Another interesting hand.
The hand as it was:
http://tinyurl.com/ycnvotuaIt's true that the defenders can take the first 10 tricks. Moreover, if E plays the Q rather than the A at T1, they can still take 10 tricks before S can take 4. But they did not, and so we can ask what went wrong.
The opening lead was the
5. E has no particular reason to know that this is not from a strong suit. Perhaps K9853, perhaps J9853. There is something to be said for playing the Q in either case. In the first case the Q will hold the trick, clarifying the situation. In the second case the Q will be taken by the K, but playing the A also establishes the K. The difference is that if he plays the A then declarer can hold up the K until the third round while if he plays the Q then declarer, not knowing where the A is, will surely take his K. But there are potential downsides to playing the Q in this second case. W is apt to assume S has the A and so might choose a wrong line based on that assumption.
But let's say he plays the Q, the K wins and declarer plays the
J. What now? We still have not ruled out the possibility that the lead was from J9853.
This is a case where top from 3 small would have been more effective. W would lead the 8 and E reasons: If the 8 is 4th best then it must be from KJ98x) since I see everything else higher than the 8. If so, the Q will hold. So he plays the Q, it loses to the K, and E now knows the lead was from a weak rather than a strong holding. But this is something of a special case and anyway they were not playing top from three small.
Some people play Smith echoes. After the K takes the Q and the
J is led, W lays a high
to indicate he wants his suit returned, a small
to indicate he doesn't. The trouble with that is that even people who play Smith echoes usually play that they are off in a situation where count could be more important. With four
on the bar and no entry in a side suit, this might well qualify as a case where count takes precedence and Smith echoes are off. But this assumes first that EW are playing them ans second that they have discussed when they are of, when they are on. The chances of this being true in an online pickup game are about zip.
It's a frustrating situation for EW. Maybe they can be thankful that the result was not 1NTX making since I think, as the play went, S can indeed take 7 tricks by following the line recommended by O, after cashing dummy's top
.
If I were E, I might or might not have played the Q at T1. The usual situation for this play is that E is confident of getting the lead early on. The Q misleads both partner and declarer, but E wants to force declarer to take his hypothetical K rather than to hold up, and E is confident of gaining the lead early so he can produce the A and another
. Indeed S will go after the
here so S can do that, but playing A and another
is not going to go well as the cards lie. If, however, W does have five to the J then E could take the first
, play A and small, let W run his clubs, and then W gets out with a small
. Although if he is really alert he might just take his A and then switch to the
4. The
are (with the hypothetical five the J9) ready to run so E can think about helping out in the majors. With the cards as they actually are, this works great.
I see this as a real challenge for EW . The cards lie very favorably and they can take 10 tricks if they see it, but I am at a loss to say how they should see this clearly. Playing top from three small would, on this particular hand, have made it a lot easier, but they weren't.
A quick note on the bidding: If my four clones were playing we might or might not reach 3NT. There are 24 hcps and no long suit. My S clone would pass, my W clone would open 1
, Pass by any N player, and now the first place where there are choices. A flat 11 count, a four card
suit headed by the AT, I think he bids an invitational 2NT. Now back to my W clone. A 13 count. The majors are nice with the
T and the
9 . I think my E clone should forgive my W clone if he passes. And forgive him if, on another hand, he raises to 3NT and it fails. It's a close call, imo. For example E can bring in four
tricks by playing small to the Q and then the A, bringing down the K. But if he instead starts with the J, the right line if S has Kxx, then North's 9 stands up. And the
suit could not be arranged better. Of course Gib makes a lot to of tricks. Gib has no trouble playing the spades.
There is a lot to look at here.
