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Topics - jcreech

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16
IAC Teaching Sessions / Creature's Features
« on: November 15, 2019, 05:06:36 PM »
I liked Poco's idea, so I have co-opted it for my lesson hands as well.  Here are 11/14/2019's hands and my notes.

17
Sleight of Hand / What is the best way to combine chances?
« on: October 06, 2019, 12:20:47 PM »
The opponents bid to 6NT by South on a less than wonderful auction.  The lead was the !C T. There are chances galore, but what is the best way to combine those chances without squeezing one hand or the other in the process.

 !S AKQJ3
 !H K75
 !D QJ7
 !C K8


 !S 8
 !H AJ32
 !D AT3
 !C AQ432

You have 10 top tricks, so what is the best route to build tricks 11 and 12.  As you can see, 5 spades if 4-3, 5 clubs if 3-3, 4 hearts if Qxx onside, and 3D if K is onside.  Playing spades is the safest long suit to test, but starts to squeeze the South hand.  Anything else starts to risk losing tricks.

18
Sleight of Hand / What is your line?
« on: September 11, 2019, 06:48:58 PM »
This came up in a spur match, I kibitzed at one table.  This was a push board in the match, but I wanted to see if anyone would take a different line than what the two declarers did during the match. 

The state of the match is close; 15 to 12. And this is board 6 of 10.

You have bid to 4 !S from the hand with the long spades with no opposing bidding and received the !C 9 as your opening lead.  The other opponent will contribute the 10.

!S Q                   !S AKJ543
!H J9642            !H Q
!D QT63             !D AJ5
!C QJ5                !C AK4

Plan your play.

19
Sleight of Hand / The nail in the coffin
« on: July 23, 2019, 03:00:01 PM »
Through the first seven boards, our team has been struggling and we are down 19.  Then things reversed, and the last three boards felt good, and that we might have a chance to pull this match out.  On board 8, they open 4 !S, partner doubles, and we defend perfectly for what should be a good result.  On board 9, we have a combined 30 HCPs, we each make a slam try below game, but settle in for game and to play safe, only make one overtrick; this might be a pickup if they bid slam.  On board 10, they double me in a game that I make two overtricks.  The match should still be close, though there are chances.

Boards 8 and 10 work out very well, but board 9 is a surprise.  They not only bid the slam, but made it.  This was the nail in our coffin.  Even on best defense, this is a slam that can make, but how would you do it?  Here are the hands with North declaring:

!S A762
!H AJT
!D AQJ2
!C KT


!S 83
!H K432
!D K85
!C AJ94

Best defense starts with the Q !S and East drops the J as requested, you let it hold, and they continue !S with the K.  At least in the US, against NT, if your partner leads the Q and you hold the J, it is a demand that you unblock it unless you are the one with length in the suit.  Partner should have a holding such as KQT9(xx) and wants to avoid a Bath Coup (declarer holding up with AJx).

If you are like me, your thoughts are that you can never let East in because all those spades will now cash.  This also plays well into the thought that you have limited entries to dummy.  So in 3NT, I finessed both the heart and club through East.  I also did not get best defense, the !S K followed by the !S T, and I let the J hold, giving me a double stop in the suit.  The !H Q popped onside, but the !C T lost to the Q, which let me make 10 tricks.

To make this contract, you win the second spade, lay down the !H J, covering the Q.  Finesse the !C T coming back and cash the K. Cross back with the !D K, cash the !C A (the Q falls) and 9, then back to hand to cash the remaining winners.

If you have that many gyrations to make this slam, how was it made at the other table?  The opening lead was a club!  Now the clubs easily produce four tricks when West rises with the Q, diamonds always produce four, but you can now afford to cash the !H A before taking the finesse to fulfill the contract, but surprise!, the Q drops and hearts produce four tricks, and the !S A makes 13.

