook the trick to lead a !D (trying for a Merrimack coup, perhaps - cutting my communication with dummy). My ten won the trick, two rounds of trump pulled the defensive teeth, and a !D to dummy completed 12 tricks.
Obviously, the best contract is 6 !D, but few found their way to a diamond contract, and the one that reached the slam failed to find the winning line on a trump lead. Primarily, you need to be flexible to take whatever opportunity the defense allows.
On the trump lead, you need to play for !H 's to break - play AK and ruff the third round, and after pulling trump, use the A !S to get back for the winning !H 's.
On a !C lead, you lose to the A, the K is now good, and you get to ruff the last !C. Everything else will be top tricks.
On a !S lead, you win and lead a !C hoping the ace is onside. It is, so then you just need to ruff the small !C and take top tricks.
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Another nice hand and a good duck. I still hope this posting of interesting hands will catch on with others.