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Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 12 Sep 2020, 16:09
by rod
Here's another declarer situation that I actually faced.

♠ 7654
AK76
K94
♣ K6

♠ 1092
J83
AJ8762
♣ 9

The auction has gone 2♠ by RHO, pass, pass, double, pass, 3, all pass. LHO leads the ♠3.

What's cool about this hand is you can see how it will go before playing a card! Take a minute to look it over.

Re: Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 12 Sep 2020, 16:19
by rod
It's clear that RHO has opened 2♠ with AKQJ8. She cannot have as much as a queen extra and probably not even a singleton, otherwise would not have a reasonable 2-bid. So LHO has Q, Q and ♣A and Q. It's also clear that RHO is going to rattle off four rounds of spades.

On the fourth spade you must throw your singleton club. Then no matter what RHO does you will win and play off all of your diamonds, squeezing LHO in clubs and hearts.

Re: Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 12 Sep 2020, 19:59
by rod
There's one other important point to consider here. If LHO has only 3 hearts they can beat you by discarding them all. While you know RHO has only 5 spades, LHO thinks they probably have 6 and likely won't defend that way.

However you are marked with the ♠10 (because RHO won with the J), and if you don't unload it by trick 2 then the cat will be out of the bag -- and a sharp LHO with 3 hearts may scuttle your plan. Yet another reason to do your thinking at trick 1!

Re: Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 13 Sep 2020, 08:59
by Trumps
Cool deal! In playing the diamonds, you could start with the DA in case East has the singleton D10 so you can then take the "marked" finesse of the D9 (I realise you don't expect East would open a weak two with this 10 HCP plus a singleton, but not everyone thinks alike). Another possible point of interest is that if East has a small singleton, meaning that you must lose a diamond to West (one down unfortunately), that player will at that stage have to either lead clubs (giving you the CK) or hearts (which you run around to your HJ), i.e. you can get a trick from an end play rather than a squeeze.

Re: Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 13 Sep 2020, 17:48
by rod
Good suggestions, except when trumps are 3-1 and RHO exits with a club at trick 5 neither the squeeze nor end play will work. Details are left as an exercise. :)

Re: Clarity at Trick One

Posted: 20 Sep 2020, 09:41
by Trumps
Yes good point, East will probably have exited a club after cashing the spades, in which case West will have a safe exit (CA, felling North's now-bare CK) if thrown in with the third diamond.