♠ A 4 2
♥ A 2
♦ A J 8 7 6
♣ 10 8 5
==
♠ Q J 6 5
♥ K J 8 4 3
♦ ---
♣ A J 7 6
Spades was the unbid suit, so Kate led the ♠9. Declarer ducked and I won the ♠K and shifted to the ♦K. Declarer discarded the ♥3, Kate contributed the ♦2 and declarer ducked.
I shifted to the ♣3. Declarer played low and kate won the ♣Q. She returned the ♦3, and South took her ace, discarding a low heart from her hand.
She now had three spades, two hearts, one diamond and one club. She had to play on clubs or hearts for her game-going tricks. Because she had discarded two hearts, she was committed to play clubs -- she lead the ♣10. That lost to Kate's king, and we took two more diamond tricks for down two. Plus 200 was worth 8.51 IMPs for the good guys.
Here are all four hands:
♠ A 4 2
♥ A 2
♦ A J 8 7 6
♣ 10 8 5
♠ 9 3 ♠ K 10 8 7
♥ 9 6 5 ♥ Q 10 7
♦ 5 4 3 2 ♦ K Q 10 9
♣ K Q 9 4 ♣ 3 2
♠ Q J 6 5
♥ K J 8 4 3
♦ ---
♣ A J 7 6
Do you think declarer did anything wrong? Playing on the heart suit (instead of discarding two of them) means she needed the suit to split with the queen onside -- a definite long shot. But let's examine the play.
On my ♦K, Kate played the 2. Her count is known and her attitude is known, so what could it mean? She was giving strong suit preference for clubs. When she won her ♣Q, she returned the ♦3, again suit preference. I knew she had another high club card, South should have, too.
The board was played 72 times, and you can see what all the players did if you click here.
I'm giving you a hand. Clapping. I don't know why, exactly, but it felt like the thing to do!
ReplyDeleteWe're still in hiatus, but had to post something to greet my old friends..."old" being a neutral, generic term, you understand! ;-)
@Jacob: I know all about "old," LOL.
ReplyDeleteHi there Memphis M, How could any one go down in this rock solid contract. The lead suggests the spade king in wrong, so I would rise with the Ace, and test clubs by means of a second round finesse. Hey presto 6 tricks in the bag. Now comes the Queen of spades forcing out the king. So with 1S trick plus 2 red Aces to come, contract made. Maybe an end-play might squeeze a 10th. Yours HBJ.
ReplyDeleteSorry meant test hearts first for 5more tricks, followed by Ace of clubs/Ace of diamonds later.
ReplyDeleteWell, I declare! And I ain't even the declarer! What do ya know about that? :-)
ReplyDeleteThat horse's face is red because some ladies from a local church teased him 'cause he doesn't have any clothes on.
I think the ladies had a bit too much wine at lunch.
It looks as if the 1st heart pitch was made before any suit-preference signal, and at that point declarer was committed. Whether that was the correct commitment to make is another question.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first heart pitch, declarer could still take 4 hearts, 3 spades and two aces. It was the second heart discard that killed her.
ReplyDelete