Urls follow to show the play.  Except for myself, the urls were edited to protect the innocent and guilty alike.

https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn%7CSouth%2CWest%2Cjcreech%2CEast%7Cst%7C%7Cmd%7C3S38H234KD58KC49JA%2CS5JH56789D479C25Q%2CS267AHTJAD2JQACTK%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%209%7Csv%7Ce%7Cmb%7C1D%7Cmb%7C1S%7Cmb%7Cd%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C2S%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3S%7Can%7Cany%20forcing%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cmc%7C10%7C

https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn%7CSouth%2CWest%2CNorth%2CEast%7Cst%7C%7Cmd%7C3S38H234KD58KC49JA%2CS5JH56789D479C25Q%2CS267AHTJAD2JQACTK%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%209%7Csv%7Ce%7Cmb%7C2N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3S%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C6N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CSJ%7C

20
Sleight of Hand / Three recent preempts with good hands
« on: June 17, 2019, 01:47:36 PM »
Number 1
Dlr: S
Vul: E-W
               !S KQ2
               !H 8
               !D AQT963
               !C KQ9
!S 93                 !S A75
!H 642              !H AKQT753
!D 54                 !D K7
!C JT7652          !C 3
               !S JT864
               !H J9
               !D J82
               !C A84

In this first hand, partner opened 1 !D in third seat, and East overcalled 4 !H.  My brain screamed out to bid 4 !S (accepting the transfer in some of my f2f circles), but to bid that directly would suggest greater strength and partner might go slamming.  So I passed, hoping (though I think I should be expecting) a reopening double, so that I could bid spades.  None of that happened, so they made 4 !H, when we could make 4 !S.

While at the other table, the bidding remained lower longer, my hand was able to show spades at the one-level, and E-W were eventually pushed to the five level going down.

Number 2
Dlr: W
Vul: None
               !S
               !H T86432
               !D AQJ982
               !C 4
!S QJ93                !S 865
!H 9                     !H AKQJ75
!D K654                !D T
!C 8732                !C AK9
               !S AKT742
               !H
               !D 73
               !C QJT65

At the other table, East opened 4 !H in third seat, and South accepted the transfer, which was doubled by West.  Other than the trump stack, I have no idea what tricks West expected to take for the double, but 500 later South was thoroughly brutalized.

At our table, my partner opened the 6-6 1 !H, which shut out East, I responded 1 !S, partner bid 2 !D and then passed my spade invite of 3 !S.  I lost the same tricks, but one level lower and undoubled.  I was stunned with the auction at the other table, then when I looked at partner's hand, was also stunned at our auction as well.

Number 3:
Dlr: W
Vul:Both

               !S 92
               !H T54
               !D A863
               !C Q876
!S QT87             !S
!H K973             !H J862
!D T9                 !D KQJ2
!C T92              !C AK543
               !S AKJ6543
               !H AQ
               !D 754
               !C J

This hand came from the IAC survivor pairs event, and I saw it discussed following the event.  The reported auction was East opening in third seat with 1 !C, South overcalling 4 !S, and this was passed out.  To me it was even more automatic for east to reopen with a double, than it was in the first hand.  Void in spades and 4 or 5 card support for all other suits and sound opening values.  Partner, with the right hand can either bid any other suit or pass for penalty.  Looking a two probably trump tricks and a possible side defensive card, I would pass with the West hand for a nice profit. 

Being matchpoints, the profit would not have been as great as it likely would have been at IMPs.  Most pairs stayed below game making or going for a small loss (one was making 2 !S doubled).  So at IMPs, we would be looking at a swing of 12 or more (which can often mean the match), but at matchpoints, they were already getting 80%, while the double would increase that to 96%.

I'm not sure what the similarity in these hands says about anything, but it struck me that in the course of two days, I don't see this sort of decision being made that often.  The fact that the partner of the preempter was already a passed hand, and in two instances also included the opponents opening in front of them, certain reduces the chance that partner has the right tickets for something more than game.  But are there other lessons as well?

21
Sleight of Hand / Ethics in the local club
« on: May 02, 2019, 02:34:27 PM »
Sorry, this is more of a vent than an interesting problem.

