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Sleight of Hand / Should declarer work this one out?
« on: March 27, 2022, 03:24:01 AM »
I kibitzed this hand, and declarer made what I considered a give-up play at trick five. I would like to pose an alternative line, and would like to know if it would be plausible at the table.
The contract was 6 by South (rotated for discussion purposes). I won't bother with the auction as both tables were in the same contract.
J4
AKJT7
AK8
A52
A
96432
J76
K864
The opening lead is a spade: 5,4,6,A
T2: 2, 3, A, 5
T3: the J is ruffed
T4: a low heart to the K, LHO pitching the K
At this point the actual declarer played another heart, effectively giving up a club and possibly a diamond. I think a third heart is premature. I also think that the opening leader should have pitched a diamond and kept a spade to make the position harder to read; the pitches say to me that he is coming down to only minor-suit cards, and that RHO started with six spade, three hearts, and so only four minor-suit cards. On this defense, it should have been easy to find the winning line. So lets take a step back, and have our RHO retain a spade.
So at trick five, the only chance is to find the Q doubleton, and depending on which defender drops the queen, decide on how to proceed. As it happens, it is RHO with the doubleton queen, so the suit is stripped; a third round would allow the diamond to be ruffed and RHO still with a safe exit. So now you have to assume RHO is 6-3-2-2, any other lay of the cards will defeat you; you play the top two clubs and see the Q drop from RHO. Now it doesn't matter whether you play the diamond or a heart, you just have to avoid playing a club. If you read the hand correctly, RHO will be endplayed into giving you a ruff and sluff. Just don't pitch the club from the wrong hand!
Since you have paid your dues to the bridge gods, the slam comes home. The question, though, remains: should declarer have found this line at the table?
The full hand:
Dealer: North
Vul: Both
J4
AKJT7
AK8
A52
K532 QT9876
Q85
T9543 Q2
JT97 Q3
A
96432
J76
K864
The contract was 6 by South (rotated for discussion purposes). I won't bother with the auction as both tables were in the same contract.
J4
AKJT7
AK8
A52
A
96432
J76
K864
The opening lead is a spade: 5,4,6,A
T2: 2, 3, A, 5
T3: the J is ruffed
T4: a low heart to the K, LHO pitching the K
At this point the actual declarer played another heart, effectively giving up a club and possibly a diamond. I think a third heart is premature. I also think that the opening leader should have pitched a diamond and kept a spade to make the position harder to read; the pitches say to me that he is coming down to only minor-suit cards, and that RHO started with six spade, three hearts, and so only four minor-suit cards. On this defense, it should have been easy to find the winning line. So lets take a step back, and have our RHO retain a spade.
So at trick five, the only chance is to find the Q doubleton, and depending on which defender drops the queen, decide on how to proceed. As it happens, it is RHO with the doubleton queen, so the suit is stripped; a third round would allow the diamond to be ruffed and RHO still with a safe exit. So now you have to assume RHO is 6-3-2-2, any other lay of the cards will defeat you; you play the top two clubs and see the Q drop from RHO. Now it doesn't matter whether you play the diamond or a heart, you just have to avoid playing a club. If you read the hand correctly, RHO will be endplayed into giving you a ruff and sluff. Just don't pitch the club from the wrong hand!
Since you have paid your dues to the bridge gods, the slam comes home. The question, though, remains: should declarer have found this line at the table?
The full hand:
Dealer: North
Vul: Both
J4
AKJT7
AK8
A52
K532 QT9876
Q85
T9543 Q2
JT97 Q3
A
96432
J76
K864