Minor typo: In the hand diagram, the
J in the S hand should be the
T, N has the J.
On this hand the
lead works, assuming declarer doesn't peak at the cards and lead twice toward the
AKT. The
lead struck gold: Third hand has four
including the Q and T, in
he has Jxx. So this gets the hearts going, we have a
trick coming, after which declarer still has only 8 top tricks so needs the club finesse to work and it doesn't. Ok, it worls. But on a different deal the spade lead might give us the first four tricks (lucky but possible) and then we still get a
. N, instead of having the
Q and the
J, might have the
K.
So I don't think it's clear. I do think that the
9 is a point in favor of a
lead.
Let me put up another hand, I have a point to make with it. First my hand:
: Q65
: AJT987
: K
: A74
Non-vul, the opps are vul I am the dealer
I opened 1
:
1
- 2
- 2
- 3
Maybe it's optimistic, but the hand looks decent so I issued an invit with 3
. Incidentally, over 1
- 2
- 2
- 3
, where there is no suit between theirs and ours, I think X should be maximal, inviting in
, but in this auction I think 3
is a generic invit neither saying nor asking anything about
, it simply invites game in
.Partner accepted. The lead is the
K and dummy comes down:
: A9874
: Q62
: JT75
: 3
A perfectly reasonable accept, he has a useful stiff club trump Q, and the
A. Nobody cares about the
J.
I said I had a point: I mis-played this. Unlike the choice on the hand Jack posed, where I think the best opening lead is uncertain, this was clear cut. I took the
A, ruffed a
and led the
Q. It's probably possible that this line could work but it requires more than just a well-placed
K. The clear line is ruff a
, back to had with a
, ruff another
, lead a
. It will lose, and I will lose a trump, and I will lose a
. But if the
K is onside (it is) I have ten tricks. Of course of the
K is offside I am going down. That's true. But Rho has something for his
raise, probably one but not both of
and
kings. If he has the
K I don't care whether he has the
K if I play it right.
To drag out my point a little more: Most everyone makes mistakes, and usually it takes only a little effort to later find them. They say bridge is a game of mistakes, you win by making fewer of them than the opponents. Some mistakes are subtle, sometimes it is a matter of opinion as to whether a choice is a mistake at all. This one is a mistake. The iac is at least partly a teaching club, although I think it as mostly just a nice place to play. If I am to go into teaching mode I believe the most important lesson is: Not only does everyone make mistakes, everyone can fond at least some of their own mistakes. You might need expert help to learn how to run a compound squeeze, but most hands do not involve a compound squeeze, most hands involve several fairly mundane choices, and some choices will go wrong. Sometimes the cards lie badly so a sensible choice goes wrong, sometimes the choice is a clear mistake. No one should underestimate their own ability to find at least some of their mistakes on their own.