A little background.  A few years back, there was a player who was suspected of less than ethical behavior.  The hands for the next game were being dealt by the director while another game was being played.  The player in question was also a director, and a few of us decided that he was studying the hands he was dealing that would be played in the next session.  The problem was solved by having the director deal the hands just before the game.

Fast forward, the player directs fewer games now, there are fewer open games, and management at the bridge center decided that the problem never truly existed.  He happened to direct the afternoon game and dealt last night's game.  I directed (and filled out the movement) for the night game, which he also played in.  The following hand came up against him:

Dlr:  S
Vul: None

                       ♠J75
                       ♥KJT62
                       ♦9
                      ♣AJT2

♠A2                                            ♠Q86
♥9854                                         ♥Q
♦AT753                                       ♦KQ864
♣73                                            ♣9654

                       ♠KT954
                       ♥A73
                       ♦J2
                       ♣KQ8

Auction:
1 !S - 2 !D - 3 !D - 4 !D;
4 !S -  P -     P -    5 !D;
P -      P -    5 !S -   P;
P -      P

The opening lead was the !H 9, when in with trump ace, out comes another high !H, !D to the ace, and a third !H. Pretty close to double dummy defense.

I thought the overcall was a bit frisky, but I have seen worse at the table.  Nonetheless, it did help identify the entry to his hand.  But where did the !H lead come from?  And when the lead pickled the Q, where did the continuation come from?  The suit was never bid.

If I held the West cards, I would either start the !D A or the !C 7.  I might start the !C because I have a trump entry to continue the suit, and hope for the ruff.  The !D A is more pedestrian, but once we got them to the five level, it may be good to make sure the trick gets cashed and see dummy.  A !H would be my last choice.

I now wish I had known early enough to replace the boards before play, but I am very suspicious of this result, and there are other results from last night's game than make me wonder if this player previewed the hands.



22
Sleight of Hand / A stronger in-between hand
« on: April 01, 2019, 12:36:50 PM »
Also in a spur teams match, I picked up !S A !H K92 !D AKQJ !C A9852.  Although the LTC is only 4, I usually evaluate these hands based on winners not losing trick count.  Despite 21 HCPs, this just did not rate a 2 !C opening for me.  Without club support, I am reluctant to rate the club suit as much as 3.  So I would have to round up to get myself to the 8.5 tricks I want for my non-NT 2 !C openers.  For the minors, I like to increase the requirements a bit because it is an extra trick to make game.

I ended up opening 1 !C, reversing into 2 !D when partner bid the expected 1 !S.  Then we floundered a bit into 3NT.   Partner held !S QT64, !H Q86 !D 93 !C KQJT.  Six clubs is icy with two pitches on the diamonds.

Of course the other table opened 2 !C and rebid 3 !C, and their partner jammed this into the club slam.

My other thought was to follow the suggestion that came out of Wackojack's posting, bid 2NT to show a 21 point version of the 15 point hand where 1NT was such a popular alternative (from Todd's poll results).  With my luck, if I opened 2NT, partner would raise to 6NT and a spade would knock out my ace at trick 1 and effectively set me on the go.

23
Sleight of Hand / Should I cooperate?
« on: December 22, 2018, 03:35:30 AM »
SInce I always seem to mess up when I rotate the hands, the hand reported below, is not.

Dlr: North
Vul: Both

          North
           !S KJ42
           !H T72
           !D 5
           !C 98543

West                    East
 !S 9                     !S  A873
 !H AQ3                 !H  K954
 !D AQJT83            !D  K964
 !C JT6                  !C  7

          South
           !S QT65
           !H J86
           !D 72
           !C AKQ2


Auction:
North     East   South   West         North     East   South   West   
    P          P       1 !C     1 !D          P           P      1 !C      dbl
  1 !S      4 !C *    P       4 !H         3 !C      4 !C      P       5 !D 
    P        5 !D       P          P           P            P        P
    P
* splinter: forcing raise in !D promising 4 trump and 0 or 1 !C

This board was a push in the match.  Not a lot to the play, but the differences in how the auctions progressed seemed somewhat instructive.

