Trumpace, on Jun 22 2007, 03:21 PM, said:
Dealer: | South | Vul: | None | Scoring: | Rubber | | | Lead ♥5 |
You are South and have reached a contract of 6
♥ (Please don't ask about the bidding)
You get a lead of
♥5.
Plan the Play.
Of course, Kathryn has good suggestions, but if you manage to create an entry to dummy, then there is no problem.
I would normally not expect the heart 9 to hold if you play it, however since we do have 10 hearts, it is probably best to play small from dummy at trick one hoping for a stiff J. Even if the J is played on your right, all is not lost.
I'm pretty sure you will make this on a psuedo-squeeze. Especially if you have not indicated your club void and spade holdings in the auction.
Cash all the hearts but one, followed by the AK
♦. You will be down to four cards.
Your hand will be K10x of spades and the last trump, dummy will be AK8
♣ and the 8 of diamonds (having pitched all of dummies spades). By now you should have a pretty good idea of both where the spade Ace is and whether or not it has been blanked. If you know it has been blanked, lead a small spade, if you dont think it has been or are unsure about it, play the spade K. It is practically assured that the AQ will both fall on this trick or that the hand winning the spade A will have to lead a club to dummy.
There may be another legitimate line....but it won't be as much fun.
Lead ♥5