At our table, West started with a double, I put pressure on the opponents by raising to 3 !C.  East did well by asking partner to name his best suit, but did not feel that he could move over the jump to 5 !D.  Pre-empts do not always give your partnership or team an opportunity to gain, but it always increases the difficulty for your opponents to be sure that they got to the right contract.  And sometimes, that is enough.

At the other table, I felt that East had an opportunity to move toward slam and chose the weaker action.  I can understand that East may regard the splinter as an overbid, but we are talking about a hand that is rich in controls opposite a partner who says his hand has improved with the ruffing potential of the East hand.  More importantly, East’s hand has improved after partner’s cuebid.  All four controls are working – !S  A, K of trump, and K in partner’s cued suit.  Since you are headed for 5 !D anyway, how can it hurt to show the !S A?  If partner quits in game, so be it, but at least you cooperated with a hand you should not be ashamed to lay down as dummy.

24
Sleight of Hand / Do you feel lucky? (corrected - see Ken's comment)
« on: December 13, 2018, 02:26:06 PM »
Dlr: West
Vul: Both

          North
           !S J5
           !H AJ83
           !D 42
           !C QJ953

West                    East
 !S 9864               !S  KQT2
 !H Q764              !H  92
 !D K53                 !D  QT8
 !C 42                   !C  KT76

          South
           !S A73
           !H KT5
           !D AJ976
           !C A8


Auction:
South    West      North     East     
 1 NT        P         2 !C        P
 2 !D         P         3 NT       P
    P          P         

This hand came up in a spur team game and was challenging to play. 

At both tables, West led a 4th best !H.  Then play diverged. 

At the table that was successful, declarer inserted the J, winning.  Q !C, covered by East and won in hand.  8 !C overtaken in dummy, followed by a third !C, won by East while West played an encouraging !D.  Dutifully, East returned a !D, West winning the K.  West now returned to !H s, won in hand by declarer.  Declarer now tried the A !D, and seeing everyone following, cleared the suit by losing to East’s Q.  East cashed out, relinquishing the last few tricks to declarer.  The defense ended up with four minor suit tricks.

At the table that was not successful, declarer won the opening lead in hand with the 10, Then tried A !C, !C to the J, losing to East’s K.  With no !D signal, it was easy for East to shift to a top !S and continuation.  Declarer won the second !S, shifted to the K !H, and a !H to the 8.  Hoping for the 3-3, declarer now cashed the Q !C, West pitching his last !H.  At this point, declarer should have realized the cause was lost, cashing out for down one, but instead abandoned the !H A to set up an orphan !C, allowing the defense to gather in three !S s, two !C s and a 1D.

The key to making this hand is deciding which seven-card minor to develop and how to play it.  But I am uncertain whether there is enough information to make the choice that works logically.  You can reasonably force 8 tricks, possibly losing the lead once (1 !S, 4 !H, 1 !D, and 2 !C).  The best options I see involves:
  • drag the Q !C through East and hoping for a cover and the suit breaks 3-3, or that you can judge that it is not breaking and can shift to a !D plan
  • play A and another !C hoping for 3-3 or that the 10 is onside and you guess to finesse
  • lead a !D to the 9, then a !D to the J, hoping that East started with HTx

None of these options are particularly enticing, although the first can combines chances.    However, if the K !C is with West, a !H will block the !C even if they break 3-3.  But as Harry Callahan asks in Dirty Harry, “Do you feel lucky?”

On this hand, I was glad to be on defense, and had an easy shift to the K !S knowing that by inference, partner also had four !S with me.

25
Sleight of Hand / An efficient defense - d*** it (corrected bidding)
« on: October 27, 2018, 11:29:26 PM »
Dlr: South
Vul: None

          North
           !S KJ6
           !H AT62
           !D J7
           !C T932

West                    East
 !S T82                 !S  A9754
 !H 954                 !H  Q
 !D T95423            !D  AQ8
 !C J                     !C  A876

          South
           !S Q3
           !H KJ873
           !D K6
           !C KQ54

Auction:
South   West    North     East     
  1 !H        P      4 !H      Dbl
    P          P        P

This was an unmitigated disaster.  It started when I could not remember whether we played 3 !C or 3 !D as the four-card constructive raise, so I took a flyer at game.  I have made worse bids, but who would have anticipated the consequences.  If had mad the proper bid, we probably would have still been in game, but undoubled.

Although I could guess that West might double, I never dreamed that East would pass with a near Yarborough and an unshown 6-bagger, AND that it would be right!

If partner had dropped the K or Q on the opening !C lead, there is a slim chance that East would have switched to another suit.  I doubt it, since switching to the A !D would have brought discouragement, and the !C was the only other reasonable continuation.  So the defense efficiently took the first six tricks, with West scoring all three trump.

When I looked at the “traveler,”  it was an interesting list of results.  One shared my fate, three played in spades (from 3 making to 5 doubled down 2), the rest played in hearts (from 3 to 5).  There were three that played in game making – one with a spade lead and continuation, one with a club lead with a spade shift plus continuation, and the last was a club lead with a diamond shift and continuation.  C’est la bridge.

26
Sleight of Hand / A strange Gambling 3NT
« on: October 25, 2018, 08:17:12 PM »
Dlr: East
Vul: N-S

          North
           !S 83
           !H 63
           !D AQT9
           !C QJ852

West                    East
 !S 9                     !S  QJT62
 !H K975               !H  8
 !D 85                   !D  K6432
 !C AKT974            !C  63

          South
           !S AK754
           !H AQJT42
           !D J7
           !C

Auction:
East      South   West   North       
    P        3 NT       P           P
    P

I am submitting this hand largely because I found the bidding perplexing. 

The pair was playing some Precision variation (but I was unaware of that when this hand came up).  3NT was alerted as gambling, and even with my rag of a West hand, I thought about balancing 4 !S, because typically a gambling 3NT is a solid minor and I might get a lucky fit. 

I got lucky by not bidding and finding us in the middle of a buzz saw.

I got unlucky because they were in the only makeable game.

I wasn’t going to bother with the play because with that opening bid, that dummy, and profiles that indicated beginners, I was dizzy trying to figure out what declarer held.  I suspect partner was in the same boat.  However, the play was more advanced than I normally would attribute to a beginner. 

Essentially, partner started a top !C, then shifted to a low !H.  Declarer then passed the J !D,  which I ducked.  Next declarer led another !D, going up with the A, and now gave up a !H.  Normally, I expect a beginner to repeat a “proven” finesse.  Then if we can keep him off dummy, there are a total of five losers. 

Going up with the A !D assured the contract. 

27
Sleight of Hand / BBO Pet Peeve
« on: September 22, 2018, 12:05:49 PM »
Dlr: West
Vul: None

          North
           !S 82
           !H QJ
           !D AKQ97642
           !C K

West                    East
 !S 853                 !S  KJT74
 !H 9754               !H  AT
 !D 8                    !D  J
 !C A9742             !C  QJ863

          South
           !S AQ8
           !H K8632
           !D T53
           !C T5

Auction:
South   West   North     East   
 1 !D      1 !S    1 NT       P
 3 NT       P        P          P


Actually, I have at least two pet peeves reflected by this hand.

The first has to do with players who bail from a hand when they think they are facing a bad result.  I was West, and partner gave us the potential to have a great result by leading a !H.  I won the ace, and as I returned the !C 6, partner bailed.  My eventual partner won the ace, and made the no-win play of a the singleton !D.  Instead of being down 3, declarer now made overtricks. 

These bailers must think they can escape the bad result by being absent from the table.  It is not the way BBO works.  Once you are the first bidder in a particular auction, if the hand is played, the result attaches to that bidder.  You may as well stick around for the result.  It also is not far to your partner who has to play with a partner who is stepping into the middle of play.  Face to face, someone would provide a brief description of the play (but then the situation would only happen in the case of severe illness), but it doss not seem to ever happen in BBO.

My other peeve has to do with how these massive one-suiters get bid.  There is no consistency in describing good or bad hands.  in this instance, the opponent treated the hand like an ordinary opener, they took a reasonable flier when their partner showed a stopper after my overcall.  Earlier in the evening, I saw !S Ax !H A !D Axx !C AKQxxxx opened 5 !C, and then when my partner overcalled 5 !H, tried 6 !C with seven biddable after a 2 !C opener. 

Oh well, if you are not playing with a regular partner, what can you do?


28
Sleight of Hand / Maintaining control of the hand
« on: September 17, 2018, 02:17:42 AM »
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.


29
Sleight of Hand / Another missed opportunity
« on: September 13, 2018, 02:02:52 PM »
CORRECTED as identified by Ken Berg

Dlr: South
Vul: E-W

          North
           !S J74
           !H A2
           !D A654
           !C KQ54

West                    East
 !S AQ2                !S  6
 !H Q753              !H  JT98
 !D J9                  !D  QT73
 !C JT98               !C  A762

          South
           !S KT9853
           !H K64
           !D K82
           !C 3

Contract: 4!S by South with no opposing bidding

This hand was in a Dare to Practice session, set up to practice declaring techniques.  I have rotated the hands clockwise to make it easier to read.

The required lead was the J !C, covered by dummy and ducked by East.  The point of the hand is to ruff a !H before touching trump.  AQx !S are ill placed, and if you try to get the kids off the street first, you find that the defense can pull dummy's last trump before a losing !H is ruffed. 

That being said, I got the point of the hand correct, but my partner (Postmortem) pointed out as I claimed, that I might also have the opportunity for a squeeze.  And he was right.  Lets go over the play:

As mentioned above, the required lead was the J !C, covered by dummy and ducked by East.  I then played three rounds of  !H 's to ruff the third.  A !S to the ten lost to the Q.  The defense continued with the A !S and the Q !H, which I ruffed.  If, instead of claiming, I ran my !S, dummy would come down to AX !D and K !C, and my hand down to !D only.  What three cards does East hold onto?  Either the A !C has to go, or come down to three !D 's.  East cannot keep the four cards needed to prevent my making the extra trick.

Here I am playing in an event to practice such techniques, I actually get two techniques to practice, and I fail to take advantage of the extra opportunity. 



30
Sleight of Hand / A Missed Opportunity
« on: August 13, 2018, 02:24:49 PM »
Dlr: East
Vul: E-W

          North
           !S A
           !H AKT93
           !D A92
           !C AKQ8

West                    East
 !S 6543               !S  92
 !H 54                  !H  Q62
 !D KQJ8753         !D  T4
 !C                       !C  JT6542

          South
           !S KQJT87
           !H J87
           !D 6
           !C 973

Auction:
East   South   West   North
 P        2 !S    5 !D     7 !S
 P          P        D         P
 P          P

I was sitting East and partner started the K !D.  I was stunned when dummy came down.  I thought surely some of those cards would be with partner for the double.  I also thought that partner must surely have a !S honor - another faulty assumption.

Declarer won the A, cashed the A !S, ruffed a !D, then started running  !S's.  Unfortunately for declarer, the first pitch was dummy's last !D.  Now all I had to do was match dummy in the round suits, and the contract goes down.

If declarer holds onto that last diamond, consider what happens to my (East) hand.  As declarer finishes pulling trump, pitching  !H's , there is no problem with my pitching  !C 's.  Now the AK !H 's, leaving the J as a blind threat in declarer's hand, followed by a  !D.  I have to hold onto the fourth !C, so I pitch the Q !H.  Now the J is good to take care of the losing !C; if I keep the Q, then the fourth !C in dummy will be good.

Granted it is not an easy hand to play; I am not certain what the best line would be.  If I were declaring, I don't think I would pitch the diamond that early, but once I found out that the spades were breaking 4-2, I suspect I would want to combine chances by holding onto all four !C's and the AKT of !H's.  Then I could play three rounds of !C's (in case they happen to break), cash a top !H, ruff a !C, and take the losing !H finesse.



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